In these years of travel we have screwed up countless times. It comes to mind when we forget a backpack with two cameras in a taxi in Saigon, when an Indian “forced us” to get off our bunk because 'by day he served to leave our bags' and after 10 minutes he climbed on a nap with all its nose, or when we got 10 hours of motorcycle through the mountains of southern India.
The bad thing is that we pretend like jerks. The good thing is that we learned. The best thing is that with this post we are going to avoid getting screwed up on several occasions ... so here they go 50 tricks that every traveler should know.
BACKPACK
1. Lightweight luggage: if you don't want to end your trip with the same spine that the hunchback of Notre Dame you will learn quickly ...
2. Take one extra backpack. Little. For excursions and city walks.
3. The sarong He is your friend, we cannot travel without him: it serves you to lie on the beach / lawn / insert any kind of surface, it will eventually serve as a towel, you will need it to cover you when entering temples, it will be your blanket in the cold Asian buses, etc ...
4. Do not forget a padlock: If you travel with budget backpackers you will end up sleeping in hostels and dormitories, here a lock never hurts. Also in the hotels it will also help you to tie the two zippers of your backpack and thus secure your most precious goods, which is probably a PC or a tablet.
5. The Kindle It has become an essential part of our backpack: it allows you to read hundreds of books without having almost weight. We love it. Amamooooos
6. And most importantly: earplugs.
HEALTH
7. Take a small first aid kit And not a pharmacy like we did on our first trip.
8. Get vaccinated when necessary and make sure, nothing bad will happen ... but better safe than sorry.
THE MONEY
9. Get one card that does NOT charge commissions, for taking money or paying abroad. We use the Bnext card and the N26 card, they are free and will allow you to save good money. Here we tell you all the solutions to get money abroad.
10. Make a budget of estimated expenses of each destination: in this way you will know how much you should take out. Try to meet this budget every day, if you see that you can adjust it much better!
11. Do not carry only one credit card: in Thailand a hungry cashier swallowed our card and if we had not had another buah ... move secured!
12. Download the APP from Oanda to know what the exact currency exchange is.
13. Don't have all the money in one place alone: leave some of emergency money aside (for example in the backpack / inside a book ...), yes, remember to always leave it under lock!
14. Avoid changing money at airports: They usually have the highest commissions. If you have no choice but to change, change the minimum necessary.
15. That the money is not an obstacle: There are many ways to self-finance a trip.
ON THE PLANE
16. Always try to stay in the front rows (you will go down among the first and you will arrive before the passport controls row) and window (you can take a lot more comfortable naps and enjoy the panorama) although if the flight is long, there are who prefers the corridor ... for going to the bathroom hehe (by the way, do not stay near the bathroom as people will enter / leave continuously and you will not be able to rest well).
17. Remember to bring loaded the mp3, the Kindle, the tablet with some movie, etc. (although today almost all airplanes have USB).
18. Wears by hand earplugs, saron and technology. You can take it out of the backpack before entering the plane, so as not to be getting up a thousand times later.
DOCUMENTATION
19. Remember that in most countries you will be asked to show a passport with validity of at least 6 months. It is not a good idea to start a trip with a passport about to expire (or without free sheets * as one I know, ahem *).
20. Try to create copies of all your documents in PDF, store them in dropbox or send them by email. It is also interesting to bring printed copies in places where you do not leave the original.
TRIP
21. Get informed about the past and present of the country where you are going: otherwise you will not live it fully, just to visit it. It will help you understand many of the situations you are going to live.
22. Go to tourist offices to inform you about free events, festivals and things to do in the city. But be careful, sometimes these offices work as real private agencies and they will want to sell you tours and activities to earn their commissions.
23. Do not miss the free tour that today there is in almost any corner of the world: they are a perfect way to meet people and discover a place at the hands of those who live it. Although they are 'free tour' the norm is to leave a good tip, that the guides do it a lot 🙂
24. Learn to bargain.
25. Plan... leaving room for improvisation: a perfect trip is a mix between absolute knowledge and absolute surprise.
26. Adapt and respectful with the local culture: the foreigner is you, always remember it.
27. If you want to travel cheap learn to travel slowly: slow travel is increasingly fashionable, we love it.
28. To whom early morning God helps you and when you travel even more: visiting tourist places early will allow you to enjoy a blind date with the city. And an early bird never killed anyone (besides you always have a nap!).
29. Be a responsible tourist and avoid making tourists that harm animals or locals.
30. Mix with the locals, a trip without them comes down to being an exotic vacation.
31. Take out thousands of photos but you don't have to waste time posting them on Facebook, you'll have time. On the trip enjoy the trip!
32. The best way to tour a place is kickkick kick
33. The best way to know a place is be lost (Learn to follow your instinct and leave the map in your pocket).
34. Buy one Local SIM: the calls will be much cheaper and you will have internet during your trips, which never hurts if you want to check the map, last minute information, send an email ...
35. For international calls use Skype, the friend of every long-distance traveler.
36. Beware of giving money to children. In most cases they are forced to spend their childhood on the street asking tourists for money and then hand them over to their parents or to a more organized network. They are deprived of school and their childhood. We know that they are very sad but if they are given money they are supporting them to stay on the street. There are other ways to help them, one of them is to look for an NGO that works in the area and make a donation, however insignificant it may seem, they will help you. And if you have a blog and talk about them, better than better!
37. Dare to do things that you would never have imagined doing ... but never lose common sense.
38. For guidance use the APP Maps.me, thanks to which you will be able to download / consult maps of the cities without having to have internet.
39. Learn some basic words in the local language
40. Do not want to be a super-traveler: to have homesickness It's more normal than you think.
41. Avoid local holidays, although it seems strange that we tell you, we have suffered in our meats: the prices of accommodation soar and availability is greatly reduced! The best thing if you plan to visit a place during a holiday is to book accommodation in advance.
FOOD
42. At lunchtime, transform yourself in the shadow of the local. Nooo, I'm not telling you to harass them: just do what they do, eat what they eat and see where they go.
43. Dare with the local cuisine and the street food and learn how enjoy it without screwing your leg down.
44. If you travel on a low cost budget eye to alcohol: in many cases a beer costs more than a plate of food.
45. If you are passionate about gastronomy, do not feel like doing some local cooking courses: They are one of the best memories and you will also learn to cook your favorite dishes (and you can enjoy them, once at home).
ACCOMMODATION
46. In some destinations forced to leave the passport in the hostels, try to avoid it by making an excuse that they have it in a travel agency, or in a motorcycle rental shop. If you can deliver a copy of the passport better than better. Sometimes when you check out they try to scam you with small things (such as the price of a laundry or the room itself) and if you do not pay they do not return your passport.
47. Don't think about him couchsurfing Only as a way to save money: the greatness of this network is to live a trip from the local perspective.
48. If you need to make a break on your trip on housesitting It is an excellent option: taking care of houses you will have time for yourself and you can meet from within a country. The most famous housesitting website is undoubtedly www.trustedhousesitters.com that serves everyone. The price is € 89, the best invested of your trip! And if you register through this link, you have a 25% discount!
49. The bedrooms They are not always the cheapest option: if you travel with more people it will be more profitable to haggle a triple or quadruple room.
50. One way to save money on accommodation is to do workaway:work in exchange for free hosting, we did it in Tokyo And it was an amazing experience. In order to apply to these positions it is necessary that you register in a specialized website. We recommend www.worldpackers.com, the options are endless! The price is 49USD for one year, but be careful, if you use that link you have a10USD discount! Olé!
Possibly we left a handful of recommendations ...what are the tricks that you have learned traveling as a backpacker?
