My husband got me a vacation for Christmas but he didn't make sure we had valid passports or apply for visas in advance and now we might be out all kinds of money. I'm trying so hard to stay calm right now
I am really trying not to be upset with my husband but I have to get this out somewhere. I know my husband is embarrassed, I'm doing my best to be calm and not make him feel worse but I still feel like screaming or ripping my hair out because of how frustrated I am right now.
This year for Christmas my husband got me a vacation. His brother got married in March and the pictures from the honeymoon were absolutely beautiful. My husband booked us into the same resort that his brother and sister-in-law stayed at. He surprised me on Christmas morning. We were supposed to fly out the following day. We didn't end up being about to go because my husband forget some important things. Number one, he didn't get a passport for our son, check whether his passport and my passport are still valid. Our son is turning 2 in February and husband said he thought kids didn't need a passport if they don't have a seat on the plane. (I have no idea why he thought this or why he didn't check). Both his passport and mine expired last year. We were not able to get emergency passports for the 3 of us. And also besides the passport issues my husband didn't apply for visas for the 3 of us. We would have needed to get an electronic visa BEFORE we got there but my husband said he didn't think we needed visas to go to other countries. He thought that was only for people who travel here. When he said that I felt like screaming.
We are doing what we can to get refunds and I know my husband is embarrassed but I can't help but be mad at him. He did absolutely no research or planning ahead before he dropped a bunch on a vacation that we aren't able to go on because of his lack of planning. I know he meant well but I don't understand how he didn't take 2 minutes to look at our passports or check if we needed visas. Or look into getting our son a passport. When we went on our honeymoon in 2014 it was the first (and now only) time either of us had been on an international vacation. When we went to get passports we were told they were valid for 10 years. I made sure we had the proper visas before we left. I don't understand how he could go through all the effort to book the flights and the resort and then not even bother to do any research into what else was needed for the trip. We might lose money we can't afford to lose over this. He didn't get travel insurance and I don't know what any of the refund policies are. I can't help but be pissed off over the way he handled this. I don't need advice about what to do over the vacation, I just needed to get everything out. I especially don't want to do it in front of our son.
Posted Dec 29, 2025, 3:13 AM UTC