When you travel spend time enjoying new surroundings, not getting yourself out of jams. Follow the seven don'ts of traveling and save yourself some headaches.
If traveling leaves a bad taste in your mouth, you're doing it wrong. Your traveling experience needn’t be plagued by disaster, simply follow the seven don’ts of traveling and use your head – the rest will come naturally.
Seven Traveling Don’ts
- Don’t Neglect Reservations – Arriving in a new place invigorates the spirit and sends the soul on wild tangents – but a little planning can smooth things out. Booking a hotel or hostel in advance can save you time and even a little money. Booking a place to sleep is especially important on the first night. Advise the front desk if you’ll be late and kindly ask them to keep your room, otherwise they may cancel your reservation. If you absolutely hate the place, change hotels the next day.
- Don’t Over Plan – Traveling is one part planning and two parts exploring. Yet many make the mistake of over planning and cram too much into a day. When you travel to a new place, do your research beforehand, decide what you want to see and plan accordingly. Don’t bury your nose in a guidebook, you don’t have to see every monument, every New York exhibit or beach to get a feel for a place. See the Taj Mahal but spend time walking around Agra. Stop at cafes and people watch. Little planned excursions are as rich as a fully booked itineraries and allow you to get a feeling for the place.
- Don’t Carry Large Amounts of Money – You wouldn’t walk around the streets of your home town with a large wad of cash poking through your jeans, so why do it in unfamiliar settings? These days bank machines exist all over the world, even in places where you’d least expect them. Instead of carrying large amounts of bills, carry some cash, your bank card and two different credit cards. Some places take Visa others MasterCard – carry both to be on the safe side.
- Don’t Take Unnecessary Chances – If you wouldn’t go home with strangers or walk down dark alleys in your home town, don’t do it in a foreign country? Some travelers take such unnecessary risks and end up in heaps of trouble. Use your common sense when you travel and avoid anything you don’t feel comfortable with.
- Don’t Do Drugs – Unless you are in the habit of smoking pot in the streets of your home town, don’t pick it up overseas. Possession of drugs in some countries carry severe penalties and jail terms that could cost you more than you’re willing to give up. Before you travel, rent Midnight Express – you might not be so tempted to try drugs overseas after viewing this movie.
- Don’t Bribe Officials – Or anyone else for that matter. Sometimes you may have to grease some palms to get things moving, like adding an extra incentive to get a better room, but be careful when you engage in such activity and choose your timing carefully. Bribing the wrong person could land you in deeper waters than you are prepared to swim.
- Don’t Assume Immunity – It does not matter if you are American, Canadian, Polish or Greek, when you are in another country you are a guest and required to respect the laws of the land. Don’t think your embassy will bail you out if you get into trouble overseas, and don’t assume you will receive special treatment if you are caught committing a crime in a foreign land. Don’t do anything that is illegal in your country in another country or you could pay big time.
Again, watch Midnight Express and don’t do anything Billy Hayes did.
The copyright of the article Seven Traveling Don’ts in Adventure Travel is owned by James W. Coates. Permission to republish Seven Traveling Don’ts in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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