Don’t rely on Social media travel ‘experts’
It pains me to have to even say this: When traveling internationally, if you have questions about restrictions to entry, visa requirements, length of stay allowed, vaccination requirements, etc., Social media is not the best way to get the information when consulates and government websites exist.
Flying to a foreign country only to be denied entry because you relied on Chad from your Instagram feed for information about entry requirements doesn’t sound like a good time to me.
“How much should I expect to pay for a taxi from airport X to Hotel Z?” is a decent social media aka crowd source question.
“Do I need a yellow fever vaccination to enter the country?” is NOT a good social media question.
“Are there any good breakfast spots in <neighborhood>?” is a good social media question.
“How long can I stay without needing a visa?” is NOT a good social media question.
“I want to rent a car for <X> days in <city> how much will it cost?” is NOT a good social media question if you want accurate information that will apply to YOU. The rates for rental cars vary frequently and for completely unpredictable and inexplicable reasons. Sometimes a location has cars piling up and if you want a one-way rental to a city that happens to be starving for cars you may get a fantastic rate but if it’s the other way you might have a mini-stroke when you see the quote.
“How much time do I need to see <Area>?” You’re joking, right? I have known people who spent a week in a foreign city and ‘ran out of things to do’ but when we visited the same city we had to aggressively cull our to-do list because we only had a week.
Check the timeliness of the information you do find especially on non-official websites – I view a lot of YouTube videos to get a feel for what travel is going to be like in a particular country or area; there are so many expats and digital nomads out there now that you can find videos on pros and cons of pretty much any country as well as subject specific videos about restaurants, markets, various attractions or highlights ad infinitum. However, we live in a constantly changing world. I watched a video this morning about Croatia and she mentioned that Croatia is not yet part of the Schengen zone…. Ummm, yes it is. <?> Oh, wait, the video is just over a year old. The world has more fluidity than a lot of folks allow for; rules and policies change so make sure you are getting current and accurate information
Travel safe and have a backup plan beyond “I hope everything goes smoothly”.
‘Hope’ is not a reliable strategy for success.
