Hi travel,
I want to share with you my lifestyle focused on traveling as much as possible. The ideal thing for me would be to live my whole life traveling and not have to work, but unfortunately, I’m not rich and I haven’t found a way to make traveling indefinitely sustainable.
For me, the most important thing about traveling are the experiences and I am going to leave you here some tips that have helped me to enjoy and take advantage of the trips 100%.
- Save a lot
The first step is to save a lot (I already told you in another post that I am a compulsive saver) because traveling costs a lot of money, even if you do it on a low budget, it is always an important expense.
- Take advantage of your holidays
In my case, vacation days are for traveling. I never use days off to be at home and fix things or clean, and I think it’s a mistake to do so. Above all, because vacations are for clearing things up and for a change of scenery.
- Run away from high season
I always travel in low season because you find the best prices and you avoid the crowds everywhere. Additionally, you have better weather for sightseeing. When I travel, I usually walk 20km or more almost every day; therefore, having a pleasant temperature is decisive to be able to spend all day outside, without problems.
I went to Sicily in January, and I had all the places to myself. I went to Mexico in October and was able to better enjoy the sites. There are places like Pisa and Chichen Itza that are always going to be full of people, but there is no doubt that you have more quality for visits in the low season.
- Goodbye to the suitcase
When I was in Cambodia, where we had to carry our bags on our shoulders along the beach to the pier where the boat was docked, I decided and made it my life note that, on future trips, I would always go with a backpack. If you go to a resort, you will have no problem carrying a suitcase (someone will surely carry it for you), but since I like to get into remote places, it is more comfortable to go with a backpack.
- Less is always better than more
From the previous point we conclude that the fewer things you take on a trip, the better. The backpack is more comfortable for my style of travel but carrying that weight for several hours is also hard. So, you have to optimize space and weight.
I remember that, when I was traveling as a child with my dad, the amount of clothes and shoes that I took with me was absurd. There was no one to carry that suitcase.
Now what I do is that I take what corresponds to half of the days. If I go away for a month, I take clothes for 15 days and halfway through the trip, I wash. And shoes, two fur running and a pair for trekking. With that I am super well equipped for any occasion.
- Goodbye to the luxuries
When you stay at all-inclusive resorts, you have no real contact with the place you are in or its culture. So, the experience you have is that of any resort anywhere in the world.
What I have experienced with the “hostels” has been terrible because they are always very dirty. So, the standard I’m looking for is a cheap hotel with no frills, with a private bathroom and very clean. In fact, I don’t care if the place is old, as long as it’s clean.
In my case, I think it’s better to go to hotels without a reservation (whenever possible) and go in to see the rooms. Because it has happened to me many times, and surely to you too, that you make a reservation and when you arrive, the room is not even remotely similar to what you saw in the photos.
I select a few hotels by location, price and cleanliness and I go see them personally. Then I decide which one is better. It is something that can be done perfectly in low season. You lose a little more time, but you guarantee a quality stay and avoid having to bother getting to a place that is a crap with a paid reservation.
- Always public transportation
One way to enjoy the culture and really live like in the country you are visiting is to use public transport. Also, the amount of money you save is immense.
In Mexico City as soon as we arrived, they scared us with the issue of insecurity. All the people we asked insisted that we use Uber for everything when a metro ticket costs 5 pesos. Imagine the difference between paying 100 pesos with Uber or 5 pesos in the subway.
- Souvenirs
Don’t buy them.
Souvenirs are almost always made in China. Many of the things that they sell you as native or handcrafted are not, and they are surely charging you much more than they really cost. It is not worth filling your backpack with these things. The memories and experiences you take with you are worth more.
- Eat typical food
Finally, try and enjoy the local food. I do not understand and will never understand the people go to Vietnam to eat pizza, to Italy to eat sushi, to Mexico to eat pasta, or the Spaniards who travel and take their vacuum-packed ham with them. I think it’s being very ignorant.
The first thing is that, if you have a bit of common sense, you know that pizza in Vietnam is not going to be good, what they eat there is going to be good. The second thing is that they are going to charge you an outrage for those “foreign” foods.
So, you must forget about what you eat in your country of residence and immerse yourself in that gastronomy that has so many new things to surprise you with.
In short, my life is focused on traveling the world and that they are always trips made with intelligence and with respect towards the place I am going. Trips where I talk to people, get on the bus, get lost and ask for directions, try everything I don’t know, go with a light backpack so I can walk a lot and that they leave me experiences that I will always remember.