Travel is an art, no doubt. Everyone knows that. I dont believe there is any right or wrong way to travel. Your never too old, too young, too poor, too rich, too comfortable, too spoiled or whatever...
I believe the best time to go traveling is whenever you can.
Anyway, this post isnt about metaphysical travel phooey. Its about travel tips. Tried, n true, travel tips. Everyone has their favorites. Before I left home I read a few round-the-world type travel books to snarf up some new tips. Below are my persona favorites. They worked really well for me on this trip. For someone else or in a different style of trip they may not apply. Everyone is different and different trips call for different techniques and so on..
The two main books I learned from are "First Time Around the World" by Rough Guides (RG) and the other was "The World Awaits" (TWA) and I forget who wrote it. Below I try to give credit as appropriate.
Without further babble, here they are...
Planning
Have goals (from TWA). It sounds obvious, but for me, having travel goals, and knowing I am reaching them helps everything feel meaningful. This is as opposed to just wandering around and getting your picture in front of name-your-famous-tourist-site.
Have a plan. I used a spreadsheet, listed where I wanted to go, how much time i would want, the budget, time of year and so on. I think you get out of these things what you put in and a little planning seems to pay off big... so... Then again others just want to wander. Its personal preference, but I enjoy the satisfaction in knowing I spent my time aware.
Mix it up. All of one thing gets old. Its really been nice to mix in wilderness and outdoor experiences with metropolitan experiences and everything in between. Snowboarding, trekking, shopping, walking, touring ruins, musuems, wandering cities, beaching... its good to have variety.
Know when you need bookings. Titans like the Inca Trail and Gorilla Traking may need permits months in advance. Most things are pretty wingable but it wouldnt be to get cut out of something you really wanted to do because of poor planning.
Packing
Ahh packing. Obviously the most important here is to pack light. All the books say it different. Pack light, travel happy. Bring less stuff and more money. You can usually get anything, anywhere (more or less). When in doubt, leave it out. Really this is the biggest deal. Just dont bring it. You dont need that thing you think you need... let it go.
In my day bag I always have handy and methodically in the same place a small flashlight, eye shades and ear plugs. This is my key to happiness especially in dorm rooms, buses, planes, boats... you get the point. Tuning out the world is just as important as exploring it sometimes and it pays to have this stuff on you at all times. Ditto for toilet paper and immodium. Daypack, always. Maybe even wallet if you are in asia.
Hack your gear... remove straps, pads, whatever you need in order to customize the fit and function.
Sew inside pockets into your pants, with a zipper. They should be at least passport sized, which btw, belongs in a plastic pouch. Inside pockets are are heavon sent in busy markets, bus stations, etc... (tip from my friend J Older).
Have a plan to lock your stuff. A simple combo padlock and cable with loops has worked well. Pacsafe makes a small travel safe which rocks as well. Large pacsafes seem to just attract attention and I never met anyone who uses one.
Toilet kit should have a mirror and a hook to hang it. (RG)
Plastic water bottles like Nalgenes are dead weight since most of the time the tap water isnt safe to drink, so you end up buying disposable plastic water bottles anyway. They are great for trekking though.
Dont surgically pack your bag. If you need to resort to engineering skills to fit in all your stuff, you have too much stuff. Or too small a bag. More likely too much stuff. If you plan to travel for hundreds of days you will be packing, unpacking and repacking hundreds of times. Playing travel gear tetris gets old quick.
Stuff sacks are your friend. One for clean, one for dirty and so on. Nothing goes naked into the backpack. Keeps it all organized and lower stress if you are changing locations say every night for a couple weeks in a row.
Travel pillows are a joke. Dead weight to leave out. Honestly, is that $15 doughnut really comfortable?
Sleep sheets are worth their weight in gold. Mine is silk, instantly turning 2 dollar dives into a happy sleep.
Soap goes in a squeeze bottle... e.g. liquid over bars.
Travel towels rock and are essential in some places.
Bring every form of payment. ATM cards, credit cards (preferably multiple companys), cash and perhaps a few crusty old travelors checks just in case.
Multiple ATM cards with different accounts are key. This is because sometimes you need to buy a tour for say $500 cash and with daily limits on atm cards, multiple accounts lets you get around it. This is also good in the event of theft. This was an essential thing for me.
Stash cash and extra cards in different places. Obscure spot in your bag, shoe, whatever...
Battery powerd music players are better then rechargable if you are doing lots of extended outdoors stuff. Its just lame to have your ipod battery die on day 2 of an 8 day trek.
Altitude can kill harddrives. This applies to laptops, ipods and the like. Over 10,000 ft / 3000meters you are taking a big expensive chance...
Moving Around
(RG) Cross the street as locals do. Until you know the area, find a local. Walk next to them. When they walk, you walk, when they stop, you stop. This comes super in handy in places like Hanoi or if you are moving from British colonized countries to others alot.
Flying sux. Ok, flying is great. But traveling by land, even with there are no main sites to see is a great way to go. Long bus rides can be painful, but you can get tremendous doses of local culture, shake the tourist path and maintain a sense of continuity thats really worthwhile. TWA delves into this in detail and its been really true for me.
On the note of long bus rides and the like... its always good to ask locals, not the person selling the ticket, what the bus is like. Paved road? do they sell isle seats? do they stop for every local on the road to get on and off? Will it be snotty babies all over you or plush western europeon recliners? I didnt do this enough really.
Misc
If you arent willing to just deal with how things are, e.g. if you are set on having it your own way, its better maybe just not to go.
Its polite and common sense to speak broken english. When English isnt someones first language and you are trying to use it, its good to listen to what words they are using and try to get your point across using words they know and other easy words. This helps reduce frustration...
Journaling, travelblogging, mass emails... these all take time but I think it really helps anchor down the experiences. I have a bunch of friends who write about thier travels in blogs and emails and it makes it easier for me to appreicate thier experience. Mine certainly helps perserve the experience... And its been amazing how many people actually read it. Weird.
Smiling really helps you get by, except in Russia.
Cold showers... ahh cold showers. I used to believe the best way to take em was just to jump in. Alas, as my friend Dede put it, its better to stay on the outskirts. That is head under first, then dollop some water, wash, rinse, etc... Avoiding full cold waterosity seems to be much easier. If you travel on a budget, cold showers are just a reality. No getting around it.
Use skype.
Luxury insulates you from the culture that you have set out to explore, at least a lot of the time.
Forget universal sink plugs, they are more useless dead weight like travel pillows. Most sinks have a plug and if not, your clothes kind of function as one. After washing your clothes.... wring them out, roll them in a towel and then step on the towel with your clothes in it to help the towel absorb the water. The roll in towel and step routine helps dry your stuff much, much faster. Its amazing. (RG and orginal)
I used an acronym to remember my valubles. Mine were passport, ipod, medicine (usually antimalarials) phone, plane tickets, camera and laptop. Everything else I considered non valuable. When I would leave a hotel room I would use my acronym (pimptixx) to check that I had all my valuebles.
Travel Principles
Mine are, in short. Be happy, or at least grateful. Be accepting. Try to be friendlier then I normally am... and when things arent going well, fuck it. Really, these basic principles have guided me through the last few hundred days and theyve, on occassion, helped me from strangling unfortunate touts and other backpackers. Losing any and all attitude is another good one, though much harder for me to stick with. Having an attitude tends to steal the fun from experiences.
OK, those are some of my favorites. Obviously this isnt a comprehensive list, but its just some standouts. Ill end with the worst travel advice I ever read. One book says something like, "dont bring a travel music player. Its too big and it insulates you from the local culture". Maybe this was from the days before mp3s, but this is just dumb ass. Rocking to tunes is a big part of the fun and sometimes essential for sanity.
While most people wont ever read this far, I do hope this list helps someone, someday perhaps plan and enjoy the grand journey!
peace in the middle east...