Movies will tell you that traveling is fun. Way too much fun. So much fun that they often get a lot of things seriously wrong—and leave other things out entirely. Relying on movies for travel inspiration is fine—but if you’re taking Hollywood’s word for travel spending, eating out, and luggage storage, you’re in for a surprise.

Misconception #1: I’m Going on an Adventure!

While it would certainly be a treat to channel yourinner Bilbo Baggins and hop off on an adventure at a moment’s notice, real-life travel doesn’t quite work that way. Movies like to tell you that travel plans are made just like that: one second you’re looking at a magazine with a picture of an exotic location, and the next second you’re in that place, vacationing your heart out.

Travel plans in real life require a ton of planning and preparation, not to mention packing. We wouldn’t advise anyone make hasty and rash travel decisions, since those are the ones that tend to go wrong. You should always plan in advance, make your bookings ahead of time andonline, and have a list ready to go before you even start packing.

Misconception #2: Unlimited Spending

Vacations in a movie look like they come free: the food’s free, the hotels are free, and the sight-seeing is most definitely free. You have people going to malls and coming out with multiple bags in their hands, apparently unbothered by any dents in their bank accounts.

Of course, that’s fiction.

In real life, your travel plans require some serious budgeting. Among other things, you have to worry about:

• Accommodation
• Commute
• Luggage storage
• Food
• Delays
• General spending
• Extra spending, such as shopping
• Emergencies and accidents

And unlike in movies, people in real life don’t have inexhaustible amounts of money to their name.

Misconception #3: Time Doesn’t Exist

You don’t even need to understand the intricacies of space-time to know that time doesn’t just retreat into the backseat once you decide to go on an adventure.

Of course, a movie or a show is only a few hours in length, and they will often skip from destination to destination. Real-life travel takes up many, many hours—even days. And then, there are the following problems:

• Flight delays
• Political and social complications, such as mass protests, terrorist threats, or a global pandemic
• Weather issues, which often cause you to change your travel plans
• Possible vehicle issues: your car can break down, your plane might have to make an emergency landing, and so on.

Real-life travel means you can’t get toDragonstone to the Wall in seconds—that would take you several hours or days even if there were no hurdles in your path.

Misconception #4: Vacations Go Wrong

If you were to gather all your travel trivia from Hollywood, you’d think nothing ever goes right on a trip. You’re probably going to run into a mysterious serial killer who wants to kill you, or a redneck hillbilly family that wants to kill you, or a bear that wants to kill you, and so on. Truth be told, no one’s killing you on vacation—and cabins in the woods are relatively safe, very popular, and very enjoyable travel choices that people make all the time.

Of course, things can go wrong—but this ismostly limited to losing your wallet or forgetting your hotel room’s key at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, because you were too busy gambling.

Misconception #5: You’ll Find Love on a Vacation

You couldfind someone you’re awfully into on a vacation, but the chances of you running into your significant other on a trip to Boston are… slim, to be honest. Real-life travelers are more invested in getting their money’s worth and sight-seeing than sitting in cafes with random people they just met.

This age-old hipster idea of finding your true love while you’re away seeing the world is riddled with plot-holes—because it entails either a long-distance relationship or a move to another city, both of which are not realistic options. And yes, we’re looking at you, Eat Pray Love.

People love to travel—they don’t travel to love.

Misconception #6: You Should Always Book a Hotel Room

The movies will tell you there’s just no way around booking a hotel room, even if just for the sake of having a place to store your luggage. Think back, for instance, to that classic 80’s cop flick, Beverly Hills Cop. Eddie Murphy plays a Delaware cop who travels to Beverly Hills to solve a friend’s murder. What’s the first thing he does? He books a room in a hotel—that charges $235 a night.

And remember, this movie was made in the 80s—that’s like $600 a night in 2021. The face Murphy makes when that price is quoted is something we’re all familiar with—we’ve all made that face at one point in our lives.

The point here is, he didn’t even need to do that. For the remainder of the movie, Murphy is seen only once in his hotel room—he’s solving a crime, after all, and there was little need to actually book a hotel room in the first place, not to mention such an expensive one. Sadly for Murphy, luggage storage services didn’t exist back then.

What’s a Luggage Storage Service?

If you’re traveling to a different city any time in 2021, don’t rely on movies to tell you how travel works—especially if it’s about booking expensive hotel rooms for luggage storage purposes. Go for a baggage storage service such as Cubby and get away with leaving your luggage in a safe and secure place for only $5.90 per bag for a night! Additional nights will cost even less—$3.90 per night! Cubby’s has locations in Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, Galveston, Fort Worth, Boston, Houston, Washington D.C.,Las Vegas, and San Antonio.