I’m part of a few backpacker and travel groups on Facebook – they’re great tools for asking advice on destinations, and good for finding travelmates, secret spots, humour, money advice, visa options, places to stay, “help I’m in this situation”, and everything else you can think of to do with travel.
For the most part, they’re great. So the Australia Backpackers group has at least five posts a day asking for travelmates along the Great Ocean Road. So everyone has completely different advice for budgeting or how long to stay somewhere. So you get some self-absorbed dickheads who put you down for asking a simple question. But I have found out about so many places I’d never even heard of in Australia! Someone posted a picture of a kangaroo on a beach at sunset, at a place called Cape Hillsborough. Had we done our east coast trip a month before we did, we would have missed this beach completely – as you may know, it was one of the highlights of our time in Australia.
However, something I’ve noticed is that sometimes (actually, quite often) people will give really bad advice. Or completely inaccurate information on things you really, really don’t want to get wrong.
Here are just some of the worst – and you’ve probably heard them all before, too.
“Don’t bother with travel insurance.”
This REALLY bothers me. People on these groups often ask which insurance company they should go with, and a huge portion of the response is, “you probably won’t need it so there’s no point.”
My BIGGEST gripe with this is the assumption that nothing will go wrong. If you lose something, you can buy it again. If you miss a flight, you can catch another one. This is NOT what insurance is for. Sure, you’re covered, but what happens when you wake up in hospital with a $1,000 bill just for the ambulance that took you there? What happens when you fall off a scooter in Thailand and get landed with a $600 medical bill? What happens when something more serious happens?
A good friend of mine suffered a brain aneurysm in Thailand last year, and had round-the-clock attention in critical care for a month. During his coma, his family and friends frantically rallied to raise money for his treatment and his return home – but thankfully he had insurance, because his medical care cost came to over £10,000. (all money raised went to charity instead)
Then there was the campaign to raise money for a British guy who cut his knee and almost lost his leg to an infection caused by a flesh-eating bug. They were asking for donations to cover his £30,000 medical bills, and it annoyed me for several reasons. Why should other people cover your mistakes? It’s a horrific situation, but THAT’S why you get insured. Secondly, they realised it was serious pretty quickly, yet elected to stay in Laos where medical care just isn’t up to standards. In that situation, I would be straight to Thailand. As a result, they were fobbed off with cheap “treatments” from doctors and had to pay far more for surgery to fix the increasing damage. In fact, by the time they got to Thailand, you could see his bones. You don’t wait that long to fix something like that. But it’s okay because other people have paid his medical costs, so who needs insurance when you have humanity?
Since then, there have been several similar campaigns to cover people’s medical costs who were stupid enough to not get insurance, and frankly it pisses me off that a lot of people are happy to ride off other people’s backs when there’s no need to.
“Malaria tablets / vaccine shots are a waste of money.”
Another medical issue that people really shouldn’t be giving advice on.
Sure, malaria tablets are expensive, but hey, you won’t be worrying about the costs if you get malaria. It’s a HORRIBLE debilitating disease, and you want to avoid it.
The risk in Southeast Asia is low, but there’s still a risk. I took them in Vietnam and Cambodia and most importantly, I didn’t get malaria.
Even better – I got a generic brand of Malarone, which cost a fraction of the price and didn’t have the potential side effects of Doxycilline. Hopefully they weren’t sugar pills. I bought them from Express Pharmacy.
That’s not to say you should listen to everything your doctor says, though.
There are many vaccinations that you can get for different areas. For Southeast Asia, we were recommended to get the polio/diptheria/tetanus booster, typhoid (free on the NHS), Hepatitis A & B (also free if you get them together, but do be aware that they consist of 3 injections spread over 3 weeks, so consider this in advance of your trip), rabies (not free), Japanese encephalitis (not free) and a few others.
Because we were working on a sanctuary with lots of rescued dogs, we opted to get the rabies jab but had we been travelling normally, we wouldn’t have bothered. Japanese encephalitis is only a concern if you’re REALLY going out in the sticks or are “planning to roll around in rice paddies” (literal quote from my doctor).
But we got all the others, as did most people we’ve spoken to about it. But plenty of people will tell you you don’t need them.
It’s your body. Do your research – don’t take advice from everyone, especially when most of them aren’t doctors.
Visa advice
I’m not against asking for advice on these groups or to other backpackers. Sometimes there’s a simple answer to a question to save you calling up immigration. But there is a worrying amount of wrong information posted on a daily basis, and not all of it is going to be corrected.
This is particularly apparent on the Australia group, where people talk about working holiday visas, tourist visas, second year visas, student visas, etc (made worse by the constantly changing laws on backpackers).
That said, it can be a good thing. A very frequent question on It’s Orlando Time, a group specialising in Disney World/Orlando holidays, is asking for the correct website to apply for a USA tourist visa (aka an ESTA). I can see you rolling your eyes. A simple “Google question”, sure, but Google also throws up scam websites and over-priced agencies. It’s safer to double check, and you will basically always get the right answer on the group. Same goes for Vietnam visa applications.
But on the Australia group, there are questions over and over again about what qualifies for a second year visa, or what to write on your tax forms, and some of the responses are terrifyingly wrong.
“So and so is overrated!”
Always, always, always take people’s opinions with a pinch of salt when it comes to destinations, particularly those you have a real interest in.
You will always get people telling you not to bother with a particular place (“it’s just a bunch of rocks innit” – direct quote we heard about Angkor Wat), so you consider skipping it but then you’re damn glad you didn’t. Or even the opposite – we’ve had plenty of places hyped up to us so much that we were disappointed (I’m looking at you, Bangkok).
Now I don’t mind opinions. People will argue til the end of the day over which is better: north or south Vietnam. New York or Chicago. Paris or Rome. Sydney or Melbourne.
It’s your experience that defines what you get out of it. I’m sure we wouldn’t have loved Koh Phangan so much if we had stayed where everyone else stays; most people seem to hate it there but we stayed on the opposite side of the island to the full moon party. The same goes for Brisbane and our homely hostel; without that hostel, we definitely wouldn’t have the affinity we hold with Brissie now!
Listen to other people’s opinions; don’t take them as gospel.
“Avoid the street food.”
Worst. Advice. EVER. Take precautions on where you eat, yes.
But see a whole line of locals at a food stall and you GO FOR IT. 20p noodles? Yes PLEASE. We had dinners for 80p ($1.20) in Thailand. To some of you (and certainly to us), eating street food may come with the territory, but we met real life backpackers who spent a month+ in Asia and never tried street food because they were too scared.
We convinced one of our friends that this was stupid. I had a message from her a day later gushing about how amazing her meal had been and “SO cheap!! Can’t believe we’ve been happy to spend so much on food. Shame we only have a week left here and only just realised this.”
True story. 😦
FYI – I know Thailand is a typical example, but street food is a worldwide thing and actually a brilliant way to try new foods as well as usually being cheap. Try Borough market in London (or the less touristy markets in Greenwich provided us with a very nice cheap meal) and the West End markets in Brisbane where I tried a delicious Venezuelan empanada. I’d never heard of one of those before!
“I’ll be avoiding Brussels / Paris / London / etc now.”
ARE you serious?!
A friend from my old work one-upped this. She was planning a trip to Europe with a friend which to her disappointment has now been cancelled because her friend no longer wants to go. The reason? Brussels. Paris. Ankara. London.
It’s not like these cities are being bombed every day.
You have more chance of walking out of your front door and being hit by a bus than being involved in a terrorist attack. Moreover, they were going to Croatia. Somewhere, my friend agreed, that is hardly going to be high on the ISIS target list.
Somewhere that is 1,500km from Brussels and Paris, and almost 2,000km from Ankara. Hell, we were in Australia and Sydney had a pretty big hostage shooting just before we got there. Please, avoid Australia guys.
My advice is to take all advice with a pinch of salt, do your own research and form your own opinions. Not every answer to a question is right for everyone (even visa information – it might be different for your passport!). Maybe you’ll hate somewhere everyone else has raved about, or fall in love with a place everyone told you not to bother with. Make your own experiences – isn’t that what life is about?
What bad advice have you read, either online or in person?
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An Orcadian Abroad 
Angkor Wat is jus a bunch of rocks, huh? Don’t bother getting shots? You’re right, this is some really terrible travel advice. I’m so afraid of getting rabies because it means you gonna be dead.
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Haha that was a genuine quote from some British “lads on tour” in our hostel! Yeah, some of the “advice” people dish out really bothers me, especially when it’s medical.
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I agree with all of this but especially the last two.
How can you not go for the streets food? It is the best and most authentic and tasteful.
As for avoiding places…if I avoided every place that some one said has a bad history, I would have to live in the south pole.
Thanks so much for sharing! It’s awesome to find like minded people.
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I totally agree! Lots of people told us to avoid street food before we even left on our travels… did I listen? 😛 Street food is amazing! I definitely think you have to form opinions of things like that, and places, yourself rather than avoid them because someone told you to (unless it’s for safety reasons, of course!). Thanks for reading! 🙂
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I love street food and can’t imagine missing out to sit in some ‘nice’ restaurant instead. As well as tasting good and being cheap you meet locals and can see the food being cooked so you know it’s fresh and hasn’t been standing around in the heat all day. Don’t eat street food? Definitely advice worth ignoring.
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Right?! For me, street food is all part of the experience. I don’t think I realised how much we’d live off it before going to Asia though, and since then I always make a beeline for food stalls when I see them!
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Great post and I agree with that. However, after all it’s just an advice – you can’t take it in 100% as everyone will have different views and experiences from different things 😉 When someone tells me that some place is boring, it usually encourages me even more to visit it in order to prove them wrong haha 😉
For malaria tablets or medical advises in general, you need to do your research and see what works the best for you. I didn’t take malaria tablets when I was in Madagascar, as I decided that they will make more bad for my body than good. I had them with me all the time though, in case, plus the ones that you take when you suspect malaria and I also had malaria tests with me. I used very strong mosquito spray instead and worn long sleeves in the night with mosquito nets. I did A LOT of research about it before going and talked to doctors and my friends travelers. It was my choice though 🙂
Cheers,
Aga
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Totally agree with you, Aga! And that’s it, it’s your choice and you can do your own research to make them. I just worry that people will freely listen to anyone on the internet like they’re experts (particularly when it comes to medical and legal advice). And yes, you make your own experiences! There are plenty of places I love that other people hate, and vice versa. 🙂 Thanks so much for your comment, happy travels!
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Really interesting to read about what advice other travellers give to one another! That first one about skipping insurance terrifies me! And you gave excellent examples as to why it should.
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Right?! I honestly think we were in the minority having insurance while we were in Australia.
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Great post! So glad I read this because I am going to Thailand in November and didn’t know if I should get travel insurance or any vaccines beforehand. Looks like I will be looking into both. If you have any recommendations on an insurance company let me know.
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I think I replied to your post on FB the other day regarding this! So sorry if this is a complete repeat of myself lol. There are so many recommendations for vaccines when it comes to travel, but not all of them are necessary. We got hepatitis a & b (combined shot), typhoid, and a polio / tetanus / diptheria booster shot and that was it. Definitely do your research though! 🙂 And I highly recommend travel insurance. World Nomads is always well recommended but it’s worth shopping around.
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Oh yes. I have heard all of these advices before. I have been working in a Hotel in China and had to accompany people to the hospital for so many reasons that I would never ever leave my country without insurance.
And no streetfood?? I have eaten streetfood in China, Morocco, Vietnam, Sri Lanka and Cambodia and the only time my stomach felt bad was after eating at McDonalds in Beijing. Streetfood is just amazing. And I prefer it a 100 times over eating in an overpriced touristic restaurant where people eat burger and pasta instead of local food.
Your post is so accurate and nicely written.
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It’s crazy, isn’t it?! Some people are so scared to travel, and others don’t prepare at all! Street food is the best, too! ❤ Thanks for your comment! 🙂
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Great tips for people to consider! Travel insurance, other’s opinions, avoiding certain things are always up to the individual travellers and you can only listen to so much advise. But common sense also has to prevail too…for some, that just doesn’t happen and they end up wanting us to help them??? Nice. Be informed and you’ll always be fine. It’s that simple.
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YES! You totally summed it up right there. 🙂
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I feel so many of these so hard! Especially the “don’t eat the street food” and “im going to avoid..” firstly I am sure I am less likely to get sick eating something that is local and people eat everyday and secondly you never know what can happen where you are!
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It’s a real shame how many people avoid street food! And I totally agree. I fell in love with the most unexpected places, and some of that was circumstantial I’m sure.
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I love this! It’s so true, especially about the “overrated” point. You can listen to the other opinions but it’s best to go see the destination yourself to make your own opinion – you may be pleasantly surprised!
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Totally agree! Even if you come away thinking that it IS overrated, at least you gave it a chance. 🙂
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Such an interesting and totally true read. Really admire and agree with your comments about travel insurance – ‘why should someone else cover the costs of your mistake?’ SO TRUE! Agree with everything here!
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Haha thank you! I feel like I got a bit passionate on that one! 😉
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A great post, containing lots I agree with. However, maybe it would be worth emphasising the importance of getting proper advice on the anti-malarial best suited to the area you are visiting, rather than just buying any old thing off the likes of the internet, because it’s cheaper than buying at “home”?
When I was in SEA I met someone who thought he had been really clever in sourcing anti-malarials from someone other than his GP. However, they were effective against the sort of malaria endemic in Africa, and useless against the strains in SEA. That was (too) many moons ago, though; maybe there are anti-malarials available now that are effective globally and I’m speaking complete rubbish?
I took doxycycline because I didn’t want to risk being sent mad by mefloquine/lariam. When the tablets I had got on prescription in the UK ran out, I bought them, for a fraction of the UK price, in Thailand – but never from a local chemist, only from Boots. (Less chance of them being fake. I hope!) I went to some dog-rough places and, as per your recommendation I ate lots of streetfood and I was ill just once, and I suspect that was more heat-stroke than food poisoning. I did always wonder, though, whether doxycycline, being an antibiotic, had given me some kind of protection from food poisoning? I am vegetarian, though, so maybe that reduced the risk too?
However, I’ve eaten lots of streetfood when I’ve not been on doxy (non-malarial areas) and I’ve been fine – note, there, to anyone still not convinced by your high priase for streetfood!
The downside of doxy was that I got shockingly sunburned, even when I thought I’d covered up (ie the backs of my ankles – the sunlight had been reflected off the pavement and up my trouser legs!)
Love your posts, though – please keep writing!
Alison (10000 Miles & More)
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Wow, thanks for such an interesting comment! I had never actually thought of that. I actually bought my anti-malarials online and hoped that they weren’t sugar pills! Which probably wasn’t the best idea, although I did only use them for a couple of weeks as most places we visited were low-risk. I have no idea if different pills are good for different places, but that’s definitely something to look into! I avoided doxy as I’ve heard sooo many things about the side effects, but obviously it’s totally different person to person. I got a generic brand of Malarone which apparently has all the same ingredients, but I’d be interested to hear about the legitimacy of them, if anyone’s had problems with them etc.
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This was a really enjoyable read..thank you so much!
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Thank you! 🙂 (sorry for the delayed reply, whoops!)
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Great read – heard far too many stories like your examples and it makes you wish people would use a bit more common sense at times 🙏☺️
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Thank you! It is crazy what some people do to save money, or just use no common sense at all!
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I like the post! Heard so much about advices , but never got to use it. I have a feeling I would totally agree with your point of view.
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