EXPLORED

Top 10 Travel Tips From A Travel Expert

May 15, 2017

*By Natalie Taylor*

Top 10 Travel Tips, Days Inn #DITravelTips contest

That’s me hanging out on a sailboat in Kennebunkport, Maine!

After having travelled to over 30 countries and backpacked my way solo for three months in Europe, I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks along the way. Just in time for peak travel season, here are my top 10 travel tips…

1. Make Time For Yourself. When travelling with someone else –no matter how much we love them–spending 24/7 can become exhausting. Take time away for a few hours to do your own thing to avoid resentment and petty fights. This will also give you something to talk about at dinner and enable you to have your own vacation.

2. Protect Your Documents. Email and scan your travel essentials (and send to a trusted family member or close friend) in addition to putting your phone number, social media handles and email address on the back of your passport. This will help the good samaritan who finds your passport to get in contact with you, especially if you lose your phone.

3. Have A Rough Plan, But Be Flexible. It’s hard to not want to do everything when you’re in a new destination or in one that has many iconic activities. The city of Rome is a good example: instead of whisking off to the Colosseum immediately after touring the Vatican, take your time in nearby Trastevere, stumble upon a local cafe or walk down the Tiber River and find that hidden gelato place that’s not in your Lonely Planet guide. When you allow yourself to get lost and release yourself from FOMO (Fear of Missing Out), you can truly enjoy where you are. At the same time, you don’t want to arrive in a new place unprepared. At the very least, have your accommodation for your first night booked so you’re not stranded!

Top 10 Travel Tips, Days Inn #DITravelTips contest

A walk along the Tiber River in Rome.

4. Think About Your Interests When Trip Planning. Ask yourself: what has been your favourite vacation previously? What do you find yourself doing on the weekend? Those will give you clues about what to do on vacation. One of my best pieces of advice is to create a quest around your trip, even if it’s for a day. For example, that could be finding the best pizza spots in New York City, finding all of the Claude Monet works in Paris or exploring Canada’s best national and provincial parks. When you go on a quest for a specific theme (like my red door quest in the photo below), you’ll never know what you’ll find. Another tip when trip planning: ask your partner or kids to pick an activity. This task gives them a sense of ownership and allows them to experience a destination through their eyes. This also gives the planner some time off to be a follower and relax.

Top 10 Travel Tips, Days Inn #DITravelTips contest

I always look for red doors during my travels. Here’s one I found in Quebec City!

5. Wipes Are Not Just For Babies. Wet Wipes will help when you need to freshen up after a long plane ride (and that lineup to the bathroom is a little too long); when there’s no accessible or unclean water; or if you’re on a long road trip and can’t stop off at a gas station. They’re also great for a quick cleans of your electronic equipment.

6. Talk To The Bartender. If you are a solo traveler or in a couple, the best thing to do is to sit at the bar. Not only do you have a new friend or ally in the bartender (if it’s not too busy), but at a good bar the bartenders also know where the best bars, bartenders and restos are in your destination.

Top 10 Travel Tips, Days Inn #DITravelTips contest

The bar at Grey Gardens, Toronto.

7. Plan Your Own Plane/Train Picnic. One of the best things I did when I was in Montreal before a four hour train ride back to Toronto was go to my favourite sandwich spot and buy a sandwich to go. Not only did I have a delicious dinner, but I saved money on the crappy food that was being served at premium prices in the train. It has now become a travel tradition to do so. I also recommend buying a big bottle of water for the plane ride because they just never give you enough during the flight!

8. Adjust To Time Zones. The best way to get over jet lag is to immediately adjust to the time zone that you’re in. One way to do this is by taking melatonin for a deeper sleep if you have an overnight flight. Another way to do this is to get up and go if you’re arriving in the morning or afternoon at your destination. No naps mean you’ll have a deeper sleep that night and be ready and fresh in your time zone for the next day.

Top 10 Travel Tips, Days Inn #DITravelTips contest

Bells Beach, Australia.

9. Useful Apps: Kayak and Hopper are good for checking flight prices and routes; Waze is good for navigating around traffic jams on a preferred route if you’re driving; Tripit organizes your travel itinerary in one place; Google Maps is your best friend for navigating locally; Gas Buddy reports on gas prices in any province, territory, or state in Canada and the USA; and Snapseed, VSCO, and Lightroom are great photo editing apps.

10. To Travel Like A Local, Do Local Activities. Seeing a place “like a local” has become cliché, but it is another way to understand your destination. See how the local supermarket, library, and laundromat compares to yours. Find something new there. Pick one coffee shop and go there every day so you can meet the same characters (like the coffee shop owner) and get their tips for where to go in the neighbourhood and beyond.

Top 10 Travel Tips, Days Inn #DITravelTips contest

Talking to locals is the best way to discover hidden gems like Bok Bar in Philly. It’s a bar that is housed inside a school (during the summer when it’s not in session).

Contest Alert!

Now tell me, what are your favourite travel tips?! Share them here between May 15th and 19th, 2017 for a chance to win a free night’s stay at the Days Inn Canada location of your choice. Full contest details, including rules and regulations here.

This post was sponsored by Days Inn Canada. As always, reviews and opinions are our own! 

22 Comments

  • Reply
    Ryan Biddulph
    May 21, 2017 at 8:43 pm

    Hi Natalie,

    10 is my fave. We do local stuff in local spots, eating at the haunts only locals and diligent tourists know about. The only way to go. Because if you only go to touristy spots you will pretty much be in your own country, in many ways, with all the restaurants and bars and common-ness and the like.

    Great tips! Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Ryan

    • Reply
      Solmaz
      May 22, 2017 at 2:23 pm

      Yessss — best way to travel!! Especially when it comes to food finds. That’s why I started the Eating With A Local series on this blog!!

  • Reply
    Becky
    May 24, 2017 at 5:35 pm

    Great tips, I was nodding along to most of them ha ha!! I like the one talking to the barman, I guess any local is a good person to chat to. I ended up talking to some people in a hotel reception for advice where to go next when I was in Belize and ended up in a cute little fishing village 🙂

    • Reply
      Solmaz
      May 24, 2017 at 10:13 pm

      I find chats with locals somehow always lead me to a fisherman or fishing village lol. Glad you had a fab time in Belize — on my list!!

  • Reply
    Renée
    May 24, 2017 at 6:14 pm

    Your tips are so true, I’ve discovered a lot of the same ones while solo traveling. And thanks for hitting on the ones that are hard to remember or to do in the moment, like talking to people. Need to go on a trip to do all this stuff. Keep up the good work.

    • Reply
      Solmaz
      May 24, 2017 at 10:14 pm

      Love a good solo trip! Chatting with locals always makes a huge difference when travelling alone. Happy travels!

  • Reply
    Alicia
    May 24, 2017 at 7:26 pm

    These are some great tips! I agree it’s very important to have a plan but still be flexible…you want to be prepared but still be able to change plans if you need to! Also, the plane/train picnic is a good idea too! Always good to save money where you can!

    • Reply
      Solmaz
      May 24, 2017 at 10:16 pm

      So much good food out there — just takes a few minutes to pop by a local store/bakery before hitting the transit. Makes a huge difference! And yes, flexibility is def key: the unplanned moments are often the best.

  • Reply
    Clazz - An Orcadian Abroad
    May 24, 2017 at 8:04 pm

    These are great tips! I am definitely guilty of rushing some of my trips, particularly in Europe, and sometimes I forget to just live in the moment and take it all in. And thinking about your own interests is really important too, and easy to forget when you’re ticking off the main attractions. The more I travel, the more I’ve learned about what I really enjoy, so I think that one’s going to help my future trips even more! Also: #5 is SO TRUE! Haha!

    Thanks for a great post.

    • Reply
      Solmaz
      May 24, 2017 at 10:18 pm

      I think we’re all guilty of rushing trips! There’s just soooo much to see and do. Reflecting on what is important to YOU will always result in the best trips!

  • Reply
    Cynthia
    May 24, 2017 at 9:57 pm

    Ooh, I can’t believe I never thought to put my phone number or email in the back of my passport! Such a smart idea, I’m doing it tonight!

    • Reply
      Solmaz
      May 24, 2017 at 10:18 pm

      Yeay! Hopefully you never lose it, but if you do it will be much easier to track you down!!

  • Reply
    Jean
    May 25, 2017 at 4:28 am

    These are great tips. So basic yet so many people forget! Especially keeping a copy of important documents.

    • Reply
      Solmaz
      May 25, 2017 at 8:02 am

      Thank you, Jean!

  • Reply
    Dawn
    May 25, 2017 at 7:10 am

    Great tips! I think being flexible while travelling is so important. I am a total planner, but random things come up when travelling and sometimes you just have to follow them.

    • Reply
      Solmaz
      May 25, 2017 at 8:03 am

      Totally agree! Sometimes the best experiences come unplanned

  • Reply
    Lapinayviajera
    May 25, 2017 at 10:49 am

    Very practical tips from a well travelled person like you. I will definitely try #6 on my next trip. Thanks

    • Reply
      Solmaz
      May 29, 2017 at 10:26 pm

      Happy travels!!

  • Reply
    Lisa
    May 26, 2017 at 2:40 am

    Great tips! I definitely agree with fighting jet lag by not letting it suck you into bed. And bartenders are great friends!

    • Reply
      Solmaz
      May 29, 2017 at 10:27 pm

      I get my best tips from bartenders and chefs!

  • Reply
    Aireona- Nightborn Travel
    May 26, 2017 at 10:29 am

    Great tips! A few I think are more personal preferences. For instance, when I solo travel, I definitely wouldn’t want to hang out at the bar. It just isn’t my scene. And I love being solo when I solo travel. XD LOVE your list of useful apps.

    • Reply
      Solmaz
      May 29, 2017 at 10:28 pm

      Oh yes, def personal preferences. Solo travel must be quite the journey 🙂

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