8 Travel Tips: Having a Fun Time and Dealing with Crisis

In my life, I haven't had a load of opportunities to travel, but quite a concentration in the past two years. Because of this, I really wanted to make the best of my adventures! Also, being in a situation of traveling alone, I really had to force myself to grow in some street-smart skills. I will admit, my travels were not flawless - and I don't think traveling can be unless you are spending loads and loads of money! In this blog post, I am going to share my travel tips. These will not be ordinary travel tips and I will accompany them with short stories. I hope this inspires one to travel and be fearless!!

1. Don't let Challenges Ruin Your Mood
i.e. Don't get mad if you get caught in the rain!

I actually got in some difficult situations . . . once or twice, literally, getting caught in the rain. Cheap flights mean late hours and layovers and there were some times that I was waiting (and hoping) for transportation, direction, and that sort of thing. The truth with traveling is that some things WILL go wrong and some things WILL be uncomfortable. It may be hard but in these situations you need to will yourself to be calm. You need to clearly consider the solutions for a situation, and you need to ask for help if needed. Think of it as delayed gratification - at some points you will be uncomfortable, but it will be worth it when you, for example, arrive at your destination (or comfy hotel bed!).

Be the person that receives challenges with peacefulness. This may be hard for some people and sometimes its hard traveling with people who exhibit the opposite of this. Just know that there is always a solution.

It will not always be sunny! (Bergen, Norway)

Had some trouble getting there but was awarded with a beautiful hotel stay (Stockholm, Sweden)

Grouchy in Oslo, Norway

2. Stay Confident!

Being confident doesn't mean you have to know everything ahead of time, it means that you are ready to place yourself in new situations. Confidence is necessary for approaching things the right way. For example, before Europe I never travelled alone and I had fears in some of the smallest things such as finding the right gate at the airport or endeavoring in the right procedures in regards to the immigration lines.

You must have confidence that eveyrthing will go ok and that there is a solution for everything. You must have confidence in asking for help. If immigration is intimidating, have confidence. If you know that you are not wrong, then don't fear. If you know you are nice, don't be afraid to communicate. Don't let a stupid mistake make you feel dumb. You may be new to a situation and you are learning.

Have confidence to put yourself in situations you may be afraid of. Some people fear traveling a big city alone. In New York, I set myself to take the subway by myself and find my way to my destination. In London, I took the wrong train but had confidence to find my way and make a great trip out of it.

Some things may be intimidating, but confidence will enable you to handle it.

Took the wrong train but was not sorry. (London, England)

Layover Life (Chicago, Illinois . . . I think)

I thought it was gross. (Seattle, Washington)

3. Be Flexible and Spontaneous

There is nothing wrong with having a schedule and to-do list while traveling, but I think it is lots of fun to have no schedule! A lot of the times when I travelled with a schedule, I ended up a bit stressed. When I went to Europe I barely made any plans. I barely did any research (not the smartest move but whatever). I went to Norway, particularly, with no expectations. That made it super fun and exciting. Each day was unplanned and I really preferred this - especially since I was coming from a really busy school semester. I was willing to be flexible - if things changed, I moved with the changes. I was willing to be spontaneous - if an adventure presented itself, I took it willingly.

When I went to London, I had some obligations to attend to, but during the free time I let the wind take me. Thankfully in both Norway and London, I had two wonderful friends that took me on adventures!

Openness leads to beautiful places (Oxford Street, London, England)

4. Learn Some of the Language

I have never travelled to a country that was not confident in English. Many of these countries are out there and I urge you to take the time to respectfully learn some of the language. Trust me, the people really appreciate it. A simple "thank you" in Swedish and Norwegian was received very well in my travels. If this seems impossible, take a phrasebook and study a bit on the plane ride over! Maybe someone who speaks the language naturally can help you out.

There are a load of resources out there. Duolingo is a good app for learning the basics of a language. YouTube is full of videos that provide basic phrases to learn. Amazon sells used phrasebooks for a low cost. If you are traveling with friends, each one pick a language! There are no excuses!

5. Be Observant

It is important to keep your eyes open so as not to inflict trouble upon yourself. I made the mistake of lugging my suitcase up the wrong side of the (London) tube stairs. The left side is for people in a rush. I was ungracefully making my way up with my fat suitcase. Luckily for me, the people were really nice about it and I figured out the trick. Also, I didn't act diligently on the tube during rush hour. Know that you may have to push your way off. Someone literally pushed me off because I was letting too many people pass me. I honestly think it was a really respectful, helpful push to the sad American girl.

On a serious note, please make wise decisions.

Tube-ing . . . (London, England)

6. Blend in With the People but Don't Abandon Yourself

I think we can agree that each city (or country) has a common strain of personality traits. I tried to blend in with the people in each country I visited (which worked a bit I believe, a lot of Norwegian people would ask me questions in Norwegian before English). But I still didn't want to abandon myself. You are you, and you deserve to be yourself wherever you go. Maybe if you are a really comical person and you go to a more reserved country, make some jokes and let them experience your personality! Sometimes it will work better than other times. I had some awkward moments but a lot of great moments.

Me being weird in Washington! (City unknown)

7. Have Fun Getting to Know the People

I know this isn't true for everyone, but Social Anxiety is definitely a common fact of life. It isn't in just one form, but I know that it may easily be present when traveling far away from home. You can give the minimum social interaction to the locals or you can be a loud, obnoxious, attention seeker. I say, be none of these!! Take the minimal social interaction and turn it up a few notches. Maintain your polite, respectful nature, and add some personable and friendly aspects to it with a sprinkle of comedy and a willingness to laugh.

If you take on this personality then you get to do fun things like banter with Canadian bank tellers who make fun of you for asking if you can exchange money there in the bank (I really wasn't sure!!) He made fun of me a bit for that but it was worth the laugh!

Old and new friends in a beautiful place + me with 8,000 layers of clothes (Bergen, Norway)

Excited about Canada Money (Vancouver, B.C.)

8. Give Kindness to Receive Kindness

If you are calm and speak respectfully to people, then they will most likely being willing to help you. There was one time in Sweden that I was waiting for a shuttle to take me from the airport to the hotel (it was free, and the airport workers called them). The shuttle was just not coming, and I was waiting for a while in the rain at a really late hour and after a long day. I could have broke down and become the big, loud, disrespectful, American crazy person, but instead, I remained calm, kindly asked a transportation driver if he was going towards my hotel. It was not on the official route but his shuttle was traveling close by to my hotel, and he dropped me off there. I was very thankful.

If you give out kindness, it will be returned.

Beautiful New York (New York City, New York)

~

I hope you find these helpful! Please, comment and tell me what you would add to the list or change in any way.

Does anyone have any travel stories that would fit with this?