Do you have a favorite travel tool? One favorite could be your Swiss Army Knife. It has so many different tools in one handy piece.
We’ve used it as a screw driver, a corkscrew, a knife, a file, and so much more.
Be careful when packing it. Chances are, you won’t get it through security. Put it in your checked luggage to be sure it arrives when you do.
When packing your gadgets, do you include a small pair of travel binoculars? They don’t take up much room and aren’t heavy.
They’re great for looking at things far away or outdoors. Now, think about using them indoors as well.
When we were in a museum in Italy, looking at the painting of the last supper, we were not allowed to stand real close. Understandably. Yes, it was close enough to see the whole painting. But, some of the details might have escaped us without the binoculars.
Ceilings in churches often have paintings, frescoes, or mosaic tile works…especially in Italy. Using the binoculars gives you a different perspective or the work involved on the ceiling.
Sometimes, hotel staff, concierges, travel guides, or other people have provided special service when we travel.
For instance, the concierge who moved us to a different room…on the concierge level. Our original room was right next door to some people with some noisy puppies. Cute…but noisy. We didn’t have concierge status at that hotel, but he was making up for our noisy neighbors.
Then there was the server at a restaurant who brought us the chef to explain his recipe when I asked her to compliment the chef on the dessert.
These and other special treatments are part of their job…and much more. Sometimes a simple thank you is not enough. A fellow traveler takes a small pack of decorative post cards with her when she travels and writes a thank you before she leaves. Then she gives the thank you to the person the next day, or after the meal, or a little later. It’s unexpected and a nice gesture. And, it looks better than using the hotel stationery!
More on traveling like a tourist…
More gift ideas…
Check out these gifts:
When traveling, I put a dryer sheet in the bag I will be using for dirty clothes. It helps keep the dirty clothes smell from permeating my whole suitcase.
Another great idea for dryer sheets is to cut one in half and put each piece in your hiking or walking shoes. Remove it before you hike, however!
They’re great for removing static and pet hair, as well. Any more ideas?
Let’s say you’re going to Europe and taking your tablet computer, your phone, your Kindle, and any other gadget that needs to be recharged. If they don’t all charge on the same cord or if you don’t have a device that allows you to plug different cords in to the same spot, you have several cords you need to take with you.
Or, let’s say your kids have a couple of game devices and they need to take their charging cords.
Keep them untangled and identified by using those plastic closures found on bread or English muffins. Write the name of the device on the little plastic tag. You could save different colors and use one color for each type of device or each kid.
Slide the plastic tag onto the cord and you’ll know which device it gets used for by just glancing at it. If you have several cords, put each one in its own small plastic resealable bag. No more loose cords hanging out in the bottom of your backpack or sneaking their way around your suitcase.
When traveling to another country do you try to fit in with the locals? Are you interested in the culture and the way things are done there?
Do you ever see ‘ugly Americans’ and wish they would tone down their behavior a little?
Recently I read a great post on Budget Travel’s site about dressing and acting like a tourist. I’ve included some of their ideas and added some of my own.
Just like money doesn’t buy taste or love, having vacation savings to burn doesn’t guarantee the royal treatment everywhere you go. There are two keys to not being an American jerk: “Being a little bit patient and not assuming that everybody here is here to clamor over your tourist dollars is important,” says Anna Post, co-author of Emily Post’s Etiquette 18th Edition. Back in 1922, Emily herself wrote a book chapter titled “Europe’s Unflattering Opinion of Us.” Unfortunately, very little has changed. “For years, we Americans have swarmed over the face of the world, taking it for granted that the earth’s surface belongs to us because we can pay for it,” she wrote. Try to buck those stereotypes.
Are you that person who orders French fries from a McDonald’s next to the Spanish Steps in Rome? . “The absolute worst thing you can do is to ignore the local food in favor of what’s familiar to you: always seeking out the American-style burgers and pizza and Caesar salads on a menu or, worse, eating at fast-food or chain restaurants you know from home,” says Laura Siciliano-Rosen, founder of Eat Your World, a website featuring local eats around the globe. Try sampling local or exotic foods. Enjoy that country’s culture through their food. Worried about food poisoning? If you’re concerned about cleanliness of the food, wash your hands a lot and be smart about the basic things—avoid tap water and ice and unpeeled fruits and vegetables—and you can eat plenty of local food,” Siciliano-Rosen says