Top Travel Tips For A Safe And Fun Vacation

There are many advantages to traveling whether you are traveling with family, friends or on your own. You get the opportunity to learn about yourself, different cultures, customs, language, and so much more. Travel is liberating, and it broadens the horizon of our minds. It enriches our experience. In this post, I’m going to share some top travel tips, in no particular order.

Do your research

It helps to prepare in advance. Learn about the areas or places of interests you are going to visit. Is there any good hotel near them? What you can expect and where to eat? Is it safe to go out at night? Is there a hospital or medical center nearby in case you become ill or if you injure yourself while trekking, hiking or participating in any adventure sports? Is there any local health issues for which you should prepare?

Be flexible

It is very important that you try not to get upset when things go wrong while you are away from your homeland. Plan for delays and try to be patient when traveling. Being flexible certainly, does help to enjoy travel. This is a hard one for me, but I am working on it.

Learn some of the basic phrases of the local language

It is important to try and learn some of the basic phrases of the local language. It helps when you need to strike up a conversation with a local. Learning some popular phrases of the local language can go a long way.

Buy some Travel Insurance

Travel insurance can save you from a lot of hassle in case of a missed or delayed flight if your luggage is lost. It can cover unexpected expenses in case of a medical emergency. Speak with a reputable insurance company to find out which policy covers your travel adequately based on your needs and the destination.

Know where you are staying

Knowing in advance where you are going to stay will help you save time and money and probably hassle too. It is good advice to choose a hotel or guesthouse where you are going to stay in a place that is easy to reach by public transport, and close to areas of interests you are going to see.

Speak with staff of your hotel or place of accommodation

It is actually a good tip to feel secure in your hotel/hostel/guesthouse because speaking with the staff that works at the place of your accommodation will help you make known to them. If they know you are there and you ask advice about where to go, what to do in the evenings or night and other things, they might be able to give you invaluable information about your queries. Generally, they will be trustworthy.

Ask someone for directions

If you are lost at night or day, do not panic. Go into a public place. It could be somewhere busy – a shopping mall, market, public building, etc. Politely ask someone for directions to get help. Normally, they will be pleased to help.

Talk to people

Well, it is one of the reasons for your travel – talking to people, is not it? If you do not enjoy conversation with the locals, you probably will not be able to explore their culture, customs and their place. Having said that, do not reveal too much information about yourself and your plans. Just keep it light and short. Talking to people can give you tons of information that you might find very useful.

Keep your valuables on you when you are on transit

If you bring jewelry, important documents, laptop, credit cards, smartphone, etc. with you when traveling, keep them on you when you are on transit. Do not put them in your checked luggage on a plane or your luggage hold on a bus or nor should. Put them into your hand or day bag instead just to be safe.

Have a backup plan

It is a good advice to have a backup plan for the worst with your important documents and some secret cash. If you are robbed, your credit cards are lost, wallet/purse is lost, you end up in a hospital, or some other unfortunate incident happens, a good backup plan will help you in this tough situation. Make photocopies of important documents and keep them saved to Google Docs, Dropbox or even email as attachments. Put aside at least $100 in the US currency and treat this cash stash as an emergency fund that will provide you with a temporary financial cushion if the worst happens.

These tips will help to make sure you have a great trip! Do you have any travel tips to share? Sound off in the comments.

 

 

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