Like last year, this list of my worst travel moments of 2025 – thankfully – isn’t a long one. Given how much time I spent on the road this year, it’s shocking that it’s not longer. Oddly enough though, all these occurred on the same trip, with most of them occurring in one country–Austria.
I write so much about how amazing travel can be, but I always want to show you the stressful parts too, all those times when things don’t go according to plan (to put it mildly). There are always mishaps, missteps, and just utter f*ckups to contend with when you travel the world. So here’s all the dumb crap that happened to me this year (through my own fault or not) so you can hopefully learn from my mistakes. Enjoy!
Take a look at my worst travel moments of 2023 and 2024 here.
1. Not being able to pay for gas in the Czech Republic
In May 2025, I spent a few days in Prague and Pilsen and then drove over to Germany where I visited Flossenbürg Concentration Camp, Bamberg, and then moved on to Neuschwanstein before continuing on with a much longer trip through Austria. Mishap #1 occurred the day I drove from Prague to Germany.
The first problem I encountered was that something was askew with my GPS apps. Ergo, they ended up taking my husband and me the longest route possible from Prague to Flossenbürg via back country roads. We drove about two hours longer than we should have.
As a result, I started to run out of gas sooner than expected. We were about an hour away from Germany when I really started to freak out about the tank nearing empty. But we were driving on back roads in the Czech Republic (an act that feels centuries behind when you compare it to driving in Germany). So, I didn’t want to stop yet.
I kept saying, “I just want to make it over the border before I get gas.” Germany was so close. I just had a feeling that I should wait until we get to Germany to get gas. I felt this in my bones.
And perhaps this would be a good place to pause and direct you to my post on my worst travel moments of 2024 where I had a gigantic “getting gas in Europe” snafu last year that has left me permanently emotionally scarred.
But the German border seemed to get farther and farther away while my gas tank kept getting emptier and emptier. We were definitely playing chicken with the laws of petrol physics at this point.
A critical decision
So, I finally made the decision: the next gas station I see, I’m going to stop and fill up. I gaslighted the f*ck out of myself, convincing myself there was no rational reason to push my petrol supply beyond its limits. I was being silly. Just get some gas, you weirdo!
Soon enough, I passed a gas station. A small one, in a Podunk town, but still a gas station. I pulled into a pump and parked. To be on the safe side, I immediately went into the station and asked the owner if they accept credit cards. I even showed him my card. He nodded and confirmed, “Yes.” So, I pumped my gas and then went back in to pay.
The consequences of my actions
And to the surprise of no one, least of all me, the machine did not take my credit card. I started getting flashbacks of the gasoline debacle of 2024 and began to panic. This mf’er told me they take credit cards, WTF.
Assuming the problem was that particular card, I went back out to the car and gathered all the other credit cards I (and my husband) had. None of them worked. I went back out to the car to see what kind of cash I could scrape together. I was in the process of leaving the Czech Republic, so I’d spent as much of my Czech koruna as I could at that point.
When I went back in, the owner had figured out the problem: “No internet.” (I was, in fact, in the middle of nowhere.) He went back to the register with an air as though the problem had solved itself. I handed him my credit card again and he said, “No. No internet.” SIR. I asked you BEFORE I pumped my gas if you accepted credit cards and you said yes. OBVIOUSLY, I need to pay with a credit card. Now that I’ve pumped my gas, we found ourselves at an impasse.
After trying the cards again several times. He just shrugged and said “Cash only.” I explained to this man (we conversed awkwardly through the translator app on his phone) that I didn’t have any cash. He told me there wasn’t an ATM anywhere nearby. He asked if I would be coming back through here later, which was an obvious No. And what would I have done anyway? Leave my husband behind as collateral?
The solution, whether he likes it or not
The total for the gas came to 1439Kč (or 60€ / about $68US) He had two choices at this point: He could either let me go with a full tank of free gas, or he could accept a pile of random currencies that sort of equaled the total I owed. He chose option #2.
So, I handed him a mix of Czech koruna, euros, and the US dollars I keep with my passport in case of emergency. He was not happy, but I could tell he also understood that he was largely responsible for this situation. He paid for my gas out of his own pocket and then pocketed my random currencies. (He did the conversions on his phone and gave me a separate receipt for each to prove his honesty.)
The euros he’d be able to use at some point, I’m sure. I had no idea what he was going to do with American dollars and neither did he, but I bet he tells this story every time he opens his wallet.
The moral of this story
The moral of this story? Always follow your gut. As this was happening, I was kicking myself for not trusting my instinct. I totally could have made it into Germany where powerful internet exists and where I could at least communicate with the person. I knew something was going to happen if I tried to get gas in the Czech Republic. (I arrived at the German border, where there was a large gas station, 10 minutes after leaving here.)
The other thing to remember is to never completely rely on your credit card and always have plenty of cash in case of emergency. Even though I’m pretty good about following this rule, this was an exception. I was on my way out of the country; it would’ve been stupid of me to have a backup stash of at least 1500 Czech Koruna–a currency I can only use in one small country to which I have no immediate plans of returning.
In retrospect, perhaps what I should have done in this particular case is only got as much gas as I could have with what few Czech Koruna I had. It wouldn’t have gotten me a lot of gas, but it would have gotten me as far as a gas station in Germany, which is really all I was concerned about. For what it’s worth, that gas station also accepts euros, so I could have gotten even more gas with the few euros I had too.
(But still, I confirmed ahead of time that he did, in fact, accept credit cards, so, again, I’m not completely at fault here.)
Also read: 21 Must-Have Travel Safety Items (that I never leave home without)
2. Booking a hotel for the wrong nights
In the summer of 2025, I spent a month in Europe–a week of that in the Czech Republic and Germany with my husband, and the rest in Germany, Austria, London, Normandy, and Paris with my travel bestie Amanda. For that entire month, I had to book:
- 3 flights
- 1 long-distance train
- 2 rental cars
- A parking spot in Prague
- 16 hotel rooms
- And itineraries for all 16 of those destinations
Amanda and I split up the hotel bookings and a few other things, but much of the other stuff fell on me. With all that needed planning, I’m actually shocked I only messed up one thing.
The oops
After my time in Czech and Germany, I stopped by the Munich airport to swap my husband for Amanda. We spent one more night in Germany (in Füssen) and then headed off on a two-week road trip around Austria. The first stop being Innsbruck, where we stayed at a small dairy farm out in the country.
Late on the first night at the farm, shortly after I’d just milked some cows (true story), I got a text from the manager of the hotel I’d booked for us in Zell am See, a small lakeside town about two hours away. He was wondering when we were going to arrive, because it was already around 10pm and they were still waiting for us. Oops.
Somehow, I’d gotten the dates all mixed up. I’d booked the hotel in Zell am See for the two nights we were actually staying at the farm near Innsbruck. That meant we also didn’t have a hotel booked for the two nights we were actually going to be in Zell am See. And Zell am See is a resort town and it was the height of summer. It was hard enough to find a hotel with two free nights in June as it was.
Besides the fact that I was probably going to have to pay hundreds of dollars for two nights at a hotel that I wasn’t using, and then not have a hotel for the next two nights, I also felt really bad that this man and his staff had been waiting around for us all night. I apologized profusely (notice a theme here?) and explained the situation the best I could. Basically, I’m a big dumb-dumb, please find it hilarious and endearing and have pity on me?
The result
Thankfully, by some miracle, they did have one room open for the two nights that we would actually be in Zell am See. And though he certainly didn’t find the situation hilarious nor endearing, he still let me off with just a €75 no-show penalty fee. His emojis expressed his annoyance. When I confirmed that we would indeed be there two nights later, his emojis then expressed his apprehension. I’m seriously upset that I didn’t save a screenshot of our text exchange.
The hotel I’m referring to is the Two Timez Boutique Hotel in Zell am See. I don’t get the name but I do know you should definitely book a room here. It’s in a perfect location near plenty of parking, walking to everywhere, and has an awesome rooftop bar with great views. Oh, and FANTASTIC air conditioning!
The moral of this story
I guess the only real thing to learn from this is just to double, triple, and quadruple check your plans when you have a seriously packed itinerary. Thing is, I must have checked my plans a hundred times for this trip and still have no idea how this error seeped through.
At the very least, we did still have another day or so after that text that we could have used to come up with a new plan had there not been any rooms available in Zell am See. That’s the great part about taking a road trip where you have your own car–you can change plans and destinations on a whim.
The other thing to keep in mind when traveling the world is to always expect the unexpected. Prepare for there to always be some kind of snafu. Always have some backup money and a backup plan.
Also check out: 16 Factors to Consider When Choosing a Hotel to Pick the Perfect One Every Time
3. The Hallstatt disappointment
From Zell am See we then made our way over to Hallstatt–another lakeside Austrian town but one that’s decidedly more “instafamous.” Admittedly, I had low expectations for Hallstatt given its over-the-top popularity, but still, we were right there so might as well. As it turns out, Hallstatt was even more disappointing than I thought it would be.
What’s wrong with Hallstatt?
Had this been just another lakeside Austrian town to pass through, it would’ve been perfect. It is a seriously beautiful town, after all. But what Instagram has turned it into makes my heart ache. If you ever want to learn about the pitfalls of overtourism firsthand, head to Hallstatt.
Tourists arrive by the busload, to this town where a bus was never meant to go. Thousands of tourists at a time clog the town’s tiny streets creating loads of noise and trash. They push each other to vie for the best photo spots and act astoundingly rude to the waitstaff at the town’s restaurants. (I won’t soon forget the racist bitch we encountered shortly after arriving for lunch.)
That beautiful famous viewpoint? It’s filled with hordes of tourists, all fighting over the space they each feel entitled to for some reason. All while being surrounded by signs begging for respect and quiet. The restaurants are overpriced but serving food of subpar quality. Whatever charm this village once had, it is long gone.
But that’s not Hallstatt’s fault
I totally understand that none of that is Hallstatt’s fault. It’s all of our faults. So what can we do about it? Well, here are a few simple things:
- Don’t go. If you see a place being Instagrammed to death, chances are it’s wreaking havoc on the local town. Ergo, the best thing you can do is just not go; don’t contribute to its overtourism problems. At the very least, wait a few years until its popularity wanes and tourism gets back to a manageable level.
- Support the local economy while you’re there. Stay in local hotels instead of Airbnbs, eat at the local restaurants, and spend money in the locally-owned shops. Don’t pop in for a few hours and then leave without contributing to the town’s economy. This is just taking with no give.
- Don’t be an asshole. This really shouldn’t be such a tough ask. And yet. If you do decide to visit a place like Hallstatt, remember the volume of inconsiderate tourists the locals have to deal with every day. Be kind to them, be courteous, be appreciative, and most of all, be patient.
But wait, there’s more
Hallstatt’s overtourism wasn’t the only disappointing thing about our visit here. Besides checking out the famous viewpoint, we also had a handful of other plans that included taking the funicular up to the Hallstatt Skywalk, visiting the Hallstatt Ossuary, and shopping for a dirndl at a local store. However, none of those things were open or operating the day we went.
There was significant construction at the funicular, so if we wanted to visit the Skywalk (which I’m also not sure was even open), we’d have to literally climb the mountain, which we weren’t at all prepared to do. The Ossuary just wasn’t open, nor was the dirndl shop, despite its hours clearly stating it should have been. So, after our fourth disappointment of the day, we decided to say screw Hallstatt! and head back to another adorable village we’d found the day before. (Check out Bad Ischl if you’re in the area!)
The moral of the story
Plain and simple, if a place becomes instafamous and you really only see it from one single angle, chances are it’s not worth visiting (and yet still overtouristed). The only thing about this town I’d ever seen was that one famous view; I’d never heard about anything else to do here.
Don’t go out of your way to visit a place just for a single photo opportunity. Hallstatt wasn’t out of our way, which is why we stopped here, but at least we were able to see it for what it was and get out before we wasted too much of our time or contributed even more to its problems.
4. Being severely allergic to a large portion of Austria
After Hallstatt we found ourselves in Salzburg, spending the night at the castle that was used as the Von Trapp mansion in The Sound of Music. But while we thought this experience was going to be Something Good, it was instead So Long, Farewell to my sinuses and nasal passages. Turns out, I was severely allergic to Salzburg.
It really started while we were waiting outside the castle to catch a bus into the city, surrounded by fields of wheat and grass–my arch nemeses. Things got real bad, real fast. And I’m not even including the rude as hell bus driver who purposely shut the door on me. Like, physically crushing me in the door. Jerk.
I thought (hoped) that after we left Salzburg, the torture would end. But alas, then came Linz, where the situation became even worse somehow. This was now one of the worst allergy attacks I’ve ever suffered.
I was doomed
Amanda, checking her weather app, asked what exactly I was allergic to. “Grass.” Then she showed me this:
I was doomed.
After Linz came Vienna where the situation was just more of the same. I had some allergy medicine on me, but it did little to stop the symptoms and a lot to just dull everything else. I spent around 4-5 days in a Sudafed-induced daze. I couldn’t breathe, I couldn’t sleep, and my throat felt like I was swallowing golf balls. The only thing that did help was the bottle of nose spray Amanda just happened to keep with her in case of emergency. At least one of us came prepared!
Unfortunately, the crisis didn’t noticeably wane until we were clear out of Vienna and headed back towards the Alps.
The moral of the story
Allergy attacks like that don’t happen to me often, but still, it’s not never. Though I could always plan to travel with some nasal spray and proper medications of my own, it’s really never going to be enough. The drugs don’t stop the allergies, they just kind of numb the symptoms until you leave the allergy-producing area.
The only real solution would just be to not travel in those areas during their typically high allergy seasons. (Tuscany in the summer does the same to me.) Yes, it really was that bad.
5. The many, many driving violations I accrued in Austria
The last of my worst travel moments of 2025 is the biggest and one that I’m not even sure is over yet. This one has been the most frustrating, the most expensive, the most utter bullshit of them all. Here’s how it went down…
Upon landing in Munich at the start of this long month in Europe, I stopped by the Europcar booth to pick up my rental car. This would be the car I drove through Germany, the Czech Republic, and Austria for the next three weeks. Everything with the pick-up went pretty well; ‘twas the standard rental car pickup experience.
Being very familiar with driving around Europe, I know all about the requirements for driving in these three countries. Which is why, when I picked up the car, I confirmed that the car had the necessary vignette sticker required for driving in Austria. Jasmine, the staff member helping me, confirmed “Yes.” Wanting to make completely sure I had all the right stuff needed to drive in Austria, I annoyingly asked again. “Yes, you have everything you need. You’re good to go!”
Spoiler alert: I did not have everything I needed and I was not, indeed, good to go.
It’s all Jasmine’s fault
I drove that car on a road trip that covered most of the entire country of Austria for two weeks. It wasn’t until I was back home in Massachusetts more than a month later that I began receiving all the driving violations.
APPARENTLY, my car did not have the required vignette that Jasmine assured me twice that I did. Each time my license plate got scanned, I received a €120 fine from ASFiNAG (the Austrian autobahn authority) plus a €35 fine from Europcar. Thankfully, by some miracle, I only got clocked three times. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still unbelievably pissed about this. But having spent two weeks on the road covering the entire country, this could have been so much worse.
The other issue was that you only have 30 days in which to pay the fine to ASFiNAG or else the fine increases to €300 each. If you don’t pay that within 30 days, it goes up to €1500. My issue was that ASFiNAG sent each of these violations by mail to Europcar first, who then drafted another notice and then sent those both to me by mail. By the time I received my first violation, it was already 35 days after it had been issued. Same with the second one. Same with the third. So all of these were paid late, even though I paid them as soon as I received them.
Then I thought, what if, on the 31st day of the violation, they sent me another notice stating that my fine had now increased? By the time I received that one, it would be too late again, and the cycle would continue until one day when I’d be sent to the gallows in Vienna.
Get with the program, ASFiNAG
One insane thing about all of this, is that the only way to pay the ASFiNAG fines is through wire transfer to their bank in Vienna. Obviously, I thought this was a scam and did the necessary investigating. But nope. This is literally how the Austrian autobahn authority conducts their business. In the year of our lord 2025. Every time I had to wire money to these bozos, I also had to pay a $5 wire fee from my bank. That brings my current total for this bullshit to $552.67.
I’ve since spent an unholy amount of time dealing with this nonsense, most of which is still being ignored by Europcar. I knew the requirements and I did what I thought was sufficient in confirming twice that I had what I needed. The staff member confirmed this twice for me. What more was I to do? She flat-out lied to me.
As it stands, here in December 2025, I haven’t received another notice in at least a couple months, so I think I’m in the clear, though I’m not entirely positive because who knows. Am I wanted in Austria? Nobody knows. I have plans to do some driving in Austria in 2026; should I just take the train instead? Actually, maybe I will.
The moral of the story
I feel that what I’ve learned from this is that you can’t trust anyone. Just because the rental car salesperson says YES YOU HAVE ALL THE REQUIREMENTS, it’s really up to you to confirm it. The Austrian vignette typically comes in the form of a physical sticker on the car. I should have gone into the garage and fully inspected the car myself to make sure there was a vignette sticker on it.
However, some places have it so that the vignette is a digital version that’s connected to your license plate number, which is what I thought I had. Meaning, when your license plate gets scanned, it shows up that you have the necessary vignette.
I didn’t know this at the time, but there’s a page on the ASFiNAG website where you can enter your license plate number and see if there’s a vignette associated with your car or not. I wish I had known about that earlier. [Check for an Austrian vignette here.]
Should there ever be a next time that I drive in Austria, even if I confirm with the salesperson, and even if the website says there’s a vignette on my car, I think I will still just go buy a vignette sticker and put it on there myself. They’re not expensive, and that’s really the only way to be sure. (Do you think they penalize you for having more than one vignette on your car? I bet they do!) Needless to say, Europcar is on my never-again list.
What else I should have done
Now knowing how this ultimately went down, there is one thing I should have done differently. When Jasmine confirmed for me, twice, that I did have a vignette on my car, I should have at least gotten that confirmation in writing. I’m not sure that would actually save anyone from a headache like this, but it would maybe make the person think twice about lying to you or at least make them double check.
More info for your next trips
Like this post? Have questions about any of this year’s worst travel moments? Let me know in the comments below. Best of luck in 2026!
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