Getting it Down to Essentials: A Guide for the Independent Traveller
Since taking up travelling in a serious way after retiring, I have perhaps become a little more savvy about what works when you are travelling, and what doesn’t. I’ve compiled a few lessons I’ve learned here – hope they give you a leg-up when you are planning your next trip!
Why Travel?
Sure, we travel for the wow-factor, the adventure, the opportunity to break out of routine, and experience the new, the different, and the mind-explanding. But the main benefit of travel is the unfiltered opportunity it gives you to really see
what is going on in the world; how people are living their lives, and the things that bind us all together as human beings on this planet. Witnessing these commonalities and emotional landscapes we share – and the goodness that prevails – is a powerful antidote to negative narratives about ‘other cultures’. As Brene Brown points out: “People are hard to hate close up. Move in.” Travel as myth-busting, eye-opening, heart-enlarging. You return home, and you care about the people you’ve just met – indeed, you are suddenly advocates of everyone, everywhere.
Where and When to Travel
We all have a bucket list of places we want to pilgrim to in our life-time, Cost, safety,
standard of services, and your threshold of comfort or adventure all help to determine what country, regions, and activities are the best fit for you. Take into account optimum seasons for travel in your selected destinations; often it will be the shoulder season due to the more temperate weather, less demand for facilities, and reduced low-season rates for accommodation.
How to Travel
You have three choices: solo, independent, and with a tour. The advantages of a tour are: 1) all planning – itinerary, transport & accommodation – is done for you, 2) guides have local knowledge and can arrange off-the-beaten path excursions and experiences, and 3) you have built-in company.
However, as you are locked into a certain time frame, cost, and arrangements (people, itinerary, etc.), it is very
difficult or impossible to make changes enroute or when an emergency arises. Also, your daily costs increase exponentially when you are paying for a tour company’s fee along with your own. Investigate your prospective tour company carefully so that price, planning and conditions (size of tour group, etc.) meet your needs and expectations.
The advantages of independent travel, hence, are: 1) freedom and flexibility with planning, 2) more agility when travelling (mobilizing just a few people, not 20), 3) greater chance of impromptu encounters, experiences, and 4) you have chosen your travel companions.
And, should you wish to strike out alone, here are some advantages to solo independent travel: 1) you can control and curate your trip exclusively to meet your needs and desires, 2) you have more direct connection to encounters, experiences on the road, and 3) as it requires greater investment and responsibility – planning, language skills, problem-solving skills – it builds confidence in your ability to plan, navigate, and handle different and challenging situations. Accepting the costs of total independence – some feelings of isolation, inability to share peak experiences (and accommodation costs!) with a travelmate – will be important to your resilience on the road.
Packing the Essentials
Start with the adage: pack what you are going to need each day. That would be a set of clothes, walking shoes, toiletries, phone & charger, headphones, passport & credit & bank card. Then add two other sets of clothes – one for warmer weather, one for cooler – a rain jacket, a pair of sandals, bathing suit, travelling towel, light shirt for pyjamas. Add a first aid kit,emergency replacement for glasses and phone, another credit and debit card, maps, guidebook, e-reader, small notebook and pen, and flashlight (also wise idea to have a digital copy of all important travel documents and passwords). Keep miscellaneous items and clothes to minimum to keep mind focused on why you’re travelling – to experience the new, not be laden by the old.
A few other things you might find useful:
- keep cash, cards, passport, extra glasses, phone, etc divided up into different places in luggage. This lessens the loss should your purse, for instance, go missing.
- have small change and notes at the ready, for bathrooms, tipping, beggars, bus fare.
- a scarf is useful for covering shoulders in churches and mosques, and as a versatile accessory.
- the Google Translate app on your phone (invaluable when faced with no other way to scale a language barrier!).
- an unlocked phone so that you can trade your home SIM card for those in the country you are travelling, and have data, text and phone privileges.
- pack light (under twenty pounds) and consider using a backpack rather than a suitcase. This will enhance your
Jacques Cartier Square, Montreal, Canada. independence, convenience and speed when travelling as it can qualify as cabin luggage, enables you to walk comfortably when there are a lot of stairs or uneven surfaces (like cobblestoned streets in Europe), and is cost-saving (no extra baggage fees, no need for taxis, etc.).
Transportation
A. FLIGHTS
Unless your trip involves a complex web of countries and itineraries, trip planning and booking can be done entirely on-line. For the booking of flights, there are a number of on-line travel agencies, such as eDreams, Skyscanner, Expedia.ca and Cheap-O-Air, or you can go directly to each airline. Choosing a one way flight is good for a multi-city flight and you want different arrival and departure points, or if you are undecided about your return date. Return tickets, of course, are the most cost-saving.
B. GROUND TRANSPORT
Sorry, Canada, but public transport in almost every other country in the world, rocks: ferries, trains, buses, subways, trains – get ready to enjoy them all. Book ahead for trains if you can, but just show up for buses, an hour or two in advance (unless it is a very popular route). While it’s always a pleasure to take the train, don’t underestimate the quality of bus and small bus service in so many areas of the world. Private ground transport – taxis, car rentals – will be more expensive and always be prepared for disproportionate prices for airport taxis (something that can be easily avoided if you do your homework and scope out public transport options ahead of time).
Accommodation
Staying within your budget may mean hostels or two star hotels, all of which can be booked on-line. Hotel search
companies such as Booking.com, Trivago.ca, or Expedia.ca offer a selection of hotels and make it easy to change or cancel a reservation. It’s always good to book your first night or two in city of your arrival – it gives you that sense of security when you land, and opportunity to orient yourself to your new environment. After that, you can book as you go (particularly in shoulder or low season).
There are many things that add value and convenience to hotel rooms you book. Look for:
- location – close to transportation, attractions and is in a desirable area of town.
- breakfast is included – hugely convenient and cost-saving to you, and a breakfast gathering place adds warmth to a hotel.
- size of room – 12m2 and smaller is pretty tight for two people!
- 24 hour reception – good for late arrivals, early starts, and also gives you an indication of hotel’s standard of professionalism and degree of patronage.
- room is in a hotel (not private apartment or AirBnB). This also ensures that there will be someone onsite, and there to greet you. Longer stays in a home or an apartment need special arrangements of their own.
Food, Beverages
Sampling the food of regions you are travelling in is always a premiere pleasure and cultural experience when you travel. Choosing restaurants that are not on the main squares and other touristic areas will give you an opportunity to
experience local cuisine, support family businesses, and save a little money. If you are looking for alternatives to restaurants while travelling, try these:
- look into booking a hotel/pension room with a kitchenette or shared kitchen. Cooking your own meals is cost-saving, healthy, and a different way to explore local ingredients.
- take advantage of local markets and bakeries for take-away picnic possibilities.
- sample the street food and local fast-food places (for gyros, donairs, scharmas, etc.) Tasty, quick, fun, and ultra-inexpensive.
Determine immediately if you can drink the local water, and fill up your water bottles. Be bold and try out locally-made brews, rather than imported liquors. But don’t go overboard with it, which brings me to:
Travel Etiquette 101
It’s wise to remember that you are a guest in the country you are visiting, and also an ambassador for your country. It behooves you to:
- be cognizant of what is customary and what might be inappropriate in the country you are travelling (like nude bathing in main beaches of a city, bare shoulders in an orthodox church, taking photos of children, bargaining for items outside markets, public drunkenness).
- respect your hosts and their environment – learn some of their language, ask permission to take photos, tip people when their service has been exceptional, be understanding of economic challenges they may face, and, if things are not functioning as well as they are at home, be grateful for the warm welcome they have shown instead.
Trusting yourself, and others, and adapting your expectations and modus operandi to the countries you are visiting are essential credos of the independent traveller. Aiming to travel responsibly, respectfully and economically brings us closer to the countries that we visit, and the people that have welcomed us into their heartland. Sto kalo! (go for the good).