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Here are our 50 travel tips & tricks that will come in handy on your journeys. Be sure to use them while exploring the world so that you will get the most out of your travels!
- Pack less
When it comes to clothing: less is best
Travelling with just hand luggage should be your goal. Do you really need six pairs of heels, tea bags, and an iron? Take less and you’ll travel cheaper (no check-in luggage fees), travel faster (no waiting for your bags), and travel easier (one bag means less to lug around).
- Leave the guidebook at home
Rather than taking your entire copy of the Rough Guide or Lonely Planet, just photocopy the pages you need, then discard them after you have used them. Saves space and weight.
- Never join the security queue with kids in
Go for the one with the ‘suits’. It will move much quicker.
- Never wear flip flops (on a plane)
I used to work for an airline and we were told never to wear sandals on board an aircraft. In the unlikely event of an emergency, it’s best to have a good set of sturdy shoes that will protect your feet from heat or sharp objects.
- Jiggle it (just a little bit)
If you’re petrified of turbulence during flights, try slightly jiggling your body when you hit some rough air. No one will notice because everyone is being moved around due to the aircraft movement. Sounds a little crazy but your movement will counteract that of the aircraft and you won’t feel the turbulence so much. It really does work!
- Choose your seat-mate carefully
If you get the choice of plane seat, always sit far away from: babies, groups of friends who will chat, or women (men tend to need the toilet less often than ladies).
- Learn a little lingo
Memorise a handful of words of the local language, and have the courage to use them! It’s amazing how just a few words will go a long way; locals tend to warm to those who have made the effort to communicate with them in their own tongue.
- Keep your mouth shut
If you are in a country where it is unsafe to drink the water, keep your mouth shut in the shower.
- Try local cuisine
Try new things who know you might just find a new favorite, if you not sure what it is just ask to be on the safe
- Ditch your friends
Travelling all by your lonesome might seem daunting at first, but it gives you a chance to really immerse yourself in the travel experience. I’ve met friends for life, learnt a new language, and had amazing experiences by travelling solo.
- Always travel in a hoodie
Hooded tops make top travel garments
They may have become the uniform of unruly teenagers, but hooded tops make excellent travel garments. Just slip up your hood to retreat from the world of noise and light when you want to sleep on a flight/airport seat/bus.
- Choose the Asian-vegetarian option on the plane
You get fed before anyone else, you avoid anything too greasy and stodgy (helps the jetlag allegedly) and I’m convinced the more niche meals are much better quality as they’re made in smaller batches.
- Bring ear plugs
If silence is golden, then ear plugs are worth their weight in platinum. Being able to sleep in a noisy plane or hotel room is a very valuable skill, not to be underestimated whilst travelling.
- Pre-book an airport lounge
If you’re flying long-haul, pre-book yourself into an airport lounge. There’s an up-front fee, but it provides a quiet environment with complimentary drinks, food, magazines, newspapers, Wi-Fi etc. When you leave the lounge, take a few big bottles of water. It’s a cost effective and relaxing way to start your journey.
- Bring an internet ready device
If travelling for a long time, take your own device that can pick up Wi-Fi, like a smartphone or tablet. We didn’t do this because we didn’t want to bring an expensive item backpacking, but it turned out to be incredibly expensive to use the internet, or impossible to find any. Yet there is free Wi-Fi in places all around the world, and you quickly realise how often you need to tap in to things like bank accounts or travel bookings.
- Bring an extra top on board
When flying (especially long haul) always travel with an extra top as the blankets they provide are thin and the plane can get very cold.
- Always bring a sarong
They’re light and multifunctional: something to lie on at the beach, a cover for when you’re cold, a towel, a curtain, a skirt, a dress, even an emergency bandage.
- Bring a DVD player for the kids
When flying with small children, bring a laptop/DVD player/tablet. Cartoons and movies while away a sizeable chunk of the flight and allow parents some downtime too.
- Invest in noise-cancelling headphones
For the perfect long-haul trip, invest in some good quality noise cancelling headphones. The price tags are hefty, but they are worth every penny to tune out the crying baby, snoring man, or chattering teenagers.
- Kindles are made for travel
I never travel without my Kindle. No more lugging multiple books around whilst waiting to exchange them with other travellers. This may have been a ‘charming’ part of travelling, but not when every book exchange turns up nothing but books in German!
- Look before you leave
Whenever you get up to leave somewhere, be it a chair at the airport, a café, or a bar, always turn round and make sure you haven’t left anything behind.
- Roll your clothes when packing
Once you roll, you’ll wonder why you ever bothered to fold.
- Use body language
When there’s a language barrier, shouting in your own language is not going to get you far. Instead, use your body. It’s the most international language in the entire world. Don’t forget to translate a full stop with a smile.
24. Bring a money belt AND a wallet
There’s a dual purpose to this: if you get mugged you can calmly hand over the wallet and carry on your holiday with minimum hassle. If you meet new friends, use the wallet, as it can be a bit insulting to go into a money belt to pay for your beers.
- Never exchange money in your hotel
Instead, shop around for best rate. Find a credit/debit card that doesn’t charge for purchases abroad, and don’t bother with traveller’s cheques anymore.
- Don’t carry (too much) cash
I can’t remember visiting a country in the last 10 years that doesn’t have ATMs, so there’s really no need to carry about more cash than you need for a couple of days.
- Pack a pack of cards
Play your cards right: an excellent international ice breaker
A game of cards is not only useful to while away the hours during the inevitable delays, but also a great cross- cultural barrier breaker.
- Get a guide
When visiting cultural monuments, always take the offer of a local guide. It will open your eyes to so much more than if you try and go it alone or just use a guide book.
- Be flexible
The more flexible you can be with your travel plans, the more money you’ll save (you’ll be able to travel at cheaper times and get better rates).
- Sync your sleep
To get over jetlag quickly on arrival, try to sync your sleeping pattern with the new time zone immediately.
- Get travel insurance
Always take out travel insurance (and don’t rely on credit card insurance alone). It sounds obvious but lots of people don’t bother, and end up losing a lot of money when things go wrong.
- Be loyal
If you’re looking for ways to get a flight upgrade, then join the airline’s loyalty programme. Even if it’s the lowest level, you still get rewarded first.
- Tiger Balm is medicine of the gods
TB: a cure for a multitude of travellers’ ailments
This Singaporean-made balm not only soothes sore muscles after a lot of travelling but also works as an insect repellent to keep the little biting beasties away.
- Understand you might be understandable
Just because he looks Caucasian, doesn’t mean he speaks English. And just because she looks Asian, doesn’t mean she can’t understand your French! Be wary of mouthing off when you think you’re speaking a language no one around you speaks. You never know who understands what.
- Recognise that we’re all the same
It’s only by travelling that you realise every society is as fractious and plural in their views as your own.
- Avoid everywhere
If you really, really want to get off the beaten track, buy the Lonely Planet guide, then avoid everywhere featured in it.
- Don’t plan anything
It might be tempting to have every step of your trip planned to the nth degree, but unplanned days are often those that leave the most lasting, and fondest memories.
- Don’t sweat the small stuff
Have an open mind and don’t sweat the small stuff; travel can be frustrating but you will look back and remember it forever.
- DIY travel is best
Road trippin’ is the best way to see a country says Dean
If you want to really experience a new country and culture, hire a car and plan it all yourself. It is the freedom to do what you want and when you want, that makes for the best trips of all.
- Slow down
Traveling is like life, it’s the journey that’s fun. Don’t just try to get to your destination as quickly as possible. Travel more slowly and you’ll discover more.
- Take the hard way
The more difficult the travel challenge, the more rewarding it is; driving to Kazakhstan was a crazy life-experience; flying there would have just been a ‘trip’.
- Sitting is tiring
Travelling some distance through the air makes you tired, even if all you do the whole time is sit in a comfy seat.
- Just go
If you have a strong urge to ‘go travelling’ or even just to see one specific place, start saving and go for it! Don’t delay. Don’t defer. Just do it, or you will regret it when you’re too old/attached/busy to travel.
- Don’t be paranoid
Be wise and be wary, but try not to be paranoid. I once travelled with a guy who couldn’t relax because he was convinced everyone was out to steal his money or diddle him. He lost his car keys at one point and started blaming the family who had put us up for the night in the desert. He eventually found the keys at the bottom of his sleeping bag.
- Hide your guidebook
If you’re in London and need to ask directions then to stop people avoiding you, hide your guide book and map. If you’re in Glasgow and you want to avoid constantly being offered directions, hide your guidebook and map.
- There will always be Toblerone
Got to the end of your holiday but forgotten to get gifts? No worries! It is a mathematical certainty that the world’s favourite mountain-shaped Swiss chocolate will always be available from every duty free airport shop on earth.
- Don’t get angry
Don’t waste energy getting upset with unseasoned travellers who don’t stand one metre back (or behind the painted line) from the luggage belt, so that everyone can see luggage arriving. I haven’t managed this yet though, and it always infuriates me!
- Steak Tartare is not steak with tartar sauce
I learned that the hard way.
- Saw your toothbrush in half
To save space and reduce weight, saw your toothbrush in half. The extra three cubic centimetres of space can be used to carry an extra sheet of paper (see tip 2).
- Pretend to be asleep
If you fart during your flight, just pretend to be asleep.
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Source: http://www.skyscanner.net/news/50-insider-travel-tips-tricks-what-we-ve-learned-about-travelling
