I know that these are mistakes not because some book told me about them but because I experienced it by making these mistakes myself. New travelers - which is something we will hopefully see people elated about taking part in soon - can save themselves a world of trouble if they just listen to the advice of people that have "been there, done that" like me. I budget-traveled around the globe for nearly 20 years and have learned along the way. Maybe take a little of this advice to heart!
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Packing for every imagineable situation
When I first went backpacking I packed an extraordinary amount of stuff in my bag. I brought several pairs of sandals, hot, warm, cool, and cold weather clothes, as well as hiking boots. I ended up doing exactly zero stuff where any of the cold weather stuff was needed and did one thing that was off-road and was the only idiot I encountered that was actually wearing boots like this was some sort of undiscovered country rather than the national park that it was. All of this gear severely weighed me down and I actually ended up donating about half of what I brought with me to the hostels that I was staying at in order to not have a backbreaking experience the rest of my journey. Which brings me to my next point and a mistake I made early on.
Staying in hotels instead of hostels
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When I first went traveling in the early 2000's I was completely inexperienced and didn't feel like sharing spaces with other people. I'm not sure why, but mostly it had to do with wanting my own private space. You need to get this out of your mind right from the start because staying in hostels and being "forced" to meet other people is a massive part of the entire experience. Once I met some people at a bar and talked about my hotel their reaction was "why are you doing that? You are wasting a ton of money!" and they were correct. Hotels always cost a lot more than hostels and the next day I transitioned to the hostel of the place those people were staying at. What I discovered was a global community of (mostly) awesome people. I met people from all around the world, we shared experiences and gave tips on places that we had already been (ok, I listened, I didn't have much to share yet) and generally had a great time.
You will meet people on these trips that you are going to remain life-long friends with, I guarantee it. This is highly unlikely to happen if you isolate yourself in a hotel.
Trying to do too much
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The above is not my map, but it may as well be. I remember my first trip because it was in South East Asia and my plane landed in Singapore where I stayed for only 1 day. The next day I was on a bus to Malaka, 2 days later I was on a bus to the Kuala Lumpur, a day after that I was in the Highlands, 2 days later I was in Penang, 2 days later I was in Hat Yai, then Krabi, then Phuket, then took a plane over to Samui, a day later i was in Koh Phangan, the SAME DAY I ARRIVED i was on a plane to Bangkok, then 2 days later was on a train to Chiang Mai. Then took a plane eventually back down to meet some of the more seasoned travelers in Krabi again because they were being sensible and fucking taking it easy.
All in all, in my first 20 days of doing the travel experience I probably spent 60% of it in some sort of transport rather than attempting to enjoy the place that I was in. I think the newbie travelers tend to get way too ambitious about all the places they will go and inadvertently end up destroying the entire experience. I also ended up spending a ton of money on last-minute flights that could have been spent enjoying the "good areas" that I discovered.
You can seriously extend your experience if you just take it easy and find a place you like and then stick with it. If you are like me, you are going to enjoy backpacking so much that this is NOT the only time you are going to do this, so just take it easy and stop trying to discover entire countries in 2 weeks - it isn't possible.
Not budgeting properly
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While this didn't really exist when I was back there, I have heard that there has been an emergence of "begpackers" that attempt to fund their travels by begging for money on the streets side-by-side with actual beggars who are genuinely destitute. This is absolutely despicable and not necessarily what I am referring to.
I'm talking about people who go on a backpacking trip with a couple thousand dollars with a plan of making that much money last 4 months. At least back in the early 00's this was something that was actually possible. It might not be anymore.
I met so many people that actually had to cut their travels early because they were living in dreamland when they thought they were going to go on a long term trip with a budget of $5-$10 a day. There might be places in the world where this is possible but there are not many of them. Also, you are going to miss out on a ton of great stuff such as boat trips, national parks, and other sightseeing opportunities because you are too stingy based on your budget. Whatever you think your budget needs to be... double it. This way you can worry less about how much you are spending and focus more on taking in the experience. Also, do you really want to be the guy that is intentionally skipping one of the major features of an area because it costs $10 to get in? I don't want to be.
Backpacking is definitely less expensive than "regular tourism" but it isn't free and a lot of people end up missing out or going home early because they had delusional notions of costs in various countries.
Not getting travel insurance
People skip this all too often when it can be your lifeline in so many situations. The cost of it depends on a lot of factors, but if you are in your 20's and 30's it is as cheap as it is ever going to be for you. For something really low like $100 I was able to have travel insurance for my 2 month trip that would cover me for any injuries, loss of possessions, and other things that you can't really see coming. For me, the choice was an easy one because I would rather have peace of mind than to have my trip suddenly cut short because of unforeseen circumstances beyond my control. In my journeys I have met dozens of people that not only got injured, but also didn't have the money to pay for it or their flight home and had to make phone calls to family members to bail them out. This all could have been prevented if they had simply ponied up a mere $100 before booking their flights.
Most people don't ever make a claim on travel insurance and that is the reason why it is so cheap. In my mind, it is really silly to not get this very affordable coverage if you are heading off into the great unknown.
There are of course, many many more mistakes that are made by new backpackers and that is why I am dividing this up into multiple segments but these are the ones that immediately come to mind.
Backpacking has been a life-changing experience for me and it shaped me into the person that I am today. I really think that it is something that everyone should do in their youth and the concept of "gap year" in Europe is a wonderful thing that I wish more Americans would apply to their own lives. However, you can save yourself a lot of grief if you just take the advice of a seasoned traveler such as myself.