21 Useful Travel Tips
Welcome to my random musings about the world, on a weekly-to-occasional basis.
Where we are: We’re in Kolkata, India, hanging out with friends for a few days. The pollution is dire—the air is thick and beige, and the stuff I just blew out of my nose was unspeakable. Hang on to your air quality, folks. You do not want to learn what life is like under a blanket of particulate matter.
21 Useful Travel Tips
My inbox is full of travel advertising this week; this must be the time of year when normal people start planning their annual vacation. When we were packing for a flight last week, I started thinking about the fact that I always, always keep my suitcase zipped, and I realized that there are a lot of little ‘lessons’ I’ve learned (mostly the hard way) that might be of use to someone.
So in the spirit of being helpful, I give you a few practical travel tips.
Keep your suitcase zipped in the hotel room. Yes, Lee just found a lizard in his.
Wherever you’re going, there will be soap and shampoo. I promise.
Don’t exchange money/buy cash/order traveler’s checks before you leave home. In many countries you won’t need cash, but if you do, just use an ATM when you arrive. There will be an ATM.
If some well-meaning loved one at home tries to give you a little bag of bills and coins leftover from their trip twenty years ago, don’t take it. That’s more trouble than it’s worth—chances are the currency has changed in twenty years. You don’t want to spend your holiday taking obsolete money to the Bank of Whatever Country only to be told it’s not worth the paper it’s printed on. Is this the voice of experience speaking? Of course it is.
Try not to schedule every minute of every day—that’s not a vacation. Besides, no matter how hard you try, you can’t see/do/experience everything, so why not leave space and time for serendipity, or at least relaxation?
Stop trying to take the perfect picture. No one in your life is going to be as impressed as you want them to be (trust me—they’re not interested), and the imperfect pictures will bring back stronger, more vivid memories.
Have a little faith in humanity. Not everyone is trying to scam you (assuming you’re not standing on a known scammer corner; if you’re not sure where those are, google: tourist scams in XYZ city).
Naps are not a great way to deal with jet lag. Unless you really love naps, and don’t mind dragging out the jet lag longer than necessary. In which case, you do you.
Assume that adjusting to a new time zone requires one full day for every hour of change (that’s not me being a time zone wimp; it’s science. You can look it up if you don’t believe me, but I promise it applies to you). And no, sleeping on the plane doesn’t cancel it out. Travel fatigue and disrupted circadian rhythms are two different things.
Be nice. Don’t yell at the hotel staff or berate the gate agent. They’re all just doing their jobs. Don’t be the entitled foreigner.
The unexpected will happen. Things will go wrong—you’ll miss your train or the museum will be closed or it will rain all day. That’s life, whether you’re at home or on the other side of the planet. Don’t let it ruin your day—there’s a big difference between tragedy and inconvenience.
Wear good walking shoes. Nothing ruins a vacation faster than uncomfortable feet.
As long as you’re clean and fully clothed, no one cares how you look. No one is paying attention to you, so don’t bother packing all the makeup and heels and cute outfits.
Don’t be embarrassed when you screw something up or misunderstand or get lost. See above: no one is paying attention to you, but even if they are, you’re never going to see them again.
Please, please keep your voice down. Trust me, you are louder than you realize.
Not everything will be quite the same as at home. Your coffee might taste different. The mattresses might be hard, or soft. You might have difficulty understanding people or reading signs. That’s okay—isn’t that why you went on a trip?
Stop comparing your vacation to other people’s. Especially stop comparing yours to what you see on social media. That shit ain’t real, y’all.
Pre-arranged transfer to your hotel is more expensive than a ride-share service or taxi or public transit, but it’s easier when you first arrive, tired and possibly overwhelmed, to have someone waiting with your name on a sign. Returning to the airport on the way home, you’ll probably be able to figure out a less-expensive option, because by then you’ll be a master of the universe.
Get out of your comfort zone. You will learn things—about humanity, about the world, and about yourself.
Be present with the people you’re traveling with, even if you’re traveling solo. You’re actually good company.
Manage those expectations. No trip is ever going to be perfect, because life is not perfect, but with an open mind, you may find that even the imperfections have value.
Take care,
Lisa
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