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6 Signs You’re an Experienced Traveler
For some people traveling is an occasional way of escaping their everyday life to shake things up and break-out of their boring routines. Then there are others who routinely travel and are driven by the need to get out of their comfort zone and consistently transform themselves. They believe that the world, even with all its challenges, must be seen and experienced and it’s impossible to do that by staying home. Guess which group I fall into?!
So, when I think about the signs of an experienced traveler, here are a few that spring to mind:
Move With the Groove
This is the tell-tale sign of a really experienced traveler. While they are headed in one direction, they are perfectly happy (thrilled even) to end up somewhere else completely. Yes the pros find their way to travel bliss by inviting chaos and searching out the unexpected. They are masters of traveling “in the moment” and have a sixth sense for how to have a great time in a new land. Follow along, you will learn!
Know How to Haggle
Some people will tell you to stay out of the markets, that they are full of mostly overpriced junk that will fill up your closets at home. For the inexperienced traveler, that may be true, but for the traveling ninja it’s a opportunity to score a great deal on something you can’t get back home. Sound familiar? You experienced travelers know exactly what to look for and (more importantly) the true value, so you go right for the jugular and score yourself a fantastic deal you’ll brag about for months.
Take Just Enough
I can spot this type of traveler a mile away. They have the sweet smile and confidence of someone who has packed the right things and just enough for the perfect getaway. They usually have a single carry-on bag and a small single suitcase. As opposed to having a suitcase for every day of their trip. They optimize their stuff, minimizing baggage fees and by focusing on efficiency, they take only what they need. What a concept!
Understand True Value
Experienced travelers learn by repetition. They build skills that help them travel smarter and study their failures to understand how they could have done things differently. What happens as part of this process is that they understand the TRUE value of an experience. What is worth the time, money and effort and what’s not. By being able to place a realistic value on virtually any aspect of travel, they are more successful than most at weeding out the time wasters and money suckers.
Always Have a Plan
Have you ever traveled on a big, expensive vacation and something went horribly wrong? Umm, yes it happens all the time. I’m pretty sure that’s why social media was invented so we could all share our horror stories. This is why you need Mr. or Ms. Experienced Traveler. Why? Because they always have a plan formulated to slay the beast that would ruin most vacations. My plan is clearly written down with phone numbers and contact names to use in case of emergency. Only the strong survive!!
Walk the Walk
Some infrequent travelers talk a good game. You hear about their fantastic deals, first-class upgrades, and how they saw all of Rome in a day. The experienced traveler walks the walk. Making sure they stop and soak in every single place before moving on. Learns to speak the language, participates in a few local customs and visit places off-the-beaten path that only the natives know about. The more effort they make to blend-in, the more they enjoy visiting the big places and all the little places in between.
More from Samantha Brown:
10 Inspirational Travel Quotes
Things You Must Do When You Travel
Don’t Be One of These 11 Annoying Travelers
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Probably the one thing that has been most responsible for enriching my travel experiences was learning the Spanish language. Even when traveling in countries where Spanish was not the principal language, invariably I would run into Spanish-speaking tourists wherever I went. Also, Spanish has been a lingua franca that I have been able to use with people from other countries who don’t know English but who know Spanish.
I think it also plays out in the level of need to have everything lined up and in place. My husband is much more of a person who likes to have every detail of a trip planned. But over the last few years, he’s become more comfortable in allowing less schedule and more impromptu decisions. We generally try to book accommodations ahead of time, but having had to make last minute changes on past trips, we’ve both become more confident that we can do it again of needed. So there’s less pressure and stress.
Emphasis has to be on the last tip ” walk the walk”. In this day and age of constant connectivity & self promotion, most people just take selfies & post on fb / instagram throughout the trip such as sunbathing on the beach with tongue-in-cheek captions such as “how’s your Monday”…for whatever lame reason! The whole point of travelling is to savor every moment as an experience and participating in local activities one doesn’t usually do at home – one can’t do this while being constantly instagraming.
Also , savvy travelers know that not all places they go to have efficient forex & credit card facilities , specially the ones off the beaten track. So take enough cash.
Emphasis has to be on the last tip ” walk the walk”. In this day and age of constant connectivity & self promotion, most people just take selfies & post on fb / instagram throughout the trip such as sunbathing on the beach with tongue-in-cheek captions such as “how’s your Monday”…for whatever lame reason! The whole point of travelling is to savor every moment as an experience and participating in local activities one doesn’t usually do at home – one can’t do this while constantly instagraming.
Also , savvy travelers know that not all places they go to have efficient forex & credit card facilities , specially the ones off the beaten track. So take enough cash.
Love your practical approach. The world is filled with opportunities to experience and travel is one way to blend education with adventure, an open mind is required.
And EAT THE FOOD!!!” Not to mention, drink whatever the locals drink and, for God’s sake, don’t ask for a Budweiser. One thing more, be grateful from time to time. When in a foreign land and the restaurant is serving you their local Yak Surprise, thank them for the meal, be effusive how wonderful it was even if it was awful, and use your smile on them. You’ll set foreign relations ahead far more than the morons who ask the local tavern keep for a burger and a Bud.
I believe in balance. For every place I travel, I take with me memories, lessons and connections to new people. But I also try to leave something behind – a contribution to a museum, gallery or charity; a random act of kindness to a stranger, from a stranger from afar; an invite to my homeland to those who have welcomed me to theirs. My hope is that the people I have encountered are as appreciative that I was there as I was to be there.
“Always have a plan”…things going horribly wrong? How does getting on a train in Florence, heading for Genoa, then discovering that back pack you slid off your shoulders on the Florence city bus got left there, and you can’t get back, sound?
It took a couple weeks to find out, with the help of an Italian speaking restaurant manager in Lauterbrunnen , Switzerland, of all places, that it was turned in untouched at the bus lost and found. We had to cut Lauterbrunnen short, take another train back to Florence, and retrieve it before wending our way back through Switzerland and up through Germany and Denmark to land in Norway to visit relatives. Quite the experience, and hopefully I learned my lesson! But the lure of Europe is still strong. We hope to see the Oberammergau Passion Play next year… a once in 10 year event that had gone on for 400 years!
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