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50 Years of Travel Tips

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Re: 50 Years of Travel Tips

#201

Post by DavidPiper »

mikem170 wrote: post #187
padiyar83 wrote: post #49

"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. Be humble and minimize your ego. I don’t know why that works everywhere in the…

My rule of thumb while travelling: Most people are good and will help you if go up to them and ask, and most of the people who initiate contact with you want your money. 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 p…

+1 Reminds me of something I heard from (I think) Penn Jillette:

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.

Re: 50 Years of Travel Tips

#202

Post by Gud »

odiroot wrote: post #200
Gud wrote: post #106

I travel 300+ days a year for work. For two years I didn’t have a place to live because I was traveling so much. I’ve been doing this for 7 years now. 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 mos…

In Asia use Grab instead. Uber either won't work or will just be less popular.

Thanks for the info.

Re: 50 Years of Travel Tips

#203

Post by jltsiren »

r0fl wrote: post #194
jltsiren wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've started to prefer small checked bags over large carryons. Boarding a plane is more pleasant when you don't need overhead space for you bags. And you don't need special travel versions of stuff to get around carryon restrictions. 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…

Airlines are a disaster. 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.

I don't find lost luggage that annoying. It has happened to me twice out of ~300 flights, and I received the bag the following day both times. Missed connections and rerouted flights due to weather, strikes, and other random issues are more common and have a bigger impact on the trip.

Re: 50 Years of Travel Tips

#204

Post by xandrius »

melling wrote: post #7

I spent 9 months traveling from Mexico to Buenos Aires with a backpack eighteen years ago. Spent most nights in hostels in shared rooms for a few dollars a night. It was a great experience. Carried a MacBook Pro and a digital Nikon D70. Actually had the first iPhone but hardly used it. Do have a selfie of myself on a bus somewhere in Central America. These days I’m taking more expensive vacations in cheaper countries…

As a lifelong traveller, $2000 will generally last me 1-6 months, depending on the country.

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.

Re: 50 Years of Travel Tips

#205

Post by xandrius »

lawgimenez wrote: post #98

Anyone got tips when traveling with kids?

From what I learnt from other travelling families:

- 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.

Re: 50 Years of Travel Tips

#206

Post by xandrius »

rawgabbit wrote: post #39

I like his list of recommendations for apps and websites. Are there any other recommendations? FlightAware Google Maps and Translate Booking.com Seat61.com

To add to that:

- 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

Re: 50 Years of Travel Tips

#207

Post by raywu »

simonw wrote: post #25
seer wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The one thing you _need_ to pack, apart from visa docs required for travel, is a credit/debit card. Anything you’ve missed can be purchased on location. 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…

My father once told me that as long as you have your passport, wallet and the name and address of where you're going everything else will work out fine. That advice has treated me well.

I once flew with just those plus a toothbrush. Border control was very suspicious of me and was confused why I had no luggage or backpack.

Re: 50 Years of Travel Tips

#208

Post by ghaff »

jltsiren wrote: post #203
r0fl wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Airlines are a disaster. 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.

I don't find lost luggage that annoying. It has happened to me twice out of ~300 flights, and I received the bag the following day both times. Missed connections and rerouted flights due to weather, strikes, and other random issues are more common and have a bigger impact on the trip.

I've had luggage delayed far more often than that and I've also been able to rebook because of weather only because I had carryon. Usually luggage delayed for a day isn't a big deal--if you're staying in a city (and I often leave a little slack for that reason). But if you're heading off somewhere that you can't receive a luggage delivery, that can be a big deal.

Sometimes unavoidable to be sure--you're not carrying on all your camping gear--but I'll make compromises to just have carryon.

Re: 50 Years of Travel Tips

#209

Post by AlotOfReading »

ghaff wrote: post #128
jonasdegendt wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If that happens, aren’t you pretty much walking to the closest mobile phone store? A basic device that’ll give you access to the internet, mail and maps is basically a commodity the same way a toothbrush is.

What "closest mobile phone store" in many places? I've been on a ton of trips where I probably haven't seen a closest mobile phone store for a week or more. 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 ar…

You'll find stores selling that stuff in even the most rural parts of central Asia and Africa these days. As long as there's a reasonably sized human settlement, someone's probably selling mobile devices even if there's no local network to use it with.

Re: 50 Years of Travel Tips

#210

Post by PopAlongKid »

mikem170 wrote: post #187
padiyar83 wrote: post #49

"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. Be humble and minimize your ego. I don’t know why that works everywhere in the…

My rule of thumb while travelling: Most people are good and will help you if go up to them and ask, and most of the people who initiate contact with you want your money. 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 p…

>There are exceptions. Common sense goes a long way.

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.

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