Travel Tips
Mon, 08/11/2008 - 21:03 — admin
- The first thing a traveler needs to do is pick up a good guide book. This is the first thing to pack as well. A good guide book will be handy when you are rushing down the coddle streets of a town you have never been to. Pack a good guide book, even before you pack your favorite speedo. Every seasoned traveler I meet on my travels has had a guide book, highlighted and used up.
- Have a good guide book, it is indispensable. It gives you detailed knowledge before you arrive, I spend five minutes before I arrive, usually five minutes before.
- When traveling, especially on long trips, be comfortable. Don't dress to impress. I don't understand why I see business folks stuffed like canned sardines in suit and tie on a 12:05 a.m. red-eye flight.
- Mosquitoes can byte through a t-shirt. A t-shirt is not mosquito repellent. In fact a t-shirt is not even a sun block. Depending your destination, pack necessary repellent and sun block.
- Don't scratch mosquito bites, they could sometimes itch like hell but the more you scratch the more they itch. Put anti-bacterial lotion instead of scratching, it is soothing.
- Know the denomination of the money by the color. This is obviously difficult in the United States where all bills are green. In Mexico, for example, different face value bills are different in colors, and even different sizes. Try to familiarize yourself with the money so that purchase transactions are concluded more quickly.
- Don't flash cash. In private sort cash by value.
- Always know the price, ask the price, ask for deals, promotions, two for one, understand the service and product before you show interest, before committing yourself to buying, before you flash the cash.
- Always carry bathroom paper with you. I always carry baby wipes for this purpose, among other reasons. I find baby wipes are more versatile but at a minimum try to have toilet paper with you. When traveling you will find bathrooms in all type of conditions and it pays dividends to be prepared.
- Wear breathable pants and cuff them at the bottom so that bugs don't get in and up yours.
- Always give a tip. In certain countries there might not be a standard or unspoken law such as in the United States where a tip of 15% is the norm. If you follow this habit of giving a 15% tip in the United States, follow it in other countries as well.
- As soon as you get to a new city, see or ask for the bus schedule of the destinations you are interested in visiting. This will minimize the time you wait for a bus. As I write this I while be waiting for four hours for the next bus to Chichen Itza.
- Pack light, don't take items if you are not sure you will use them. If you don't use them, you still have to carry them. If you do need to use certain items you didn't pack along, you would buy something to replace that item or do completely without.
- Have a back up plan! To do this you need to understand your options. Know your options and develop a back up without much thought. If you cant to this, do that. If not that, then the other. If not today, try tomorrow. This allows you to be flexible, to not have a set in stone plan until you need it. Don't set a plan in stone, set it in motion.
- Always have a back up plan, an alternative route, something else to see and do. This works well with the 'only plan is to have no plan.'
- Never go on a trip with untested gear. This includes batteries for you camera but most especially vital gear such as your shoes, water pump, head lamp, and back pack or luggage.
- Travel with tested equipment. Know your equipment, how to use it, you know where the on button is. Turn it on, off. Know how to assemble it, disassemble it, pack it up.
- The soul of a trip is in the sole of your shoes. Make sure that you have comfortable cushioned shoe and if you deem necessary carry extra shoe souls to.
- Always have a twelve gallon garbage bag. It is easy to carry, used as a poncho when raining, use as a pillow case to be filled with your dirty clothes, and of course use as a garbage bag.
- Don't trip on your trip. Always watch your step.
- If you got out backpacking or hiking, take a spork.