50 Years of Travel Tips
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A) Preparation tasks: Like printing essential travel documents, saving a backup to my mobile phone, buying foreign currency, activating data roaming, etc.
B) Packing list: Mine currently has about 30 or so items, covering everything from the very basics, like toothbrush and toothpaste, to the often-overlooked, like reusable ziplock bags, microfibre cloths, etc.
C) Last minute checks: These are final tasks to complete just before leaving home. This includes double-checking that passports are packed, non-essential electrical appliances and lamps are switched off, balcony doors are locked, wet waste has been properly disposed of, etc.
By the time I step into a taxi or train to the airport, I can fully focus on the journey ahead rather than worrying about forgotten items. After all, this checklist has served me well for the past 15 years. Every item is checked off before I leave home, so as soon as I get into a taxi or train, I can relax, knowing that nothing has been forgotten.
Traveling to rural Vietnam looked daunting and dangerous for people from the EU, but once there me and the friend realized all the worrying and excessive preparation was for naught. We still forgot some things, an hour or two spent at the local shops and the problem was resolved. All you need is an accepted way to pay and you could get out of almost any reasonable situation.
Now would it be cost effective? Surprisingly sometimes yes, but even if not it could give you some more stories to tell. Part of the fun of traveling is the stories you tell afterwards, and no good story starts with “everything went according to plan”.
A basic device that’ll give you access to the internet, mail and maps is basically a commodity the same way a toothbrush is.
But, if you use a password manager for Google, not sure if that does you any good. Honestly, regaining access to your various accounts if you need to get a new phone--perhaps especially internationally--may be pretty hard. I do sometimes travel with an older spare phone but it's getting out of support.
You can just print out your secret key and stuff it in your suitcase / backpack. Its useless for a thief unless they know your password too.
You could set an emergency / recovery contact too, but I don't know how the recovery flow would go.
Also, an eSIM will vastly complicate your bootstrapping.
Not sure how much confidence I would put in getting back up and running in an international trip with 2FA vs. having paper copies of important info.
I asked HN about this recently because I couldn't believe everyone, especially people who aren't interested in designing backups, i.e. the type to come to HN, were all thinking this through enough to have good solutions.
HN consensus seemed to be for hardware keys like Yubikey, and paper backup codes.
Or have a 2nd email without 2fa and use it to contact a friend to help you get your keepassxc archive.
My point is that you should try not to be absolutely screwed if you're cut off from the Internet. I carry physical maps, itinerary, guidebook, etc. You can actually travel without Internet access. Of course, you can't mitigate any eventuality but I'd certainly argue that you should generally be able to move forward without Internet, email, or GPS.
Interestingly the phone was still working, it just can't show anything. Double-clicking the power button still opened the camera app, and I could take pictures by pressing the volume down button. And alarms would still go off, but holding the power button opened Google Assistant and it understood the command "Delete all alarms", no unlocking required.
So, yes, you can often pick things up but don't count on it. If you're adaptable, you can probably manage (perhaps outside of some things like medicines) but you're not necessarily just walking into a store and laying down your credit card.
Sure. If you have wheels, it's probably easier.
If you’re going someplace cold you’ll want warm clothing and if it’s sunny then sunblock is a big deal, but in general you don’t need much stuff on a trip.
Which is why I just get water resistant jackets rather than raincoats.
- good shoes in certain regions may not be easy to find. don't skimp on good shoes.
- not to get into a dirtbag pissing contest about necessities, but there were also plenty of towns in Myanmar where one couldn't produce a USB-C or Lightning cable pre-pandemic
PSA: The small index card holders (i.e. about an inch deep) are really good for these kind of kits as they provide some protection.
Again, we're talking travel and holidays, not an expedition.
The counter examples people gave so far:
- a cable: well, maybe you don't need that cable anyway for the reminder of your 2-4 week holidays? Maybe you can occasionally borrow one at the reception or caffe? Is it a proprietary charging cable for your headphones or bike computer? Well, that's the advanture part mentioned in that article.
- clothing: trust me, local people will have exactly what you need for local weather. Getting quality or designer brands may indeed be difficult in remote places, but we're talking about an intermediate solution.
- working remote, lost computer: I know everyone tells you that the world will end if you won't meet the next deadline but that's not true. You can get a day or two off, things happen and people will understand. Meanwhile look for alternative solution, maybe a internet caffe? Talk to the staff at your hotel or local cafe, maybe someone can borrow you something for a day or two? If it's really that important, someone will ship you replacement. Again, it's the advanture part.
- medicine: this I must admit is tough one. If your life really depends on it then you simply don't forget. Sure, your luggage might get stolen but that's beyond your control and you have to cancel the trip anyway most likely. Otherwise you have the medicine in couple places, you should have a receipt and unless you're in a warzone medicine is generally available. I've been in this exact situation couple of times (Germany, UK, Ukraine, Vietnam) and I always was able to procure whatever I needed.
Only other thing I would like to add is CASH.
Not a lot, just enough to keep you afloat when your credit card is not cooperating.
You may end up in a place that only accepts cash and there's no atm nearby or these that are available won't accept your card for some reason.
And it doesn't have to a remote place like Laos or Bali. This happens in places like Berlin.
We weren't aware of the issue before this happened.
China is an absolute unbelievable pain due to being largely WeChat payment based now and there's a lot of restrictions on who can set this up.
https://www.reddit.com/r/China/comments/16u03k4/how_the_hell...
Good luck buying a head torch when you find yourself arriving at a deserted campsite in the middle of nowhere just as it is getting dark.
Or your prescription meds in a country where things aren't available over the counter.
I really don't want to lose hours of my vacation shopping for stuff I forgot.
Vacation hours are precious. It's not about the cost of the goods you're buying, it's about the unique experiences you could have been having instead.
Shopping is not what I go to foreign countries to do. Well, except for supermarkets -- discovering new fruits and veggies is fun.
You might have left your fridge switched on, but did you close the door properly?
As a person who has returned to the house at least twice to make sure the burners were off, that resonated.
Mine is pretty short because it's only about the non-routine stuff:
- passport + passport card + visa
- make travel notifications for credit cards (seems less needed these days)
- chargers + outlet adapters
- download maps for areas in Organic Maps, bookmark important places (don't trust Google Maps' offline maps)
- write down confirmation/reservation numbers and important phone numbers
- remove pocket knife from carry-on
- headphones + earplugs + eyeshade
- spare glasses (even an old pair works. yes in Asia you can get new glasses in less than an hour)
- do you need swimwear, sunscreen, or a headlamp?
- lacrosse ball to roll out knots (very personal, but 10hr flights in a cramped economy seat can put a strain on one's back, esp as one gets older)
Again, this is my personal "perennial" travel checklist. It's written from my experiences of having a girlfriend break my glasses while needing to drive the next morning, and forgetting headphones for overnight bus rides.
Similar to susam, I've also started keeping another trip-specific checklist (e.g. any items my in-laws want from America, or bring 98% DEET for SE Asia). These get deleted after the trip.
“I’m going to be on a plane for 14 hours,”
“I need to get ready for bed at night,”
“I am going to walk through the city”
or “I am doing a wilderness hike.”
I only say that because everyone’s checklist is very different and I think it can be too easy to overpack.
I think there are items that have a good size/weight to utility if you do end up needing them in a place where you can't just run to a store. But you also need to be careful not to fall into a "just one more thing" trap because it occurs to you something might be useful or even was useful in a very specific set of circumstances.
The pre-trip to-do list is also really useful - e.g. all the things that need charging before I go.
My list has subsections for specialised trips such as camping, wildlife experiences etc. On one camping trip I inventoried everything that came out of my car when I got back. This spotted a couple of things that I probably wouldn't have remembered for the next trip. Over the years I created a box full of tent-things that I can just lift into the car when I load up.
It works really well and the lists are significantly different.
Now I only pack the very basics, medication, laptop and chargers toiletries for shaving etc and a few clothes. Anything else I will most likely purchase or won’t need at all. I avoid checking bags, just a small carryon and my backpack.
To me the more important items are travel requirements, road conditions, directions, etc.
By which I mean, thinking ahead and preparing items that give you options in the event of unlikely but possible situations is a very wizard-like thing to do.
The backpack should also be small. I find 20 L the ideal size, but your needs may be different. If your backpack is too large, you'll be taking more unnecessary stuff with you everywhere at the destination.
Having luggage lost is such a PITA, especially on short trips. Carry on only. I buy the smallest carry ons I can find so the carry on police at the check in counter don’t make me ever gate check.
Sometimes unavoidable to be sure--you're not carrying on all your camping gear--but I'll make compromises to just have carryon.
If I stay at a hotel instead of an airbnb I will not bring my toiletries.
I’ll ask the front desk and so far 100% of the time the hotels I’ve stayed at will have a shaving kit and a toothbrush and toothpaste.
I don’t live a minimalist lifestyle by any means, but when I travel with family, friends or solo I try to pack as little as possible. Sometimes no carry on, just a small backpack for a quick trip
I dunno, there's a lot of normal stuff I use a hotel isn't going to have.
Hairgel I put a tiny bit in a ziplock bag because insane tsa rules care about the co rained size not the amount inside and I’ve had hair gel containers taken away before. Now I take enough for my trip in a ziplock back and that’s it.
My trips are short, have never brought nail clippers
No skin products. I just use the hotel soap
That will only work if a white tourist wedding crashes in a poor country. That will not work if I (as a brown-colored southeast asian) do it.
Like the one about asking the taxi driver to drive you to his mom, like holy cow that's creepy. Imagine asking an American Uber driver "hey drive me to your mom's" and see how they'd respond.
Lots of these tips seem like what you'd hear from someone regularly traveling someplace like Egypt, where the taxi drivers will openly tell you about their life/family/etc.
I travel alone as a woman a lot, and while it's not as dangerous as many people fear, I'd never ask a taxi driver to take me to (potentially) his private residence in a random neighborhood in an unfamiliar city.
You're minding your own business just doing laundry or whatever and your adult son just shows up to you house totally unannounced with a foreign stranger in tow looking for you to cook them a meal. Come on, that is really rude!
Like, it's clear this guy thinks the mom is a total NPC in this situation. It takes some serious delusions of grandeur to think the mom is "happy" about this interaction.
Honestly, I think that is a great way to describe what bugs me most about this list. It's the idea that other people are there for your entertainment.
Like: 'Go to a cemetery. Look for sacred places. People live authentically there.'
Like really. Why are you going to a place to watch people grieving for your entertainment? What -is- this list? After 50 years of traveling? This mentality is what he has to show for it?
> People in other places are not saints. You might get cheated, swindled, or taken advantage of. Paradoxically, the best way to avoid that is to give strangers your trust and treat them well. Being good to them brings out their good. If you are on your best behavior, they will be on their best behavior. And vice versa. To stay safe, smile.
Idk I would recommend it to a single female traveler
I would never recommend that anyone eat anything uncooked in a country like India. You are asking for digestive woes.
Much of this "list" is BS.
You still have to use common sense though. The water/ice used in street food is often sus, so anything uncooked is best avoided, and you probably don't want to get your larb from the lady who keeps her raw minced meat in an open bucket marinating in the sun.
But yes I had a fair share of mild poisonings from touristy places. I blame fresh veg which in Asian cultures may not be so clean
Like, how does one have such an inflated sense of importance? And feel absolutely no shame in writing it out for the world to see.
Delusions of grandeur.
I'd have gone to the wedding of the daughter of the Indian chap who sat next to me on a bus for a couple of hours the day before if there hadn't been logistical issues, because the invitation was genuine and I'd have been able to have proper conversations with the wedding party and feel like I was there for more than just free food and music. I don't think he needed me to make his day though :)
I was constantly expecting them to want something from me in return, but it never happened. Actually they would often insist on giving me things. This has happened to me probably four distinct times. It's obviously more likely to happen in small towns that don't get a lot of tourists, and also more likely to happen in countries without white people.
I imagine this might not generalize to people of all races. It also helps to have an outgoing personality.
Of course, in tourist hotspots people are probably vaguely annoyed by your presence (or specifically and intensely annoyed, like in Barcelona apparently) and will either ignore you or try to sell you things.
>In many parts of the world today motorcycles play the role of cars. That means you can hire a moto-taxi to take you on the back seat, or to summon a moto-taxi with an uber-like app, or to take a motorcycle tour with a guide doing the driving. In areas where motorcycles dominate they will be ten times more efficient than slowly going by car.
I would be extremely wary about this. You are so much more vulnerable on a bike. And you won't even be wearing proper protective equipment. Even if they lend you a helmet, it is unlikely to fit properly and don't know how many times it has been dropped or involved in a crash. Also the most common injuries to motorcyclists are to the legs, and I doubt they will be lending you boots or biking trousers.
No thanks!
Part of the learning experience of such travel, is to see firsthand how the locals of these places perceive the risk. How they manage risk in general, and what is the "value of a human life" for them as compared to our western perceptions.
Context: I used to have a motorbike. I always wore full protective equipment. Full face helmet, leather, gloves and boots. But I realize that is less practical in a hot climate.
If you go somewhere on a moto taxi in Bangkok all those taxis and fancy SUVs you see are not silly foreigners who are scared of motobikes, they are also locals who manage risk.
I grew up in the US.
I grew up in a family where drunk driving was totally normal. Car wrecks happened with regularity. As a child I road with my parents while they were drunk and actively drinking. I road in the bed of my dads pickup truck while he was speeding on backroads while drunk. I never wore my seatbelt until I started driving. One of our cars growing up didn't even have seats, cuz my dad took them out. My dad would slam on the breaks while driving down the highway and everyone would go flying.
I always wear my seatbelt now. I would never would drive drunk now, or even slightly buzzed. I would never expose children to that sort of environment. My parents are awful people.
Those that do so are simply stupid. It's 2025. Helmets are such a ridiculously high cost/benefit ratio.
It's like not using a seatbelt, or smoking cigarettes. Totally insane, knowing what we now know.
Doesn't matter if it "isn't done here". TBIs work the same in Bangkok as Boston.
Sorry, but this is a just financial decision by locals and not a philosophical treatise on the value of life. Once people have enough money, they'll opt to take the car-taxi, doubly-so if their child is coming along. It's fun for backpackers and I'm glad it got you out of your comfort zone.
End of trip.
Please don't interpret this as my painting the whole of Central America as dangerous. This is anecdotal but perhaps a cautionary tale? I suspect if he had not grabbed a cab but rather found a bus or some other sort of mass transportation his whole trip could have turned out wonderfully.
Catching a cab from the airport in a new country after a flight is a pretty common thing to do no matter where you're going. Depending on flight length you might well be too tired to really navigate public transport in a new city in a foreign language.
There's not a lot to learn from that.
I don't travel to Russia anymore, and won't go to Rio or Mexico City without private security.
1) use uber, unless public transport works well(Nordic countries, Switzerland).
2) lock everything expensive up in the hotel safety box, otherwise eventually your shit will get stolen
3) have multiple methods of payment with you, leave one on the hotel.
4) I travel mostly with my wife who does not travel light. Most of the advice in the linked article is really general lifestyle advice. I have 100 kilos of luggage in my hotel apartment. If there’s a will, there is a way.
Depending upon where I am, I have mixed feelings about this. In many hundreds of days of travel, I guess I've been lucky enough not to have valuables stolen, but then I take some care not to leave them in plain sight. On the other hand, I'm positive I would forget something in a hotel safe as I have in a hotel closet.
Yes, I'm glad I did some factory tours in Japan, they were really interesting!
Link is to archive.org since JETRO seem to have taken down the site during the pandemic and not put it back up again: https://web.archive.org/web/20190407170023/jetro.go.jp/en/in...
Regarding the “recharge” vs “engage” trips: If you’re restless like me then you’ll probably feel most recharged after a trip that fully engaged you. Because you can’t think about work when you’re busy navigating your way through a rural and foreign land, speaking with strangers, and straining to learn just enough of a new language to get around.
The “laser-back” tip is 100% on point. I came to know this intuitively but I’ve never seen it put into words. One caveat I’d add there is: if it takes >20 hours to get to your first destination, give yourself time and permission to just chill on the first full day there.
Also I want to strongly endorse the “carry-on only” tip. More than that, I suggest backpack only. Your options and opportunities for spontaneity increase significantly when you can just swing a backpack ever your shoulder and go. It also forces you to live with less, at least for a time, which in turn teaches you that actually you don’t need all that much to get by. Then you return home and question why you need a closet full of clothes.
-Have a checklist, so you don't forget stuff.
-Packing cubes make packing a bag much easier.
-For long flights with a stopover (e.g. Europe to NZ) you can stay in a transit hotel in the airport terminal. This means you don't have to go through immigration, security etc. So much easier than having to travel out to a hotel.
-I have found Airalo to be quite good for local data esims.
I agree in general. Underwear and socks are always in one packing cube and I carry a lightweight mesh laundry pag.
In addition, I have a few small kits I pretty much always carry in addition to my document folder. Need to replenish (and cull) from time to time but it makes the checklist a whole lot simpler for most trips.
Do yourself a favor.
Copy paste the article’s text to somewhere you can edit.
Delete the tips you don’t agree with.
Read the article without them.
Now take note of what you do notice.
Doesn't read as friendly in most places (we're talking out of context on the street), it reads as aloof or menacing/unknown factor. Being a white male with confidence takes care of the first assumption and leaves the second.
Oh please, stop with this victim nonsense. Your personal experience can be personal while also admitting that you come from tremendous privilege.
You can REALLY tell that this "list" was written by a white male.
All of our tips are always aimed at people in a similar position. Just consider how your travel tips don't even apply to most of the world who can't travel.
This just sounds like sour grapes to me. Like getting worked up because someone didn't start with a land acknowledgement.
Probably close to Zero. But he expects to be treated like a special when he is traveling.
This just got me! Its so true. That's been my experience too.
My wife and I host bicycle tourers when they pass through our town. One was Thomas Meixner, an East German who started travelling the world on bike when the wall fell. He's visited something like 120 countries and biked 250,000 km.
My wife asked him if he thought a solo woman could do what he did in the places he did it. He tactfully changed the subject.
While travelling I've never had a problem walking up to someone pretty much at random and asking for directions or recommendations, etc. Sometimes this turns into more than just a quick conversation, and that's great, meeting locals can be the best part of a trip. Hotel and restaurant staff are a great resource, too - ask questions.
However, most of the people who approach you as a tourist, particularly in places with lots of tourists, want your money. The swindlers and cheats aggregate in these places. They don't wait for tourists they want to rip off to approach them, they actively go after their prey, being practiced at taking advantage of their openness, confusing them, etc.
There are exceptions. Common sense goes a long way. Be way more careful when partying.
In public spaces, if you pick someone out of a crowd for support, or you are randomly/unexpectedly put in a situation where you depend on a stranger, you're probably safe.
If someone else picks you without solicitation, or appoints themselves to support you, be careful.
On a visit to London last year, walking down a street with some kiosks displaying pictures of aquatic life in the waters around the British isles, I was approached by a women who asked if I would mind taking a brief survey about the organization sponsoring the kiosks (Royal something or other). In the end she gave me £5 note for my time.
Travel, while fun, can also be very dangerous, especially the further you get from being a wealthy straight white male. Be careful and try to avoid thinking you’re a main character for whom nothing can go wrong.
The main thing I didn't see in there although I may have missed it or it may have been implied is travel light. You can't always go with carry-on pack of some sort if you have varied trips, e.g. smart clothing plus hiking kit. But you can probably go lighter than you think. I know I'm mostly at lightweight travel than I used to be.
It's certainly not always possible if you need real dress clothing or real hiking/camping gear. (I've never gotten to the point where I can do a month-long trip that includes a long distance week-long+ walk along with some fairly formal evening wear in a carry-on.)
But you can probably get closer than you think. By myself, if I'm mostly just traveling in cities with "business casual" as dressy as it gets, I can travel almost indefinitely with a 40L travel backpack.
The last trip I really felt I overpacked for with respect to train/transit was some time in London, followed by a long-distance walk where I really needed everything I had with me, followed by an ocean liner return where I needed jackets and real dress shoes--which, as you suggest, even Rockports aren't really general purpose. You always want more shoes than you can reasonably carry.
Wheeled vs. non-wheeled luggage is definitely a tradeoff. I lean towards non-wheeled in general and just maybe take a few more taxis if the luggage is too heavy to schlep around the city a bit.
An interesting one. Tracks with my experience, although I have far less data. I’ve gotten sick a few times, but not after the sketchy meals that I thought would do it.
However, my guide in Nepal warned me not to eat certain things. I always listened to him, and I did not get sick on that trip. He seemed to be speaking from experience guiding other white people.
That’s why locals are fine but tourists aren’t in most cases.
On a funny side note, when I was in Nepal we did get some food at a pretty popular restaurant. Everyone had horrific food poisoning later that night, except me since I didn’t touch the cheese!
Well of course, that's the wrong correlation to be looking for.
It's not where you eat, it's what you eat. Have all the cooked meat and veggies and carbs you want, but raw salads and tap water on the other hand...
Western obsession with travel leads to overtourism and a fixation on “novelty”. There’s nothing wrong with a relaxing vacation but we must all learn to be content with our day to day existence to unlock true happiness.
Also, your comment reminds me of this classic SNL skit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbwlC2B-BIg
"If you're sad now, and you get on a plane to Italy, the 'you' in Italy will still be the same sad you from before! Does that make sense?"
Add to this one: always make sure your hands are clean before you eat. A little bottle of sanitiser will do wonders for your health in areas with poor sanitation.
Otherwise, one tip I would like to add - when in doubt, do as the locals do. Especially useful when you can't read signs.
Though in recent years lounges are getting overcrowded.
- Checklists for prep. I have one for plane travel, one for backpacking, and one for travel by RV. Nothing unexpected on any them, but helps me avoid asking myself “did I pack the phone charger?” Or “do I have sunscreen?”
- Give yourself options - I like to list out things to do, maybe 4-5 for a location/day, but only really plan to do 2-3 of them.
- The old adage about no bad weather, only bad clothing is true. And the natural light after an evening rain is usually really nice.
Where it gets harder is when you need different type of clothing (especially bulkier clothing) for different legs of a trip.
These days I’m taking more expensive vacations in cheaper countries. You can go to the Caribbean and stay for $2000 a night or go to places like Morocco or Panama on a luxury vacation for 1/3 the price.
I am sure that plenty of people can afford it (I could if I wanted to) but this is rather expensive when you compare to, say a stay in Chamonix (French Alps, a "posh" station) where you can have a 65 m2 appartment next to the slopes in high season for about 250-300€/night.
No illusions this is penniless student budgeting but it suits me.
You can stay in quite a nice palace for a lot less than that
Anyway backpacking is the most intense form of travelling by huge margin, the cheaper the better. I did two 3-month trips in India & Nepal around 2010, all costs combined apart from return flight tickets were around 500$ per month. Best time of my life, literally life and personality changing experiences that will stay with me till my last breath. No plans, just 1 thick Lonely planet book
Adventures don't need to be always positive experiences, intensity is what matters much more, the further away from comfort zone one gets more impactful the experience is.
Also it feels significantly longer, each time those 3 months felt like decades, hard to describe with mere words
In a lot of areas in the US $650/night is a posh hotel/airbnb.
Paying that per night means you are not the kind of traveller the author or many of us are, the name is probably vacationeer or something like that.
The weird part is as we pressed on and got past week 3 I felt like we could be on the road indefinitely and be absolutely happy never returning home. There is def a lull around the end of week 2 for some reason.
I don't disagree with your last part though. Never tried it but I can easily imagine that once you get into a "what's this home thing mode?" there's no hard stop necessarily.
Luggage which clips together like a storage/day backpack combo is very valuable for this: Your backpack might be comically large, but you can haul all your stuff with free hands. At your accomodation, you can leave the large bag and continue on your day pack.
Free hands are critical when travelling by train or bus, or if you just wanna get a snack and drink.
I love this one https://www.peakdesign.com/products/travel-backpack?Size=45L...
And then get a duffle bag carry-on.
This lets you maximize storage on the cheap “1x carry-on, 1x personal item” plane tickets. No checked luggage; the 45L backpack just goes under the seat in front of you.
> If you hire a driver, or use a taxi, offer to pay the driver to take you to visit their mother.
> Crash a wedding. You are not a nuisance; you are the celebrity guest!
The first one specially is likely good option after you leave the airport on the way home. And the second one is good practise to do when you are not on vacation. Find the wedding venues in your local area and hit them.
But I have a policy: never go to sleep without going to walk in the city. That is: never land and sleep. _Always_ absorb some of the local environment. Then when your brain knows it's somewhere else, then go to sleep.
This has worked to varying degrees. I always wake up with the excitement of being somewhere. But once, on my very first trip overseas, I got lost and spent three confused hours very late at night in a dark 2AM-no-one-around city trying to find my way back...
...but it sure is a good story now.
Which is very much the point of this article's advice. It seems to be: optimise for experience and stories.
This tip is especially important when coupled with another thing I always say: as long ans I have my passport and a credit card, every other forgotten thing is no big deal.
> If you hire a driver, or use a taxi, offer to pay the driver to take you to visit their mother. They will ordinarily jump at the chance.
This is deluded.
> They fulfill their filial duty and you will get easy entry into a local’s home, and a very high chance to taste some home cooking.
Oh I see, he's probably traveling in a very poor country.
> Crash a wedding.
What? No. That's rude.
> You are not a nuisance; you are the celebrity guest!
Oh I see, probably a white person from a rich country traveling in a poor country.
> They will usually feel honored.
I stopped reading and CTRF-F for primae noctis. Disappointed. He had me going.
FlightAware
Google Maps and Translate
Booking.com
Seat61.com
Maybe Expedia too though I often make the final reservation directly
One of the OSM mapping apps. I use MapOut
TripAdvisor and Yelp are "OK." Often better than nothing.
Various carrier or hotel chain-related apps depending on your preferences
Usually just looking at that taxi area in arrivals at the airport you can figure out which app is the one most supported.
- Maps.me (offline maps)
- GPX Viewer (offline + hiking)
- Wikiloc.com (for trails and walking routes)
- Geocaching (fun to play in new countries)
- Facebook/WhatsApp/Telegram/LINE/Kakao/WeChat: depending on the country you visit
- Airalo/Keepgo: eSIM for some countries (if you go to Asia or Africa for more than 1 month, you might spend less by buying a local SIMs instead)
- Reddit/Meetups: to find other people to hang our with
- Couchsurfing
- Workaway (if you want to also work/volunteer while travelling - requires a small subscription fee)
- Something like Revolut for withdrawals worldwide
"the best way to avoid [[getting cheated/swindled]] is to give strangers your trust and treat them well. Being good to them brings out their good. If you are on your best behavior, they will be on their best behavior."
As someone who's lived in London for 20 years, if you trust and treat everyone well you will lose all of your money, your watch, and phone. Unfortunately, those looking to cheat you out of something have become extremely common and totally remorseless!
I get that the author is probably referring to locals but these days it's impossible to tell who's a local trying to be kind and who's trying to distract you to reach into your bag.
Maybe I'm being unnecessarily pessimistic about strangers but i guess that's what London does to you haha
Uhh, I really can't imagine this one working well in a Western country.
And I still remember it... whereas I cannot remember our other taxi rides!
- Seen more baby and kid-milestone photos than I can count.
- Been told a brutal war story by a tow-truck driver in Kentucky ("did you know blood from the liver is almost black?") that - though he didn't say it, explicitly - I don't think he'd ever talked about to anyone.
- Heard about someone's life's-work in AIDS prevention.
- Learned about the Philippine Civil War from a former airforce Colonel. (Highlight: he and his best friend / roommate in the military academy chose different sides. They privately promised each other that they'd find a way to communicate if their units were ever ordered to attack the other.)
- Heard first-hand about the horrifying obstacles the US government placed in the paths of Afghani translators (for the US Army) trying to immigrate to safety in the US.
- Met a Singaporean former mercenary, who told me all about doing private security for illegal gold mines in New Guinea. He was very matter of fact (and entirely unrepentant) about having indiscriminately shot local villagers and government forces. Several of his buddies were killed by bow and arrow in an attack during which he cut and ran ("their families are still mad at me"). It was all a madcap adventure, as far as he was concerned, and then he showed me pictures of his boat.
Looking at that list, I guess don't do it if you don't want to be trauma-dumped, but I'm quite socially awkward, so you don't have to let that stop you. Most people don't seem to care - they have stories they want to tell, and will tell them, if you'll listen.
- Be a team
- Learn effective communication (verbal and non-verbal)
- Be a team
And if they are very young (less than 6yo or so), you will need to teach them to be calm in most situations and let you handle it.
Wow. What a creep. No thank you.
> When visiting a foreign city for the first time, take a street food tour. Depending on the region, the tour will include food carts, food trucks, food courts, or smaller eateries. It will last a few hours, and the cost will include the food. You’ll get some of the best food available, and usually the host will also deliver a great introduction to the culture. Google “street food tour for city X.”
No, you will get the mid eateries that pay tour guides to bring tourists. They pay tour guides because the locals know not to go there.
Whatever you do...
> Crash a wedding. You are not a nuisance; you are the celebrity guest!
Urgh. Really?
I probably got a bit over my travel comfort limit for a while hitting about 160 days/year at peak (including vacation) but I certainly wouldn't criticize anyone for whom that's not their thing.
It just seems like everyone likes it because it's because the new status symbol now that material consumption is looked down on. It's a way to demonstrate your worldliness and check the boxes of the zeitgeist.
But of course plenty of people just like it because it's fun too.
I'd add if a journalist has done it, you can do it. Search HN for you location (which also has most of Atlas Obscura in it)
> The list of most coveted cities to visit have one striking thing in common—they are pedestrian centric.
if your coveted places are mostly in Europe/Japan. Los Angeles, Chiang Mai (or any city in most SEA) etc are the opposite of pedestrian centric. Do you like multi hour walks in heat among pollution and traffic or stray dogs to get to a nice coffeeshop? Yeah. Public transport is broken and literally everybody who lives there uses personal transport.
(He then goes to contradict himself and recommend unsafe moto taxi)