30 Invaluable Pieces Of Advice About Traveling

1. Food, Food, Food. Food is one of the best parts of traveling. Every city has many hidden treasures and you don’t have to sacrifice your stomach or budget.

2. Eat at a market, not only do they have the best produce but they have great food stands.

3. Go to a local supermarket pick up a few pre-made things and go have a picnic.

4. Choose a hotel with free breakfast and eat until you’re full. It will keep you happy until mid-afternoon freeing up more of your food budget.

5. Allow yourself to have one succulent dinner at a fancy restaurant.

6. There’s going to be a tradeoff. If you want the travel life sacrifices must be made. I stopped valuing material possessions the way I used to. No more expensive and unnecessary designer purses, watches and shoes, not to mention expensive technology. To some $800 is a flat screen TV, to me it’s a ticket to Europe.

7. Take advantage of work bonuses, tax refunds and credit card points to plan more trips.

8. Take advantage of introductory airline credit card points because unless you travel constantly you’ll never rank up that many points again. I got 50k introductory Southwest credit card points and scored seven national flights. All I did to earn them was charge my rent and paid it off the next day.

9. Do your best to follow the country’s traditions and be respectful.

10. Don’t bring the extra pair of heels. Trust me, unless you’re purposely going to an event, bringing heels is useless.

11. Pack outfits you can transition from morning to night by just changing your necklace or adding a jacket.

12. Always bring a full outfit in your carry-on in case something happens to your luggage.

13. You won’t do it all so don’t even try. Make a non-negotiable list and then just go with the flow, too much planning is not good for the soul.

14. If you’re traveling solo and have never eaten by yourself, books are your friends. Simply open up your book and done, and it’ll give you immediate confidence.

15. Be smart about your shopping. When traveling ask yourself, is this something I can get at home? Try to look for unique pieces that are made in the region or shop local boutiques.

16. People are good, you’ll be surprised, so find a way to strike a conversation.

17. It’s fine if you don’t go to every tourist attraction, in fact why would you? Plan a good balance of free things, local spots and tourist attractions. You’ll have more fun having a picnic by the Eiffel tower drinking wine, than you will waiting three hours in line to get up there.

18. If a view is what you seek, always ask a local.

19. Never look like a slob. There’s a difference between dressing comfortable and looking like a straight up tourist.

20. Street food is where the all the happiness in the world comes together. Be cautious and pick the place with the longest line.

21. If a Spanish waiter asks you to go dancing at 2am don’t coward. Don’t let the fear of being in Taken part 3 stop you.

22. You will get lost. You might as well embrace it.

23. If an English young man asks you out for coffee, the answer is always yes.

24. The view is never going to look as good on camera as it did in person. Put the camera down and absorb the sunset, view of Parisian rooftops, and everything else in between. Enrich your memories not just your camera roll.

25. Yes, you do want another glass of wine.

26. You can have a great camera and be a bad photographer and vice versa. Learn the basics of photography and always focus the camera, nothing wrong with showing people the best way to pose.

27. Never book a six a.m. flight unless you wish to pay a steep cab fare.

28. Mid-afternoon usually has the least crowds at museums.

29. No matter how much you plan an itinerary, some things will be out of your control.

30. The world is waiting. Just go!