Travel in the ’70s and ’80s lived in this strange space between freedom and misinformation. People hit the road with half-true advice from friends, magazines, and airport gossip, and somehow those ideas stuck. Looking back, some of these “rules” feel almost comical now. Others make you wonder how anyone traveled with a straight face.
Here’s a look at ten myths from those decades that once felt like common sense but today read more like folklore.
1. “You’ll Get Sick If You Sleep With the AC On”
Older travelers swore cold hotel rooms caused everything from colds to stiff necks. Science tells a different story. Air conditioning doesn’t magically make you sick; viruses do. But through the ’70s and ’80s, turning off the AC at night felt like a health precaution. Today, you’re more likely to keep it running just so you can actually sleep.
3. “Hotel Bedspreads Are Safe Because ‘They Clean Everything’”
Many travelers grew up believing hotels washed every single item between guests. In reality, the ’70s and ’80s weren’t exactly the golden age of housekeeping standards. Bedspreads were often washed only a few times a year. Today, travelers bring their own sheets or peel off decorative covers immediately. The myth died, but the suspicion stayed.
4. “If the Rental Car Has Out-of-State Plates, You’ll Get Pulled Over”
Back then, drivers treated license plates like some secret code. Out-of-state meant suspicious. Local meant safe. That fear came from isolated anecdotes that turned into gospel. Modern travelers know police don’t care where your plates come from unless you’re wildly breaking the law, but this myth kept a lot of people driving the family car long after it needed retirement.
5. “Airport X-Ray Machines Can Erase Film, Photos, or Even Cassette Tapes”
Old signage didn’t help. Travelers whispered warnings in security lines, convinced X-rays could wipe out memories stored on film rolls or magnetic tape. While high-intensity scanners could damage film, most fears were exaggerated. Today’s digital world made the myth mostly extinct, along with the long lines of people asking agents to hand-check every camera roll.
6. “You Should Never Eat Street Food Abroad”
This one grew from pure cultural bias. American travelers in the ’70s and ’80s were often told street food was automatically unsafe. Meanwhile, locals were eating better meals for a fraction of the price. Now, street markets are travel highlights, and the old warnings sound more like fear than fact.
7. “The Higher the Hotel Floor, the Safer You Are”
People once believed upper floors were immune to theft, fires, and most emergencies. Today, we know being too high can make evacuation harder, and security depends more on the hotel than the floor number. Still, this myth shaped decades of check-in desk negotiations from travelers who insisted on the “safe” floors.
9. “Drinking Water Abroad Is Automatically Dangerous”
This myth lumped every country outside the U.S. into the same warning category. Travelers carried bottled water everywhere, even in places where tap water was perfectly safe. The truth is more nuanced: some destinations require caution, others don’t. But in the ’70s and ’80s, the myth overpowered the facts.
10. “Travel Days Don’t Count as Real Days”
Families used to treat travel days as void space, wasted time to be endured, not enjoyed. You got up early, rushed everywhere, and arrived exhausted. Today’s travelers lean into the journey, treating trains, airports, long drives, and layovers as part of the adventure. This old myth quietly shaped how generations traveled, and most people never questioned it until much later.
