Most Underrated Travel Tips for Every Tourist
With global vaccination drives rolling out, travel is slowly opening back up.
People have predicted a legendary comeback for the travel and tourism industry, and we’re sure you can’t wait to pack your bags!
To make your trip a memorable experience, you need to have strategies in place to make everything as convenient as possible. So whether you’re traveling within your country with friends or taking a solo international trip, here’s some tips and tricks to help you along the way.
Packing Tips
1) Roll your clothes! When packing for your trip, you need to fit everything you might need in the world into your suitcase. Clothes take up the bulk of your suitcase, so roll them up instead of folding them flat. It might seem counterproductive, but you’ll end up saving a lot of space.
2) Plan your outfits! You don’t want to waste time during your vacation destination figuring out what to wear. That’s why it is helpful to pack outfits together and pick one out every day. Remember to keep the outfits you want to wear first on top so you don’t have to go digging through your suitcase to find them.
3) Choose travel-friendly fabrics! Everyone wants to look great when they travel through a country or countries. You want picture-perfect clothes that will look excellent on Instagram.
Save yourself the hassle of worrying about fabrics and choose fabrics that don’t crease like stretchy fabrics or knitted ones. It’ll also be easier to re-use your outfits since we can’t predict the weather and you never know what you will end up needing to wear! If you want to be sure, you can check Tomorrow’s weather forecast for the destination and decide on your clothes.
Safety Tips
1) Research about scams! As a tourist, you are likely to be a target of tourist scams that occur in every country. Wherever you visit in the world, you should be on alert for common or popular scams that tourists fall prey to. You’ll save yourself a lot of money this way.
2) Don’t carry all your cash! Different countries use different currencies, which is why a lot of tourists exchange money in their home countries and travel with that. However, this makes you a prime target for thieves and pickpockets.
Instead, it is much safer to use a credit card that has international transactions enabled. This keeps your money safe in the bank no matter where you are in the world.
3) Don’t get too drunk! When you travel all over the world, you want to relax and unwind. Depending on what country you’re in, this often involves alcohol, which leads to bad decision-making.
You might end up in a tricky situation because you’re drunk, which can spell disaster in a foreign country. Instead, drink responsibly and keep your wits about you unless you’re with friends or family. Make sure you can safely get back to your hotel and don’t pass out overseas.
Local Travel Tips
1) Dress like a local! One of the most glaring ways a tourist stands out in a crowd is through their clothes. As a tourist, you should scan what the locals are wearing before your trip and try to choose similar clothes.
If you mark yourself as a tourist by wearing outrageous clothes, locals will be less likely to help you, you’ll get overcharged for amenities, and you’ll also be on the radar for pickpockets and scam artists.
2) Stay away from tourist hotspots! If you’re visiting a country for the first time, you’re most likely going to check out the famous landmarks and historical and cultural sites. However, you should stay away from the industries that crop up around these sites, like food stalls and souvenir shops.
These are typically overpriced and lower quality than you would get elsewhere in the city. Instead, you can explore the town and pick up meaningful souvenirs for family and friends to take back home.
3) Eat and drink where the locals do! As a tourist, figuring out where to eat and drink can be challenging. Most information on the internet doesn’t include hidden gems that you’ll find on the streets. Keep your wits about you and line up behind the longest line of locals for food.
It is also a helpful way to stay within your budget, as getting overpriced food can blow your budget in days. Depending on the crowd, you can even ask the locals or the shop owner for recommendations about what to eat. Who knows, you might end up discovering a local delicacy!