Vacation Time!! What are your traveling tips?

[BenOnAdventures]

Hey adventurers, what are some of your adventure tips? Here are some of mind! https://benonadventures.wordpress.com/ What do you think? Let's talk travel!!

[Bronk]

Experiences are worth more than stuff.

[fiddlehead]

Mine: Don't use a guidebook except perhaps to learn history (read it and leave it at home)
Instead: ask the locals where they eat, and find the oldest hotel in town (often times these are old whorehouses and quite historic themselves)
Don't take much. What do you really need? one change of clothes, toothbrush, perhaps a blanket of some kind, charger for phone, sim card for internet in whichever country you are traveling, money, passport.

Now, I realize many younger people prefer to hang around with their peers and tend to use the Lonely Planet or similar guidebooks.
That's all fine if that's your thing.
Problem is that you don't get to learn the culture or meet the locals. But you do meet other travelers who may have interesting stories and advice on where you are heading next.
So, I don't take a guidebook anymore. Just the phone with the map on it and I ALWAYS try to learn some of the language to ask questions of the locals.

What else? Rent a bicycle: It's a great way to see a town. (if safe in that particular area)
Try to not piss off the locals. Don't be the ugly American and complain and be loud and disrespectful.
We get a bad rap sometimes for a reason.
Behave.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents on some travel tips.
not the norm: I know.

[BenOnAdventures]

Mine: Don't use a guidebook except perhaps to learn history (read it and leave it at home)
Instead: ask the locals where they eat, and find the oldest hotel in town (often times these are old whorehouses and quite historic themselves)
Don't take much. What do you really need? one change of clothes, toothbrush, perhaps a blanket of some kind, charger for phone, sim card for internet in whichever country you are traveling, money, passport.

Now, I realize many younger people prefer to hang around with their peers and tend to use the Lonely Planet or similar guidebooks.
That's all fine if that's your thing.
Problem is that you don't get to learn the culture or meet the locals. But you do meet other travelers who may have interesting stories and advice on where you are heading next.
So, I don't take a guidebook anymore. Just the phone with the map on it and I ALWAYS try to learn some of the language to ask questions of the locals.

What else? Rent a bicycle: It's a great way to see a town. (if safe in that particular area)
Try to not piss off the locals. Don't be the ugly American and complain and be loud and disrespectful.
We get a bad rap sometimes for a reason.
Behave.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents on some travel tips.
not the norm: I know.

Excellent advice!! Thank you so much!!

[Dogwood]

Go in embracing the unknown NOT being fearful of it.

Allow for unplanned spontaneous adventure too! Be flexible.

SLOW it down. SLOW down your brain by losing that so often mistaken idea that you're gonna see it all. Know that adapting a see it all mindset when traveling often means you're NOT having the deepest highest quality traveling/adventure immersion experiences you could be having. Seeing, by being in a place, is not always fully "experiencing/realizing" that place.

Don't take on too much. RELAX. You have to if you're going to immerse yourself in a new culture or place. Attempting to experience Canyonlands, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Zion National Parks on a whirlwind 10 day "out West" car adventure is NOT immersing yourself in the adventure these National Parks offer!

Sure, check your gear before you head out but some of the greatest most memorable adventures are had by traveling light or NOT relying so much on so much gear.

[BenOnAdventures]

Go in embracing the unknown NOT being fearful of it.

Allow for unplanned spontaneous adventure too! Be flexible.

SLOW it down. SLOW down your brain by losing that so often mistaken idea that you're gonna see it all. Know that adapting a see it all mindset when traveling often means you're NOT having the deepest highest quality traveling/adventure immersion experiences you could be having. Seeing, by being in a place, is not always fully "experiencing/realizing" that place.

Don't take on too much. RELAX. You have to if you're going to immerse yourself in a new culture or place. Attempting to experience Canyonlands, Glacier, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Zion National Parks on a whirlwind 10 day "out West" car adventure is NOT immersing yourself in the adventure these National Parks offer!

Sure, check your gear before you head out but some of the greatest most memorable adventures are had by traveling light or NOT relying so much on so much gear.

Great advice! Thanks!!

[MuddyWaters]

Vacation is not the time to have to scrimp and save money.
You are supposed to enjoy yourself.

[Traveler]

My tips are a bit more practical...

When traveling to distant lands, drink the water of any central or south American country the curative powers are well known
Remember too, the louder you shout at a foreigner, the more they will understand English
Try to meet new people, those who talk to themselves and wave their hands in the air make for great conversation
Do not be concerned with local customs or cultures, you will be warmly welcomed regardless what you do or say
Try not to pick your nose or clip toenails in the main dining rooms, save that activity for poolside
Allow children to run free in lobbies, poolsides, dining areas, museums, and national features, few people will not appreciate it
Publicly scold your waitstaff if service or food is below your standards, they appreciate it and will ensure a better meal

These are long held tips to certain vacation and travel success that are demonstrated in many places throughout the year.

[Odd Man Out]

Do your research before you go. In Rome we saw lots of people wait in line for hours to get into St Peters Basilica only to be turned away for violating their dress code. Then they would go to the Colloseum and wait in line for hours to buy tickets not realizing they buy the same tickets at the Palatine Hill ticket office a few hundred yards away. There is something to be said for being impromptu but I am amazed that people invest so much time and money on travel and not know anything about where they are going.

[fiddlehead]

There are tourists, and there are travelers.
It's like apples vs oranges. (or cashews vs mangosteens)

[Marta]

Be realistic with time planning. It takes time to get from one point to another. A conventional trip plan involves spending most of the time trying to catch planes and trains and check in and out of hotels. Not fun. If you've got a week, pick one place and stay there, exploring. If I'm coming to the northern mountains as a tourist, for instance, I wouldn't try to see Yellowstone and Glacier and the Tetons in a week. Unless the point is to drive around (which, if you're escorting a physically feeble elderly person can be a perfectly plausible plan), I would pick one and explore it. If I have a week to go to Europe, I'd pick one spot and stay there. Trying to see London and Paris and Rome in a week means spending most of the week on planes or trains, and checking in and out of hotels.

I always weigh transportation time and cost against perceived benefit. I don't drive a hundred miles to do a two-mile hike. I don't spend 30 hours flying to Thailand, and another 30 flying back, to spend a weekend there.

[eblanche]

Good tips so far!

How about some logistical travel tips? I know for a lot of us here it is difficult to get time off to go on adventures. What are some techniques people use to maximize their time efficiency when taking flights, taxis, etc to get to the trail head and home?

As someone who has not done a lot of traveling, this is what worries me when trying to plan a 5 day hike with only one week off.