Looking for a brief about what you need to know before taking a trip. There are many things that you should take into consideration when planning a long or short vacation. You need to make sure your passport is valid and up-to-date, you have enough money on hand, and that you’re packing appropriate clothes and shoes for the climate where you’re going. This is just the start- we also offer advice about how to keep your pets safe, what vaccinations might be necessary, and even how to pre-book some activities like tours of the region!
Traveling is complicated. You need to pack, you may need visas or vaccinations, and there are lots of little things that could go wrong. On the other hand, it’s worth it- traveling is a great way to see the world and meet new people. But it can be expensive, time-consuming, and stressful too. So how do you make sure your trip goes as smoothly as possible? We have some tips for you!
We contacted some people who traveled before to get their best advice for traveling in 2021! Here are 3 pieces of advice that we think will make your next trip more enjoyable: Made in Turkey Tours
1) Keep Your Eye On The Locals
My best advice? Do your best to experience places like a local. For me, that often means staying with locals and/or hosting travelers through networks such as Servas or Couchsurfing, sharing a meal or two with them, and just visiting.
It means not spending all your time on a tour bus, but using public transit to visit non-tourist neighborhoods–walking the streets and catching your breath in a local cafe with a local clientele. It means going to grocery stores, maybe even furniture stores, with your eyes and ears wide open. It means going to a news kiosk and scanning the headlines (if they use a Roman alphabet) to see if you can get any sense of what they’re talking about.
It might mean going on a day trip on a LOCAL-focused tour to a place an hour or two away–and chatting up the people next to you. And it’s very helpful to listen to an introductory language course before your trip, so you have a few words and phrases.
This Advice was presented by Shel Horowitz from Going Beyond Sustainability. He’s a green/social entrepreneurship profitability consultant, speaker, and author of Guerrilla Marketing to Heal the World.
2) Always Be Open To Try New Things!
My first and most important advice to anyone who wants to travel is to be open.. There are so many times while traveling that you come across something or someone that is not according to the norm you are familiar with. This unfamiliarity raises judgment under normal circumstances, but when you are traveling, this judgment needs to be suspended. It needs to be replaced with patience, and acceptance. A certain openness to new experiences, new people, new surroundings, basically a whole new world.
3) Take Your Essentials but Pack Light
A second most important piece of advice to anyone who is looking to travel, pack light. I can not stress this point enough, you may be going on vacation, but no number of shirt options is worth the struggle of running to catch a bus in Mexico lugging a trolley bag behind you. Packing light does not mean not taking essentials, just make sure you are not taking too many of them. And on the subject of packing, always make sure you have your towel, soap, and sanitizer.
4) Map Consultation Is Important
Finally, travelers tend to get cocky after their first few trips. There have been so many experienced travelers too who get overconfident and simply refuse to consult the maps. I believe maps are the best friend for a traveler, the second-best friend, planning. Make sure that you are taking into consideration the distance and direction you will need to travel, or you may end up on a long road with nowhere to go.
We want to thank Will Hatton, the founder, and CEO of Broke Backpacker.
5) Get Some Good Night Sleep Before Going!
The best piece of travel advice I can give after many years of traveling the world – the USA, Europe, Australia, NZ, and Asia – is to get a good night’s sleep before you go.
Especially when you’re going on a flight for more than a few hours, you know the day is going to be pretty draining. Making sure you’re well-rested before you go makes the day so much better.
I make sure I’m packed and have everything in order a day before I leave so that I can have a chilled-out afternoon and evening beforehand.
Last-minute rushing around is what leads to a restless night’s sleep and then an awful day traveling the next day.
Thanks to Dan Morris from Fire and Saw for this valuable advice!
We also wanted to participate, So here is our advice:
Plan ahead
Planning ahead is the best thing to do before travelling. If you’re not sure where you are going, check out travel guides or make a list of places to visit. It’s always best to plan the trip in advance, even if it’s just for accommodation and transportation. Suppose you’re planning to make a trip overseas. In that case, you should research more travel ideas–perhaps, some safety tips for a road trip in Ireland or a list of budget accommodations in Southeast Asia. This gives you plenty of time to find the cheapest fares and most convenient schedules for your trip.
Watch your money
It’s important that you know about the currency and plan accordingly. For example, most places in North America take dollars and most places in Europe take Euros. Some countries will take American Dollars and they’re really bad for exchanging so avoid them at all costs!
Bring documents
When traveling, it’s important to bring your documents with you. If you lose them, they might not be easy to replace when you’re in a new country.
Stay connected
It’s also important to stay connected while you’re traveling. For example, if you’re bringing a laptop with you on your vacation, make sure you have a good working laptop charger and an internet connection for emergencies. Having a cell phone is also beneficial since it’ll allow you to find your way back home in case GPS is off.
Try the foreign cuisine
It’s always important to try the local cuisine when traveling. This will allow you to have a slice of the culture you’re visiting while also being able to try new foods that you might not have at home.
A lot of people are unsure about what to eat while they’re on vacation or find it difficult to find places that serve their favorite food, but this is changing! Nowadays, there are plenty of travel resources that provide info on the best restaurants at any destination. You can use this guide on your next trip
The Bottom Line.
There are a lot of different things you need to keep in mind when traveling. Whether it’s the currency or your documents, there is always something that will trip you up and make travelling difficult if it isn’t taken care of ahead of time. In this article we’ve covered 10 pieces of advice for new travelers with some tips on what to do before, during, and after your next vacation so you can have a more enjoyable experience abroad!
