As we waited for the shuttle to depart from the airport, I said “hello” to the person sitting next to me. He said to me “I don’t speak English” and turned his back on me. My biggest disappointment are the people who do not try to connect with others, especially overseas. One of the benefits of travel is connecting with new people from different backgrounds. Moving out of your comfort zone can be extremely enlightening. Other travellers can give advice, tips or help. This guy may have been surprised to learn I spoke his language and I could…
Travel Tips (Monday)
Category Archives for Travel Tips (Monday).
Don’t Be a Tourist Target!
The gentleman strolled past me, as I entered the Sky Train Siam station in Bangkok, Thailand. In his left hand he clutched a detailed city map, a free overview city map and the transit system map. In his right, was the Bangkok Lonely Planet guidebook. His face was an expression of panic. Nothing screamed louder than lost tourist! I have a problem with looking so obvious! There are some advantages! You may meet interesting and well travelled locals who understand and sympathise. Others will pretend they cannot see you, fearing a long complicated interaction over obscure…
Don’t be an A### hole
Spent a couple of weeks on the road, perturbed at the behaviours of some of my fellow travellers. If you want to be a jerk, stay home. Seriously, it should not be that hard to be respectful: of the country you are visiting- yes the coffee may be better back home, or the showers are hotter or the internet is faster but telling people ad nauseum will not earn you a welcome. I was in a store in Sydney, Australia, when a tourist wandered in, pointed to a camera and said “how much“. when told, he…
Just don’t do it!
With my travel tips I generally work on the dos of travel. For the next six weeks, however, I will be focussing on some don’ts. My first one will be “Don’t be an A### hole” and will be published next week: 13th April, 2015. I am happy to take suggestions on other Don’t tips! Related Posts 93 Free Travel Tips Don’t let the Bedbugs bite Travel Tip: Don’t Check in baggage
Learn these Seven Words- always
Learn these seven basic phrases of the native language(s) of the place(s) you are going to: Hello (eg Bonjour, Hola, Guten Tag, Salaam, Namaste, Sawadee Krub- (French, Spanish, German, Arabic, Hindi, Thai) Thank you Merci (FR), Gracias(SP), Danke (GM), Shukrun (AR), Dhanyavaad (HI), Krob Khun Krub (TH) Good bye Au revoir (FR), Adios (SP), Auf Wiedersehen (GM), Ma’a as-salāmah (AR), Namaste (HI), Byebye (TH) Restroom Les toilettes(FR), Baño(SP), Toilette,Toilet or Privy, Alhammam, Hong Nam (TH) Help Au secours (FR), Socorro, Hilfe (GM), ilHaʿni, Maḍaḍ, Chûay dûay (TH) Yes Oui (FR), Si (SP), Ja, Iewa, Haji, Shy (TH) No Non(FR), No (SP), Nein (GM), la, Nahin, My (TH) It…
Left & right: 7 tips for Safe Road Crossing
I measure how successful a pedestrian you are by your ability to handle crossing roads in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam! Faced with multiple lanes filled with cars, bikes, motorbikes, buses and scooters, weaving in and out of lanes, I have seen people freeze with fear. I have escorted people across these roads while they quietly whimper with fear! In many cities, pedestrian crossings and traffic signals mean nothing when pedestrians are involved! It is a serious issue for travellers, however. A UK study found that one fifth of UK road deaths involved pedestrians. 61 per…
Considering JetBlue’s Etiquette Tips
JetBlue have launched a series of Flight Etiquette tips for passengers. They are in the indomitable Jetblue style quite fun. But which of the miscreants of the air will actually watch them though? Episode one deals with Mr Sprawler. This episode I understand! (Although why the woman trapped in the middle could not move to the window seat, I do not know?) Episode Two deals with needing to go to the lavatory from the window seat. I found that one less useful. It starts with the woman drinking lots of fluids (which every airline recommends)…
93 Free Travel Tips
One of the things I most enjoy doing is sharing my travel tips for better, less stressful travel. Over the last four years I have shared almost 100 tips for better travel. Here are 93 of my travel tips grouped into eight categories: Planning Booking Travel Accommodation & Food Trip Preparation Packing Travelling Travel Problems In Location Any suggestions or requests welcomed. 1. Planning Stop Wishing and Do it- Life’s Bucket List Greener Travel Tips 20 Top Travel Tools My Essential Travel Apps for 2014 Woofound Explore Where is this? Cool Tool Medical Tourism How far is it from?…
My Top Travel Tips of 2014
I love sharing things that I find make my travel faster, easier, more enjoyable, safer and cheaper. My ultimate aim is to let my travel serve me not the other way around! In 2014, readers liked the following Travel Tips posts the most: Travel insurance Rocks! The Man in Seat 61 – the best guide to riding trains across the globe -ever Seven Things not to pack – which generated some controversy with heaps of comments! What to do with left over foreign coins? Some very helpful comments here Don’t carry a Money Belt-my other controversial…
My Essential Travel Apps for 2014
Twenty five years ago, I travelled with paper tickets, travellers cheques/checks and lots of real cash. We organised to meet people by letter and I sent postcards home. Now, a credit card and a smartphone are all I really need to organise my travel world. As I approach the end of the year, I am reflecting on what have been my essential travel tools. These are the ones I could not live without: Kayak and Skyscanner – Nothing beats these two fare and accommodation finding tools for getting the best deals. Their interfaces give me flexibility…
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