You’re excited. You’ve booked your flight tickets, looked up the hotel you’re going to be staying at, and read the important bits about the culture of your destination country. You’ve also downloaded maps, images, books and the likes to ease your trip, filled up your backpacks and now you’re all set and ready to go on a little journey to expose yourself. Now, it’s time to leap into the unknown and see what the rest of the world has to offer.
We admire that and have decided to share some wonderful tips and advice to inspire and prepare you for your epic journey.
Tips for your International Trips Photo Gallery
Get up early: Some of the best attractions can be found in the morning and you can have them all to yourself as you avoid crowds. It is one of the best times to take magical pictures with the available soft and diffused light. You can relate with the locals better during these times and the places you would see as dangerous become less of a threat to you as the supposed “criminals” could still be sleeping in at this time.
Let patience be your go-to virtue: You are unable to control everything and sometimes things just don’t happen to turn out the way you expect them to. Maybe you missed your bus, you might get angry but don’t let it ruin your mood, there’ll be another bus. Unable to get some money from the ATM machine? Don’t flip out, you can take a spontaneous road trip, exploring some undiscovered areas and end up finding something you never expected. Whatever the case maybe, as long as you’re alive and in good condition, just relax and remind yourself that it could have been worse. But it’s not.
Laugh at the little things: Again, you can’t control everything, and honestly when travelling to new places, you’re bound to embarrass yourself. So rather than throwing a fit or feeling glum, laugh at yourself and don’t be scared to mess up sometimes. You’re only human and your mortal life is too short to be wasted on taking little things seriously
Know the exchange rate and have some extra cash on you: Ensure you do your math homework and know how much you’ll need for your trips. Your credit or debit card might not work in certain places, so know how much you need to keep on you at all times after you’ve converted.
Be nice to the locals: English is spoken in many places across the world, so communication might be a lot easier than you expect. Even in places with little English, a combination of body movement and hand gestures could get the locals laughing and understanding you in a funny way. Start conversations with them and learn from them, you’re in their country so make them your teachers and friends. You can learn a lot more, enlighten yourself and gain easier insight on a lot of things this way.
Always keep an open mind: Just because another lifestyle is different from yours does not put you in the judge’s seat. Be open-minded and listen when presented with opinions you might not agree with; we’re all different and think differently from each other. It is an arrogant state when you assume that your opinions are the correct ones and those of others are wrong.
See whatever challenge you’re faced with from the view of the other party before making any decision. Ask questions and accept other opinions. Life is all about learning and you’ll be surprised with what new things you’re still able to pick up everyday.
Eat local food: Maybe you think you have tried some of the best Mexican restaurants back where you’re from, you might probably be wrong. It is more than highly recommended to try a little bit of everything whenever you travel and see how different it tastes compared to what you might have had back home.
Even if you’re unsure as to what certain foods are, you can’t go wrong when you ask local people for any recommendations. Don’t be scared of trying the street food that has big lines in front, they usually embody what the local food is supposed to taste like.
Get travel insurance: Jumping off from the food, most travelers tend to get sick when they consume some food that their immune system is not strong enough to handle just yet. Travel insurance is your sure bet when it comes to emergency cases like sickness.
Besides that, getting injured, losing your items or getting robbed are also covered by travel insurance, so ensure that you read the policy offered first from the insurers and see if it covers all the categories before picking an insurance that will work for you. When you have it, you don’t need to worry about pricy hospital bills or your gear/equipment getting stolen (Try to take care of them, regardless).
Try to stay in shape: Travelling around can make your body feel too relaxed or too stressed as it gets difficult trying to maintain a set exercise routine when you’re constantly moving around. Try as much as possible to stay hydrated (Very necessary) and get enough sleep so you’re active enough for the next day and exercise whenever you can. Try out some bodyweight routines that wouldn’t require you to sign up at a gym.
Step out of your comfort zone: The only way to overcome the fear of something is to actually engage in that thing, that way you find out why you were scared of it in the first place and ways to get over that fear when you try it again. Confront the things that would normally give you anxiety and the more you do them, the less of a challenge they become to you. Eat weird food you normally wouldn’t, talk to more people than normal, go on random walks.
Travelling is amazing, and if you’re able to take an international trip or more than one, then you have the chance to see how much of a wonder the world actually is. Take your time, plan your journey, do your research, pick a place and handle yourself accordingly in any situation you face.
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