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Nice set of advice. I learned the quoted advice implicitly from tonio and chuck. It came from observing that what’s important is the experience everything else should be in the background. What does this mean? Well bring lot’s of money and have a who cares attitude about money. Some caveats would be, at least for me.
Learn to haggle without being stressed (I needed to learn this)
some more travel advice:

  • Learn to ask for directions.
  • Learn if the area has a map (especially useful for introverts like me)/cultural/tourist office.
  • It’s not how many places you visit it’s about how happy you were when you visited those places. (Let the bad things slide)
  • You travel to travel not to tell other people about it, which basically means photos are there to remind you of the happy moments.
  • Basically BE IN THE MOMENT(I can still recall vividly the first panoramic view of the Mt Pinatubo crater lake or each second of the Dahilayan zipline, It was because I was so into the moment it was as if nothing else existed.)
  • Travel Light.  (This was taught to me by walking with 2 bags with a combine weight of around 25kg walking for more than 15km from davao’s eco bus station to the davao museum and to a few more places. When you are thinking of bringing anything just say to yourself YOU AREN’T GOING TO NEED IT)
  • Always carry change.
  • Dress down, dress comfortably. (I find that dressing down automatically signals to people you are asking for directions/advice to point you to the least expensive options.)

Spend more money. I often get stressed out spending small amounts of money. Overall, this isn’t always bad—it’s led to a healthy paranoia about debt and a lifelong adherence to frugality. However, it has its downsides too, in that I can spend hours walking around trying to decide what to eat, or hours trying to figure out the public transit system somewhere instead of just flagging down a taxi.
It only took me about 100 countries—I’m a slow learner—but I finally created a $10 rule for myself that has been rocking my world. The $10 rule is that when I’m traveling, I deliberately avoid worrying about most things that cost $10 or less. As I said, this makes a big difference. I actually eat three meals a day now. If I can’t find free WiFi, I’ll walk into a hotel and pay for the connection. SO MUCH LESS STRESS.
via The Art of Non-Conformity » Tips for Stress-Free Travel.

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