Check this before you travel

Be sure to check this before you travel

Did you know that you are not allowed to serve alcohol in the Bahamas on election day? Or that the entire island of Bali shuts down during Nyepi, the Day of Silence?

While most tourists would never need to know these facts; checking local holidays, customs, and restrictions is an important part of the planning process when booking meaningful and educational travel.

This never really crossed my mind until we wound up in Mexico during the World Cup! We boarded the shuttle in La Paz for a day of beach relaxation and downtown exploration. The beach was perfect but we wanted to explore more so we saved our appetite for our visit downtown. Once we got to the famous Malecon we quickly discovered that all the restaurants were packed and overflowing onto the sidewalks filled with soccer fans. The energy was palpable, Mexico was playing South Africa and the drinks and cheers were flowing.

While this energy and happiness excited me, it was overwhelming for some of my travel party. It also didn’t help that we were hungry and couldn’t find a seat at the restaurants we wanted to try. We finally found a restaurant that didn’t have any televisions and was therefore more mellow but it definitely wasn’t our top choice and a little more expensive and slower service than what we were hoping for.

Overall, it didn’t ruin our day but it did serve as a lesson to do some research into the days and times you are visiting another country so that you can plan accordingly.

Experiencing new holidays, traditions, and celebrations are some of my favorite reasons to travel but it is definitely better when you are prepared.

Happy travels,

Jennifer