4 Tips on How to be a Good Traveler
To get the most out of any experience and really enjoy your adventure, you need to remember a few rules of traveling. To begin, remember you are a traveler, a tourist. Why is this important to keep in mind? Acknowledge that you are not in your home court. And that’s good! The local culture, the local food, and even the local music will be new. Toto, you’re not in Kansas anymore, and that’s the goal. Enjoy it.
Get Help From Locals
That being said, as a tourist, you won’t know where everything is located. The best way to reach your destination is to ask for help from the locals, the folks who live and work in the area. This is crucial. Most of the hidden gems, those places you really ought to visit, are usually not found online. Ask for a unique and beautiful hike. This very well may give you the most memorable day: extraordinary times, views, and experiences to share with your travel buddies. Now, let’s dig into this a bit more.
Be Kind
Here’s lesson #2: appreciate that you have been granted a special blessing when asking for help and receiving kindness from a total stranger. Please acknowledge it as such. Along these lines, tipping is a form of appreciation. So don’t forget to engage your hotel staff and tip them for all the help they give you. They do more than turning down the bed.
Be Respectful
Ok, lesson #3. Your attitude while on a trip is very important. Keep in mind that you’re in someone else’s home. This requires respect. Give it in heaps and try not to think or behave like your home (city, busses, parks, or cafes) is better than theirs. Having fun and being open-minded while traveling is what makes it an adventure. Otherwise, it might simply be a dull work trip.
To reach the “adventure” status, you must be spontaneous. Back at home, you may be high-strung or shy, or a homebody. But while on vacation, you are free and able to talk to anyone you desire. Relax and talk to people. People love to show off their home, so if an invitation goes your way for a concert, a beach party, or a dinner with the locals, take the opportunity. Who knows, the person sitting next to you at the local pub very well may be a world-famous surfer who’ll offer up a private surfing lesson and a tour of a hidden and treasured beach cove. Anything can happen if you let it.
Keep Social Media to a Minimum
Lesson #4. Looking back at how people traveled 50 or 60 years ago, social media was not part of the equation. So, it’s ok to travel like your parents (or grandparents) and don’t feel the need to post everything you’re doing on Facebook or Instagram. Do you think you need to text a picture of your feet in the sand to everyone you know? What you could do, however, is grab a pen and find the most gorgeous postcard you can find. Write a brief letter to someone special. Not only will it be a bit more genuine, but it will also help you center yourself (mindfulness is a skill to be practiced) and create distance between you and the material-driven world of social media. Everyone needs a break, mentally and physically. AND this will help not only you but also the loved one who’ll be checking their mailbox and finding your postcard. How excited do you feel when getting a letter in the mail?!
Traveling should be about experiences, not just seeing a beautiful beach and leaving. Go swimming, write a letter in a bottle and throw it in the ocean, do something new and different!
Create memories.