What I've learned from traveling part 1
It seems no matter how much you plan for a trip, you always end up forgetting something. The answer came quickly—at least how to remember things better, and that’s to have a personal guide that I can whip out anytime before a trip. A quick read filled with insight into both the trip itself and personal experience. Like many problems that need answers, sometimes you just need to sit down and write about it.
I’m fortunate to have traveled to a few states but in no way an experienced traveler. Here are the things I’ve learned on my most recent trip:
Family trips are for the family, not for you. Don’t be surprised when you get frustrated during the trip, it’s what you signed up for.
Make time to explore by yourself (or with your partner). Walking around and getting lost in a city allows you to experience the culture and the people that are often lost in internet blogs and guides.
I found a wonderful Taco store that made an amazing sopes. They look like this:
Walking isn’t enough. Especially if you’re not watching your calories. Make time to strength train. Do a little research and you’ll find free trials for gyms, you shouldn’t have to pay. Hotel gyms are terrible, so make a little drive for a better workout.
Travel light and buy whatever you need at your destination. I saw hundreds of people wait in line for hours while people with carry-ons simply went on with their way (stress-free). Also, don’t go downtown and buy your essentials, you’re just asking to spend unnecessary time there.
Something that I wish I’ve did but didn’t was speaking Vietnamese to the very few Vietnamese people on my trip. We probably would’ve connected and it would be nice for them to meet another person that speaks their language.
At a Japanese restaurant, we had a gentleman that approached us asking if we knew Japanese so his wife could have a conversation in Japanese. In a town where Asians are few, people truly miss having those interactions.
Don’t forget to actually relax. I’ve had way too many places to see and things to do that we were always in a rush. Memories are great but don’t forget that your body and mind need recovery too.
Always book direct. Pay more if you need to. You can’t gain time back. Connecting flights tend to be canceled or rescheduled much more than direct flights. This is prevalent in smaller cities where you get two flights a day.
Don’t book hostels if you’re someone that needs fewer noises to sleep. It’s a bit more expensive to book hotels, but your quality of sleep matters more. You don’t want to be up for hours like I was because of every single footstep. If you do book hostels, always have your own private bathroom (for many reasons).
There’s no shame in going back to the same spot more than once instead of venturing out to a place that might be bad. When we were in Seattle years ago, We went to a shop that sold Ellenos yogurt, where they had made it in-house and scooped it for us (it tastes 100x better than pre-packaged in grocery stores). We went back 4x during our trip, it was that good!
Don’t think you’re too cool for touristy spots. They’re often always an attraction for a reason. When we were in Portland, the garden of roses was absolutely breathtaking. The flowers looked surreal, almost fake, from how beautiful they looked.
One exception is the Fremont Troll, skip that one, you’re not missing anything.
I’ll be adding on to these with every trip. What have you learned on your travels? I’m fascinated to learn!
Until next week,
Scott
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