Stupid Mistakes

Stupid mistakes add up. Budget travelers need to avoid the cost of tiny errors that can turn an inexpensive trip into a journey that costs more than you bargained for at the outset. I suspect I've made every stupid mistake on the tourist decision choice wheel. I think I've made a few of them twice.

A few years ago I visited Bath, UK --- a destination I heartily recommend to budget travelers. Only about 90 minutes by train from London, the bed and breakfasts are less expensive than the capital's, meals are cheaper and walking around the town center is great entertainment. Built on a series of gently rolling hills in unilateral Bath sandstone the city is a step back into regency England. Easy access by public transport to Stonehenge is another reason to take the plunge into Bath.

http://www.romanbaths.co.uk/Roman_Baths_... is the most famous image of Bath -the Roman baths with the Cathedral looming in the background. Most visitors head for the Roman ruins and the Pump room. The Museum of Costume is a real delight for folks interested in social history, allow at least two hours to see it. You can preview it here: http://www.museumofcostume.co.uk/default...

Which doesn't tell you a thing about my stupid mistake, does it?

I went to Bath over an August bank holiday weekend. Planning in advance I booked into a B & B that advertised in the BTA booklet for Avon. Back in the ancient days before the earth cooled when I used the telephone instead of the Internet to book, I made bookings in a breathless transatlantic rush, one eye on the phone as the long distance charges racked up.

The B & B was unsuitable upon arrival. The proprietor directed us to a guesthouse on the same road. Being as it was a bank holiday weekend we could only stay three nights instead of the four we'd planned. He was all booked up beyond three nights. We had planned on going onto London for our return flight anyway; we figured we just go a day early.

I did say Bank Holiday weekend, didn't I?

During each August Bank holiday for over thirty years the Notting Hill Carnival draws hordes of visitors to the cheap hotels I usually haunt in London. You can find out more about Europe's largest street fair at http://www.nottinghillcarnival.net.uk/.

The hotel we'd booked for our three days in London couldn't put us up a day early. So after a series of expensive calls we found a room for the orphaned night at a mere hundred dollars more than I've ever paid for a hotel in London.

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