This post isn’t so much about grand adventures or optimistic locations, as recent one’s have been, but more one of prudent advice. To sum it all up, double-check your plans before you leave on your adventure.

When I was younger, the term seat-of-your-pants was an apt description for my travel style. And, while I attempt to continue that trend as I age, I find it necessary to be slightly more on-point regarding travel plans. I offer two reason why, as I have had two major screwups in the recent past.

Screwup Number One: Assuming I understand Visa Requirements For Europe.

I have been to Europe over numerous decades, and always had an excellent travel experience. It has become so casual that I look at Europe as a comfortable and welcoming place. Kind of a go-to locational area when I’m tired of working my way through South America or the Middle East.

I have become so comfortable with traveling in-and-around Europe that I hardly think about the logistics of it any more. With it mindset in my planning, I somehow missed the fact that a person can only be in the Schengen Zone of Europe for a total of 90 days in any 180 day period of time. This bit of information put a serious change in my upcoming trip plans. I have done several multination trips, but have never been in the area long enough to run up against this requirement before. And, with the continuous swelling of the Schengen Zone, the ability to travel Europe without dealing in this requirement is becoming harder and harder. Where I had planned on an ample amount of time in Eastern Europe, I now find that many of those countries are in the zone too.

This issue has complicated upcoming plans, but not derailed them. It hasn’t derailed them because I learned this before leaving. If I had encountered this after travelling for a couple months, it definitely would have been problematic. Definitely check your immigration requirements before traveling.

Screwup Number Two: Using The Wrong Information To Plan With.

Over the last weekend I made an excursion across Texas to the Guadeloupe Mountain National Park, so that I might climb the peak. In planning for this weekend adventure I used the closest google maps town to figure out the local weather. The weather was supposed to be excellent, so I packed accordingly. I learned when I arrived that the weather wasn’t as grand as I supposed that it would be. Apparently, I used a town down on the mesa bottom, not up by the mountain base. It was a good thirty degrees cooler, with much more wind.

Needless to say, I froze all the time I was there. It ruined camping out, and it ruined climbing the peak the next day. The whole weekend was a bust. If I had of planned for the appropriate weather, it wouldn’t have been nearly as bad. You live and learn.

So, before wandering off on your next adventure, I suggest that you check your travel plans one more time. It’s a good idea to make the most of your travels, and will help you have memorable trips (not good bar stories). Where I did less of it earlier on, I do more of it now. And, Where I still leave my itineraries loose so that they’re flexible to new plans, I will be checking the big stuff one more time, before getting on the plane this summer.

Check your stuff, and then get out there. Have a great travel experience.