Eminently Eve
I won’t even try to hide the fact that travelling is fun, exciting and rejuvenating. I would be lying though if I said all my travel experiences have been amazing and a breeze. There are certainly things that I did not expect to happen that happened and ended up costing me a lot of money that I did not even have and also potentially could have ended up really bad for me and those I was travelling with. I therefore would like to share four of some of the unexpected travel expenses that I’ve experienced on my travels. Even though I specified Zimbabwe in the title, these unexpected expenses can be experienced anywhere regardless of where you are travelling in this world. The four are as follows:
1. Fuel
In no particular order, the first one on the list is needing money for extra fuel due to miscalculating total distance or calculating the total fuel needed using inaccurate information. The extra fuel may also be needed as a result of getting lost or heavy offroad work on rough terrain for a 4WD vehicle which can drastically increase its fuel consumption. I remember my early days when I started travelling as an adult without my parents and it was just my sister and I. We ended up sleeping in the car in the middle of nowhere because we had miscalculated the amount of fuel we needed. We were honestly just young and naive because why we encouraged each other to try and drive for kilometres on empty and hope to get to the nearest town remains a mystery to me. Of course we didn’t get to that town and it was late in the evening. So we had to wait till morning to contact someone to then bring us fuel in a container. That was definitely one of the scariest times of my life just being there and it is certainly not advisable at all because anything could have happened. It can also be easily avoided by doing proper calculations and also travelling with extra funds than needed to be able to purchase fuel when the need arises, or just carry a 20 litre jerry can of spare fuel.
2. Accommodation
Again, in my early years of travelling, my sister and I decided to travel from Nkayi in Matabeleland North to Mutare but going via Masvingo to visit a relative. For some reason, instead of just staying overnight at this relative’s house we decided to leave late, headed to Mutare. But of course it was so late that we were both too tired and sleepy to risk continuing to drive (at least we were smart enough to acknowledge that) so we could not drive past Masvingo CBD. We also did not have any funds to pay for a BnB accommodation to spend the night.
So we ended up sleeping outside one bank where the security guard there was kind enough to allow that to happen and also kept an eye on us. We luckily got home the following day in one piece, however, not recommended at all. It can also be easily avoided by making sure that you always travel with more money than needed. You may need accommodation along the way before you get to your final destination for different reasons including a breakdown. So it’s always better to find out how much BnBs in small towns you are going to be driving through cost and also have contacts of these BnBs on standby. Most trips are safe and uneventful but the more you travel the higher the chances are of something going wrong.
3. Food
I have since learnt that when most destinations say that their fees include accommodation, all activities and all meals it actually excludes certain things. It is important to always ask what exactly “ALL” consists of because sometimes you will realise only during your stay that they do not include certain things like drinks, snacks and even other activities.
We recently went on a trip where we were told that the package included all activities, meals & accommodation, only to find out that drinks, snacks and other activities were not included. Upon chatting to the hosts, we ended up doing the other activities and having mid-morning snacks without paying extra . We did have to pay for the drinks though. Luckily, now that I’ve grown past naivety, we always travel with extra money. It therefore all went well even though the drinks were an unexpected expense since the assumption is “all” includes literally “all” unless stated otherwise.
4. Things forgotten during packing
Oh! This one is the most annoying one on the list because you end up being forced to buy things that you know fully well you have at home. I could write a book if I were to list all the items that I have forgotten to pack but were needed so we ended up forking out money unnecessarily. From sun hats, to medicine to clothing items. Unfortunately, trying to buy these items out of your usual environment will always cause you to buy them at an alarming price. One time I forgot to pack enough t-shirts for hubby and we ended up buying a ridiculously priced t-shirt which also happened to be in the colour he hates. So he literally just wore it once and now I wear it while chilling at home. We bought caps that are just sitting around now because we don’t even like the design but at the time we had no choice. Another time I forgot some medicine and had to drive all the way to the nearest town to get to a pharmacy and not only did we waste fuel but we also bought overpriced medicine. So yeah on this one you really want to pay attention when packing and even better, start packing a few days prior.
There are so many things that could require you to spend unbudgeted funds. This list is therefore not exclusive. It is just to jog your mind when travelling to also think of the things that could possibly go wrong and most importantly travel with a few extra dollars to make sure that you are safe and can get back home in one piece.
Remember to always have a little intimacy in your life & as always I’m talking about Intimacy With Nature.
