My ten best travel tips

March 18, 2016

When you travel a lot, you learn a lot, about countries, about cultures, about people. But also about travelling itself. Here are my best travel lessons from my last years of travelling:

1. Keep a set of clothes and toiletries in your carry-on

You never kow when your luggage may be lost or delayed. So be smart and have the essentials for the first day(s) in your carry-on luggage.

2. Always pack snacks

Travelling means adventure. Travelling means unexpected things to happen. You may have delay. You may strand somewhere unplanned or arrive at a deserted place in the middle of the night. Always pack snacks. You just never know when you’ll find something to eat again.

3. Travel with a hard suitcase

Buy a good suitcase. It’s a big investment, but it’s worth it. A hard suitcase might not be the most practical travel gear for a safari in Africa, but it’s an essential. Too many times I found my equipment broken after a long travel.

4. Carry your money in different places

An easy thing to do, wich gives you a lot of benefit in the case you loose your wallet or a part of your luggage.

5. Make sure you have a travel insurance

Don’t leave home without a good travel insurance. Unexpected things happen when you travel. I sank with a boat. Twice. I had a snowscooter accident. I lost my camera. You just need to have a travel insurance.

6. Never pack a book you didn’t start

I learned this one the hard way! How many times did I bring a new book on a long flight and the book just sucked. So when you choose a book for your travel, make sure you already read some pages or a chapter so you know if it’s worth bringing.

7. Know what works for you fighting a jet lag

A jet lag is something you can’t avoid. But some things make it easier to handle. Drink plenty of water. Don’t drink alcohol. And go out after your long flight to get some fresh air and physical exercise.

8. Document your travels

Keep a journal and write memorable things down. When you travel, you get new impressions every day. So it’s easy to forget special little moments. Writing interesting things down helps you to remember them. Also take a lot of photos; they make great memories. There is no such thing as taking too many photos.

9. Make back ups

You can loose all the amazing photos you took. I once lost all my photos from a week swimming with dolphins in the Bahamas when my memory card crashed. So back up, store your photos and notes on an external disk or in the cloud.

10. Store your hotel adress

When I was exploring Beijing for hours, I had no idea how to get back to my hotel. I couldn’t read streetnames. Taxidrivers didn’t speak English or didn’t want to understand me. And it turned out there were many hotels with the same name in this enormous city. How I wished for a hotel businesscard at that moment. Store your hotel name, adress and room number in your phone so you have always something to refer to.