Double-Check Your Dates

Picture by Joe Lanman

Just a short message of advice for you today, one that I was reminded of on my trip lately.

We arrived in our hotel, only for the receptionist to tell me that I had booked the wrong date. This being China, I checked the confirmation e-mail I had received, and sure, she was right. I had booked a room for 10 days later.

I still have no idea what happened, but it did teach me a lesson (for the zillionth time) that I'd like to remind you of as well.

We wasted 3 hours calling around and waiting for people to check out at our hostel, before we finally got a room. That's three hours of sightseeing that we missed. And all because I forget to check the dates when I received the confirmation. 

So take your time in checking dates. When traveling, or making plans, keep a calendar with you and make sure that you check both the DAY and the DATE. That way you can also spot if someone else made an error in thinking the 20th was a Saturday instead of a Sunday, for example.

This is literally the work of seconds, and yet is forgotten more often than not. It may not be necessary in most cases, but the one time you're off, it can cost you a lot of time!

Are you someone who usually checks twice? Have you ever booked a hotel for the wrong date? Or worse, a plane ticket?