Steemizens.
I hope you enjoy this excerpt from my book Choose Life about Shitty Travel Advice!
Have an awesome day
“Wise men don't need advice. Fools won't take it.”
- Benjamin Franklin
We were in a home swap situated right on the Norfolk Broads in England, We were loving this beautiful part of the world and the amazing winter weather. On this particular morning, the mist was still hanging over the water, which was banked by our garden where the ground frost was a brilliant white. The sun had started to shine and, slowly, the unshaded parts of the lawn were turning into patches of green. Cast in front of us was a picture perfect winter scene.
I finished my breakfast and started checking the days admin, emails, Twitter and Facebook accounts. Thanks to the latest attack of targeted advertising, I was subjected with the usual barrage of travel headlines and spam.
“Ten best things to do in Dubai.”
“How to pack lightly.”
“London in a day.”
The headlines out there are truly endless. If you Google ‘Travel Advice’ you are inundated with different options. What’s worse, the top hits generally include government warnings about where NOT to travel, driving fear into your very core.
Then there are the pretty dreadful blogs that are doing their very best trying to win the race to the bottom of the SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) game, hiring freelancers from sites such as Upwork for as little as $5 dollars per article to keep a constant flow of content coming through their blogs. The ruse is simple: write pieces that are largely useless to most people and generally packed full of keywords to win a higher ranking on Google searches.
Lest we forget, the mainstream media of newspapers and magazines are also releasing articles that have generally been written in ten minutes by some hack ‘travel writer’ stuck behind a desk banging an article out for an angry editor.
It seems that everywhere you look these days there are loads of half-assed articles written about travel tips, what to do and what not to do, how to pack, where to go and why, etc.
I sat there on the Norfolk Broads reading more of this spam over a cup of black English tea. At this point we were already almost two years into a constant travel lifestyle and I felt that I needed to address this issue of shitty travel advice.
Some of these tips are, of course, fine. But wouldn’t you want to know how the ‘experts’ are doing it? I felt that others needed to hear from the people that have been travelling long term for years, people who live the tips, tricks and hacks day in and day out, rather than just once a year!
I deleted the spam and, with a fire in my belly, decided to launch a mission to get the lowdown and insider advice on this topic for once and for all. My plan was simple, reach out to as many of the world’s most respected Travel Bloggers, Worldschoolers, Edventurers, and Digital Nomads (call them what you will) as I could and get their input. I got straight onto the Twittersphere and started compiling a list of the most influential travel individuals and engaged them.
To give you some idea of the collective reach of the awesome people who answered me with their advice, the travel gurus between them had a sum of 1,028,650 combined Twitter followers. That’s quite a reach, especially considering these were just ordinary people who decided to leave the rat race and make a life for themselves. They weren’t sponsored by a company or backed by magazines, they were making their own waves and engaging a global audience with their different views of life, family and travel.
Whilst they all came from many different backgrounds, had totally different family situations, had been born in completely different cultures and travelled to many different countries, they all have one thing in common: they have all been travelling for many years and offer bona fide, iron clad, proven, authoritative and expert advice from the front lines of extended travel and life on the road.
I got some great responses and all of them were only too happy to help. They agreed that it was a subject littered with wishy washy articles, not getting the real and proven information out there.
The tips and quotes I received aren't exactly what you would expect. Lots of answers go way deeper than the usual ‘Set up alerts on Skyscanner' or ‘Use go compare’ to get the best rates blah blah blah rubbish. Some of the quotes are heartwarming, others inspiring, profound, powerful and hopefully, for some, life changing.
Feel free to get in touch with any of these individuals and families. They are super friendly and only too happy to help point you in the right direction! In the post on our blog PrincesOffTheGrid I have included the website and Twitter link to each awesome contributor, check it out and reach out to them. I bet they’ll respond!
Enjoy the advice, thoughts and insights from the world's most travelled, but more importantly use it to your advantage, take action and get out there!
Enter, the experts....
My question to each of them was thus……
“What is the best travel advice that you could give to somebody planning a trip, that you actually use on your own travels?”
“I would say don't stress. Book your flight, buy your gear, and worry about the details right before you leave.”
Matthew Kepnes
@Nomadicmatt
"Get lost! Be prepared for your trip, but as soon you are in the destination, forget your itinerary, stay spontaneous and change your plans on the go. That's when the best things happen."
Melvin Bocher
@Traveldudes
I love these two pieces of advice because we found it to be so true as we travelled. They also lend themselves perfectly to a metaphore for life. Staying flexible and open to change, seeking the paths less trodden and embracing spontaneity has opened so many doors and given us so many wonderful experiences. Just saying yes more often than no, not finding excuses to not do something and simply going with the flow has taken us completely out of our comfort zone many times, but each time has rewarded us with so much!
Our best example of this is accepting accommodation on a dairy farm in New Zealand in exchange for work. Not in our wildest dreams did we think we would ever find ourselves face to ass with 300 cows on a freezing cold morning at 6am whilst we milked them, but we did, and it was an amazing experience where we met some of the loveliest hosts and other travellers putting themselves out there.
"Fly on Wednesdays or Saturdays. These tend to be the cheapest days of the week to fly! Fridays and Sundays tend to be the most expensive days. As always, check within a range to see what's the cheapest."
Kate Mculley from AdventurousKate.
@Adventuoruskate
Since getting Kate’s advice, Google Flights really has upped the game for flight search engines and makes searching a lot less hassle. Kate is 100% right too, there are always cheaper days to fly and Google Flights even points out the cheaper days for that particular route or airline. Always check a few days in advance or after to see what you might be able to get!
"Best advice is to focus on cost saving in all aspects. I cover this more in my upcoming book. Low cost airlines booking ahead of time. Follow the right accounts on Twitter."
Henrik Jeppesen
@Henriktravel
Henrik went on a mission to visit every country in the world, he did it, and he is still going! His website Henriktravel.com is a huge resource of information on how to travel low budget!
"Be nice to everyone."
Johnny Jet
@JohnnyJet
So simple, but yet so effective. Just ‘go first’ with everybody you meet, be the first to smile, the first to bow, the first to offer your hand, the first to say good morning, hello, or good afternoon in the language of the native tongue. Be the first to say thank you, or please, be the first to offer your help to a lady crossing the road, be first to ask a stranger a question. Just always go first, you will find that amazing things happen when you do!
"Just book a ticket. When we first started looking to travel, or even now when we are looking of where to go next, research is always half hearted. When you book the ticket, there is no return and working to a deadline is always much more inspiring."
Erin Bender
Great advice from Erin! We once booked a ticket to France in the knowledge we only had accommodation for a certain amount of time, after that we had no idea where we might end up staying. But once we were on the ground, things slowly figured themselves out and we ended up housesitting for July and August in a beautiful part of the French countryside!
"Follow your heart. In other words, go where you're excited about, and do what inspires you, whenever you feel the call. Don't do something just because it makes sense, seems efficient, or is cost-effective. The former leads to fulfillment, even if things don't turn out the way you expect, and the latter leads to disappointment and regret, even if they do."
Brandon Pearce
@Brandags
Brandon is completely right here, if you have a real pull to a destination then, damn it, just go! This is particularly powerful advice to myself as I sit here writing! We had been procrastinating over where to go for a two month trip during July and August. Every bone in my body told me it made sense to stay in Europe, we could find homeswaps or house sits, stay with family in England and drive to multiple locations.
However, there was a feeling in Clair and I that we wanted to be in Asia again. When we asked the kids what they wanted to do, they all chose to get back east too. We let our hearts rule the decision and we booked tickets to Bangkok. We are now busy lining up home swaps in and around Thailand. We are all currently thoroughly enjoying the feeling of anticipation and day dreaming of tasting the food again, re-exposing ourselves to the wonderful sights, smells, sounds and hustle of a totally different way of living and culture.
"Be prepared and organised when travelling, but don't overthink it. There are always things that can go wrong, but if you are well prepared then this should limit any problems. Worrying excessively will just stop you from having the trip of your life."
Sahron Gourlay
@WheresSharon
Sharon hits the nail on the head here, stop worrying, don’t let the fears take over. There are a million and one reasons you shouldn’t do something, shut them all off, make a plan and go for it. The best experiences of your life wait just beyond that line of self doubt!
I follow my advice in getting away from the tourist spots. I believe in "real" experience and hitting the road less traveled.
Michael Earle
@Think Phuket
This is great advice and a common mindset among the whole community. So many of us have experienced wonderful interactions with the locals in the places that we have visited. In fact, many of us would rather never return to a tourist spot or hotel again. This has been a huge part of our travel life through home swapping and one we are truly thankful to have had.
"You know, they say 'Strangers are just friends you don’t know yet’. Don’t be shy, just approach people first, use all the opportunities to meet the locals and you will be able to have the real experience of the country and hopefully understand the locals mentality a bit better! You want to see the differences, to discover the real local culture, isn't that why we travel?"
Yulia
@MissTouristCom
Yulia’s point can be coupled with @Johnnyjet’s and my point of ‘going first.’
"Never let others’ opinion of a place decide your travels. Always experience a place for yourself & make your own opinion."
Charlie and Brittany
@TradinTraveler
I bet Charlie and Brittany have hit a nerve with you here. How many times have you been told to not watch a movie, not go to a certain restaurant, not to buy a certain thing, not to visit a certain place? Opinions are rife in our society today. If it’s not your friends and family telling you what not to do, it will be mainstream media. Turn off the noise. Go anyway if you want to; you might just find that you will have the most amazing time.
We were once advised to not to travel with the children on the subway in New York. The lady in question told us it was unsafe and that it was too dangerous. Under no circumstances should we do it, we would end up getting mugged, pick pocketed, abused or having one of the children snatched. Thankfully we did not listen to her advice and used the subway extensively all over the city and then out to the airport at the end of our trip.
What happened? We met some really wonderful people who gave up their seats for the kids and helped us with directions and inside local knowledge.
"Don't over plan. Leave room for the unexpected."
Randi and Michael
@JustaPack
The unexpected will happen, but embrace it and it will become the norm and it is so enjoyable! I was once asked what I liked about travelling the most. I paused for the thought and reflected on the trip up to that point. It struck me that what I really loved was waking up each day and not knowing who we were going to meet that day, or what we might end up seeing.
The fact that we were all in this together made it even more special. To think that the kids were waking up to a totally new day of adventure and experiential learning was an incredibly exciting prospect for me. There was no set routine, no set commute, no set rules, no set expectations. We had learnt to expect the unexpected and we loved it (accidents and health issues aside of course!)
"Consider housesitting during your stay. Live rent free when you travel and immerse yourself in the local culture!”
Charli Moore from wanderlusters
@wanderlustersUK
Amen! I have covered my thoughts on the sharing economy and the house sitting or swapping movement already me thinks?!
"Make sure you have enough ways to get access to money. Enough cards, and know what you'd do if you lost them all while away."
Dante Harker
@DanteHarker
Practical advice from Dante. Supplementary credit cards are a great idea here. You can each travel with a card in separate safe places. If one does get lost, you still have the other to use. Note also to NEVER pay a credit card company a yearly subscription, not for the main card account or the supplementary card. In 20 years, I have never paid a fee. Once I notice the fees on the monthly statement I either make a quick phone call to the number listed on the back of the card or log in to my account and email the company directly requesting they waive the annual fees. Trust me, it works.
"When trying to book flights with my miles and points, I always search one-way at a time instead of round trip. Airline search engines don't always show everything that's available when searching round trips. Once I find and write down the flights I want, I call the airline to book. Be sure to tell them your itinerary wasn't bookable online to have phone reservation fees waived."
Jackie
@Globetroteacher
We have used this advice to good effect too. Often times, if you call the airline directly they will match the cheap online price for you. It is effective at cutting out the middleman and gives you the opportunity to earn or cash in any airmile points you might have with that carrier.
It is so much easier to do if you are talking directly with a staff member taking the booking over the phone. We always tell them that we were unable to book online as we could not get through to payment as part of our family were flying with miles and the other part as payment. It’s a loophole and one worth trying if you want to book directly with the airline.
"I always suggest that people consider ways they can earn money and travel at the same time. This has been our strategy for 18 years and it's meant that our life has been one consistent travel journey. You don't have to save as much, you can travel longer, plus you have deeper and more enriching travel experiences."
Caz and Craig Makepeace
@YTravelBlog
This is the goal for pretty much every travelling family we have met on the road. I have met so many different people making things work for themselves. Maybe it’s a blog, an online business, freelancing skype calls, or finding work along the journey.
"Don't over pack! Our bags keep getting smaller and lighter. Makes it so easy to travel on trains, load bags into taxis and lug up the stairs. I'm a firm believer!!"
Amber and Eric Hoffman
@HusbandinTow
Hooooweee. This is the most common advice that is ever given by travellers to those who are just setting out. You could sum up the best advice like this:
Pack your bags, then unpack them, then pack them again, then unpack them, then pack them again. See how much that sucks? Now get rid of all the crap, there is nothing you can’t buy when you get to a destination. Frankly you need the clothes on your back, a passport and a wallet.
As a family of six, we obviously had more than most and definitely overpacked some articles, but that is bound to happen and it will happen again. Just try to be as ruthless as you can and know that everything will be alright when you get there!
I would actually love to do a travel challenge one day where I and a friend would turn up to an airport wearing nothing but a pair of boxer shorts with our passports in our hand. How far could we get? The naysayers immediately say we would be arrested. I don’t believe that. I believe that out of the thousands of people there in the airport, you could beg a tee shirt, a pair of jeans and some flip flops in a matter of minutes. If not, you can get straight to the lost property room and see what has been unclaimed for years!
You would also find some kind people to loan you some of the local currency so that you could buy the cheapest one-way ticket available out of the country. Then you are fully on your way into the journey of faith in humanity. Now that’s an adventure!
"Never book an overnight bus. This is one of those "fantastic ideas at the time", however in reality it's a terrible, no good, very bad idea!! The theory is that you'll make it from one place to another while saving on a night's accommodation. However it's uncomfortable, you may think you're going to sleep but in all likelihood you're not, and barely getting any sleep, the first thing you do when arriving at your new accommodation is beg for an early check-in to get into the room! And your bright idea of making the most out of the next day is ruined with an afternoon nap which ends up wasting the day away. Take it from experience...the extra money it will cost for a flight is well worth the investment! "
Megan Jerrard
@Mappingmegan
Getting this advice was actually great timing for us. As mentioned above, we are currently in the midst of planning through the logistics of our far eastern tour over the summer months and the option of an overnight sleeper train from Bangkok sounded like a great idea. Until, of course, I actually thought it through. It’s a freaking dreadful idea! The journey of 18 hours would be cramped, boring stressful and exhausting, it would have wiped us all out for days afterwards. The upside of saving a few hundred dollars just wasn’t worth considering.
“When travelling on budget airlines with kids book your suitcases under a child’s name, it is sometimes half price! Then pack as much as you can into carry on sized back packs and volunteer to check your carry on luggage at the desk. They won’t even check the weight as they are only too happy to keep bags out of the overhead cabins. You can now travel light through the airport and have all your items transported at a fraction of the cost!”
Daniel and Clair Prince
@Princey1976
TOOLS AND TRICKS.
Here’s the link to the blog post I wrote, which includes websites of all the above mentioned contributors. Make sure to reach out and say hi if you are looking for further validation!
http://princesoffthegrid.weebly.com/travel-blog/19-awesome-travel-tips-from-the-worlds-leading-travel-gurus