Someone shared some tips in one of the Travel groups on what to do when traveling outside India and I didn’t agree with some of them so decided to make my own post on things you should do and not do when traveling. This is based on my personal experience and way of traveling and not everyone will agree with everything I say here just as I didn’t agree with everything in the post that inspired this one. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments or via email.
Research the destination before you go
Sounds pretty obvious when you say it, but not everyone does it. When you research the destination beforehand you know what are the places to see, things to do, things not to do etc. It will also give you a good idea of local customs that you should be aware of. Things that are normal in one country might be the most offensive thing in another.
Forex/Money Conversion
I have found that if you are traveling to a country that is relatively less popular with tourists, it is cheaper to go to the country and then withdraw cash over there using the ATM instead of getting it converted in your home country. I have stopped converting money at home for the past 3-4 years and it does save money.
You do need to ensure that you have enabled international transactions & withdrawals on your Debit card. In addition, try to ensure you are using an ATM that is in a reputed place like a bank or hotel lobby or busy street etc instead of one that is in a shady shop somewhere. This is to avoid having your card copied/cloned. The following link has good advise on how to spot ATM skimmers. I have never found one in the wild but enough people have that I follow this checklist when I go to withdraw cash.
Another point to remember is that the bank (and potentially the ATM) might charge transaction fees so instead of making multiple small withdrawals do a single large withdrawal. That way you don’t end up paying too much in transaction fees.
Language
If the language spoken by majority of folks in your destination is not English then it is a good idea to learn basic phrases in the local language, especially please and thank you. We usually ask a local on how to say Thank you and they are happy to help with the pronunciation. You will see a remarkable difference in people when they see that you are trying to communicate in their language. Google Translate does work in a pinch but sometimes the translations can be a bit off. 🙂 Translate also works with images so you can take a photo of text or a menu and get it translated like that. This is pretty much what we did in Hong Kong & Macao as a lot of places didn’t have English menus. If you are in places like China, Vietnam etc then you might want to get a local guide that speaks English as That can save you some time and effort.
Keep in mind that if you can’t speak the local language don’t look down on the locals for not speaking English.
Food
One of the best parts of traveling is to explore the local food. Sometimes I do feel bad that I can’t explore the food as much as Jani does because I am a vegetarian. But that doesn’t mean I don’t try the local vegetarian options. You will not get the same food that you get at home as the dishes are as per the local palate. If you insist on getting the exact same taste and dishes as what you get at home you will be miserable and so will the folks traveling with you.
Things that are common at home might not be where you are traveling to. For example, in a recent trip I heard about one of the girls who had a screaming fit at a waiter because they didn’t make her ‘Filter coffee’ correctly. She literally yelled at them asking “How can you not know how to make filter coffee?”. My question to her if I was a local would have been do you know how to make egg coffee, because for them that is something everyone should know how to make. You are a guest in their place, you need to adjust to their way of doing things instead of expecting them to adjust to your way.
Another thing to remember is that the local version of a particular food might just be drastically different than what you are used to. When I was in Vietnam I ordered a margarita pizza. What I got was a square of bread (about 8 inches wide) with cheese slices (yes, like what you put on sandwiches) on it. Then a whole tomato was cut into four thick slices with a slice put in each quadrant of the ‘pizza’. It tasted ok but was definitely not what I expected. 🙂 Chinese food that you get in India tastes nothing like the actual Chinese food in China.
Some people recommend that you should carry food with you and I know people who will cook stuff like Puri & Aaloo for a week long trip and just eat that. Another person I know told me that they were in Boston for an year and survived on just French fries. I asked them that Boston has enough Indian restaurants and Vegetarian options so why not eat there and I was told that the food didn’t taste like food at home. So far I have traveled to all 7 continents but never felt like I should have carried food with me.
Transit
Use the local public transit when possible, especially Subway and Trams as they are a lot cheaper than Uber or Taxi’s. If you have to take a cab use the local app (if available) such as Grab in South East Asia instead of Uber.
Explore places other than the Tourist hotspots
Every location has places that are must see, for example Eiffel Tower in Paris, Qutub Minar in Delhi, Mysore Palace in Mysore etc. You should definitely visit these locations because they are famous for a reason. However, once you see the tourist traps explore other places which might not be that well known. By that I mean check out the local market instead of the mall and instead of the world famous beach check out the beach where locals hang out.
This is where the research you did before the trip will help. Another way to find off-beat places is to ask the locals (Hotel Staff, Local Tour companies etc) for advice on must see places. We (me and Jani) always do this and while we were in Hampi we ended up visiting a 3000 year old Megalithic site that hardly anyone knew about. This way you will see places that will blow your mind and are not super crowded. Obviously you need to ensure your safety before going off to someplace in the middle of nowhere, so take a judgement call before going anywhere.
Some folks prefer to have a fully planned itinerary for a trip with everything pre-booked but personally I prefer to have more flexibility. When we visited Sri Lanka we had booked hotel for only the first night, we had a list of places we wanted to cover but diverted quite a lot to cover other places that were recommended to us. Each evening we would get on Tripadvisor and search for places to stay within an hour of where we were and would book a place when we found something we liked. It did help that we were a group of 6 guys instead of a group of 6 girls.
Respect the local culture
This is a must as you are a guest in their country/town so please don’t act like idiots. I understand that you might want to get the perfect photo for Instagram but that doesn’t mean you can climb into restricted places, create a nuisance or block paths. Especially don’t insult local religious structures or deface property. There was a case few years ago where a tourist in Bhutan decided to climb the one of the Stupa’s for a photoshoot on top of it. (The stupas at Dochula are built in the memory of Bhutanese soldiers who died) and it became an international incident where the guys passport was confiscated and he got jailed. There are thousands more such examples and it is embarrassing when folks do this kind of nonsense.
Don’t make fun of local eating habits or way of life. Remember you are a guest there and they have no obligation to you. I once traveled with someone from Canada who kept complaining about having to climb steps to visit the temples. He said something to the effect of “Don’t Indians know how to put an Escalator and why can’t you Indians put escalators in these places so we don’t have to climb stairs.” (It was stated in a lot more obnoxious way) Had to tell him that the whole point of having the temple at the top was so that the devotees had to put in effort to pray, which is an integral part of the Hindu faith.
Travel Light
You should travel as lightly as possible, that way you don’t have to worry about how to carry your luggage. Jani and Me usually just take a backpack each (Unless I need to have formal clothes for meetings etc in which case I carry a suitcase), that way it is easy to carry and it leaves your hands free for other things. My rule of thumb is that in a pinch you should be able to carry all your luggage yourself.
Once we stayed at a home stay where the only way to get there was by a small path and we all had to carry our own luggage. Me and Jani didn’t have an issue because we both had backpacks but another person in the group had this massive suitcase that they couldn’t carry down. In the end a few of the others in the group had to carry it down (and then back up when returning). It was not fun for anyone.
Maps
Save offline copies of Goggle Maps on your phone so you don’t get stuck when you don’t have a signal.
Don’t worry about taking the perfect picture and just enjoy the moment
When traveling I have seen folks getting stressed about taking the perfect picture that they can post online to show folks how much fun they are having. They end up stressed out and miss out on all the fun and the beauty of the location. I have been guilty of that as well. When we visited Andaman & Nicobar a long time ago, we had just gotten a Camcorder (This was back in 1998) and instead of enjoying the spectacular views I spent most of the time looking at things through the viewfinder. One specific example I remember is when we were on a glass bottom boat and the entire time I was on the camcorder, since the internal display was black and white I didn’t even see any of the colorful fishes in the see. For me it was all black and white.
In my opinion, actually having fun is more important than showing others that you are having fun.
Well this is all now now, I am sure I will remember more tips once I publish this post and if I have enough additional topics I will create a follow up post.
– Suramya
