What’s your non-obvious travel tip that makes every trip better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Avoid any type of gimmicky activities that pose as educational experiences. I include in this category food tours, pasta making classes, any staged activities in which the locals fight each other (Mexican wresting, Thai boxing, Japanese sumo, Bolivian chola wrestling, etc), chopstick making classes, and so many more. What a waste.

I *love* food tours and had an amazing pasta making class in Sicily. YMMV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you wear glasses, bring an extra pair. After I fell and broke my glasses, I do this.

Contact lenses too! BTDT

[Anonymous]

When planning a trip, I go ahead and book at least one dinner or lunch for each day, and I make a list of restaurants by area for meals that aren't booked. Restaurant reservations can always be cancelled/changed closer to the dates. But I find that if I don't do this at the early planning stage, I forget and we get stuck with crummy options.

These days, we live overseas, have a college kid in a different country and have aging parents still in DC. So, we travel a lot, but often to the same destinations. I use the Notes app on my iphone along with smart folders and tags. This makes it easy to add new ideas while on the go and quickly reference old travel notes as needed.

If I'm going somewhere new where I will need to do a lot of driving, I download a Google map for the area that includes the airport and my hotel. That way, if I can't get a stable data connection, I can at least navigate reasonably well from the get-go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid any type of gimmicky activities that pose as educational experiences. I include in this category food tours, pasta making classes, any staged activities in which the locals fight each other (Mexican wresting, Thai boxing, Japanese sumo, Bolivian chola wrestling, etc), chopstick making classes, and so many more. What a waste.

What's wrong with food tours and pasta making classes?

Ima guess you're one of these people who sneer at "tourists" and call yourself a "traveler?"

same question. We did a cooking class in Costa Rica and it was a highlight of our trip. The entire family enjoyed it.

I don't think cooking classes are beyond the pale, but can't imagine doing it in CR. The food there is...basic.

I see the "traveler" has enters the chat again

[Anonymous]

Everyone going on the trip picks the one thing they really really want to do. Beach time, museum visit, unique restaurant, etc. Does not matter. You get to choose your one special thing. And we build that activity into the trip. When we go on the trip- there is a blanket rule. No one complains during ANY of the special activities. The kids are really respectful during these activities- I think knowing that everyone gets their turn helps, and knowing that this is important/special to the person who chose it helps. If the trip is longer, we might all get 2 choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Everyone going on the trip picks the one thing they really really want to do. Beach time, museum visit, unique restaurant, etc. Does not matter. You get to choose your one special thing. And we build that activity into the trip. When we go on the trip- there is a blanket rule. No one complains during ANY of the special activities. The kids are really respectful during these activities- I think knowing that everyone gets their turn helps, and knowing that this is important/special to the person who chose it helps. If the trip is longer, we might all get 2 choices.

That is a great idea, and I'm guessing also mixes things up in terms of activities.

We have a version of that born out of my adult DD claiming an activity was "all I ever wanted". You only get one "all I ever wanted" per day!

[Anonymous]

Book rental cars early, early early. Many times these can be difficult to source.

Once I had to rent a Uhaul pickup truck and use that for 2 weeks as there were no car rentals available in a 6 hour drive radius.

I've also had to sit and wait 4 hours for a car to be returned before I could drive off.

Don't assume car rentals are readily available.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone going on the trip picks the one thing they really really want to do. Beach time, museum visit, unique restaurant, etc. Does not matter. You get to choose your one special thing. And we build that activity into the trip. When we go on the trip- there is a blanket rule. No one complains during ANY of the special activities. The kids are really respectful during these activities- I think knowing that everyone gets their turn helps, and knowing that this is important/special to the person who chose it helps. If the trip is longer, we might all get 2 choices.

That is a great idea, and I'm guessing also mixes things up in terms of activities.

We have a version of that born out of my adult DD claiming an activity was "all I ever wanted". You only get one "all I ever wanted" per day!

We do something similar with where we go. If it's a trip longer than a week, we almost always do 2 stops, one in a city and one in a nearby countryside/beach/mountain/outdoors location. We have found doing all city stuff for more than about 5 days is too much, and if in a more remote place for more than a week, everyone wants the amenities of a city. Mixing both is something we now do on all our trips and everyone likes it.

[Anonymous]

Bring Post-it notes for weird ambience light. Indulging a chair massage at the airport if there’s time. It makes a huge difference for me, especially if crossing many time zones.

[Anonymous]

Get some local currency as soon as you can. Some toilet toilets are for pay only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you wear glasses, bring an extra pair. After I fell and broke my glasses, I do this.

Contact lenses too! BTDT

Sunglasses too if it's a sunny place. I broke mine and had to wear a cheap 5 euro pair for the rest of the trip. It was miserable in the sun.

[Anonymous]

When staying at a hotel in a place where the water is iffy, we order a case of bottled water to be in our room when we arrive. Then we have it already and can brush our teeth and wash up right way.

[Anonymous]

If you are checking luggage or may be required to gate check your carry on, split your stuff with your travel companion. So if one of your suitcases is lost or delayed, you each have a few days worth of clothes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I vet restaurants ahead of time and mark a bunch on google maps so if we are in an area, tired and hungry we can just pick a spot I have highlighted vs standing on corner reading reviews trying to find a place to eat. I hate wasting time and money a bad restaurants.

I need to start doing this.

I've tried various apps that would identify restaurants nearby with reviews but I'm not happy with any of them. Tripadvisor has steered me wrong so many times with places that had great reviews and really terrible food, including in places like Rome where I feel like it should not be hard to find good food.
I paid for a special Madrid focused one but didn't find it really helpful (weren't enough recommendations in the area where I was, and a lot of the recommendations were "this is a really fun bar!" type recommendations).
If anyone has a suggestion for a good app with more discerning tastes, please let me know. Not just fancy food, but good local food. I've had good luck with the infatuation recommendations, TimeOut, or Chowhound (although haven't used that for years so don't know if it's still good). I guess i haven't tried The Infatuation's app, so I don't know if that has a mapping function -- that could be good. I can rarely manage advanced reservations, either traveling with family or for work, because there's too much in flux.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Avoid any type of gimmicky activities that pose as educational experiences. I include in this category food tours, pasta making classes, any staged activities in which the locals fight each other (Mexican wresting, Thai boxing, Japanese sumo, Bolivian chola wrestling, etc), chopstick making classes, and so many more. What a waste.

What's wrong with food tours and pasta making classes?

Ima guess you're one of these people who sneer at "tourists" and call yourself a "traveler?"

same question. We did a cooking class in Costa Rica and it was a highlight of our trip. The entire family enjoyed it.

I don't think cooking classes are beyond the pale, but can't imagine doing it in CR. The food there is...basic.

I see the "traveler" has enters the chat again

Call me what you want, but it's just true. No one goes to CR for the food. Rice and beans, and more rice and beans.