Tips for meandering globally, locally, affordably
The invention of the smart phone has made travel more accessible than ever. You don’t need spend a lot of money or download a bunch of apps or subscribe to fancy services to be a self-sufficient and savvy traveler.
Let me preface this by saying - travel is a luxury. If you are getting on a plane anywhere, and leaving your home go to a different place - you are lucky. And what I mean by affordable is relative in my terms.
Traveling for weeks at a time doesn’t have to cost thousands and thousands of dollars. Of course this depends on your accommodations, activities and what you want to do. My days tend to be filled wandering around, asking local people what’s good, learning about history, and looking for interesting places to eat and drink (and not the most expensive places). When I talk to most people - surprise! that is mostly what they want to do when they travel too.
Here are some of my tips and practical experiences - I hope it gives you the inspiration and confidence to take a trip even if it’s just across your state.
1 - Ditch the Hotel Loyalty Points - You won’t find a Marriott in the best local neighborhood of Paris… or Strasbourg - I look for apartments, B&B’s, and small, family-run hotels. Booking.com, bedandbreakfast.eu, tripadvisor.com, are all good places to start. Spend some time and do your research. The added bonus of staying in these smaller places is that the managers and owners are usually local and happy to chat you up about their favorite spots, shops and are eager to help. I sometimes use Airbnb and VRBO too depending on the city/country - it’s different by locale. I’m not a hostel girl, but many people I meet along the way swear by them - I hear good things about hostelworld.com and Tripadvisor/Reddit have loads of reviews. Apartments will have kitchen/kitchenettes and most B&B’s and small hotels will at least have a mini fridge - great for leftovers and snacks so you can keep some food on hand without having to eat out every meal (especially as local customs may not suit your eating time preference).
2 - Embrace Public Transit - One of the fastest ways to run up your expenses is to take taxis and Ubers everywhere. If you learn how to navigate the subway, bus and train system you’ll save enough in one day to pay for transport for your entire trip - plus you’ll gain confidence to go anywhere and know you can get around. There are lots of smartphone apps that claim to integrate with various public transit systems - I haven’t found anything that works better than the free ones that come with Apple & Google phones. When I’m in a new place and my nervous system and senses are in overdrive - I find it’s best to stick with technology/apps that are familiar and easy to use. I’m bought into the Apple world so I prefer Apple Maps (you can toggle between walk/public transit) but Google Maps works great with Public Transit across virtually every city I’ve been in the world as well. Spend some time doing a few searches and get comfortable with the local system - just do it. Also - and important - most of the public transits use tap to pay now, so have your phone payment ready (chip enabled credit cards usually works too). You usually won’t need to buy a special card or pass (but do double check depending on where you are going - Paris is a good example, you’ll need a Navigo card last I was there Dec. 2023.)
3 - Don’t panic! - If the neighborhood doesn’t look like the pictures or you end up somewhere unexpected because the train didn’t stop at the station you needed, or you took the Tube in the wrong direction (I’ve done this SO many times) - you’re not the first tourist that’s experienced this. I assure you, (probably) normal people live here, wherever you just found yourself. I recently had a friend who booked an Airbnb in a pretty nice part of London. When she arrived, the previous guests had checked out late, so the cleaners were still at the unit (not ideal) and the rubbish (trash) was on the sidewalk. Well - this is common (late check out) and because the trash pickup was the next morning in this borough of town, it’s expected that everyone puts their trash out in the evening. She thought that the area of town was bad (because there was trash on the sidewalk). She panicked, called the property manager in tears and demanded a refund. She ended up paying £250 per night in a hotel a couple blocks away in the same neighborhood . Moral of the story: The experience may not be what you expected, but pause and take a breath before deciding what to do next. Maybe you laugh about it, maybe ask a local, and maybe stick it out. Chances are, it will make a better story later. If the situation is dangerous, of course get the hell outta Dodge. Use your judgement.
4 - Leave room for wonder - Resist the urge to pack every day full of tours, reservations and events. It’s good to have a plan and do some research. If you want to see a popular attraction, then yes, get a ticket and plan ahead. But you don’t need to take 20k steps a day and post 40 stories to Instagram to prove you’ve been on holiday. It’s ok to sleep in til 9am and have a coffee and pastry at the cafe, and maybe even chat up the local guy about what’s happening in town (if they are giving vibes, read the room) before you set off for the day. When we arrived in Polignano Al Mare in June, our apartment host said that Red Bull Cliff Diving was about to start - we had no idea (and no plans)- so we grabbed our beach towels and walked into town where the platforms and competitions were staged. It turned out to be a huge production; I didn’t have that on my bucket list but it was an amazing experience watching athletes dive from 90 feet off cliffs into the Adriatic Sea.
5 - Get out of town! Use the popular tourist hubs (Paris, London, Rome, Athens, Barcelona just to name a few) as a launching pad to check out overlooked spots. Overtourism is a big topic right now especially across Europe. Smaller cities offer all the culture, art, architecture usually with more affordable accommodations and more hospitable hosts. Of course spend a day or two hitting the tourist hot spots - after all, they are popular for a reason, but after you’re done with crowds, get out of town and see how people really live. Reddit is great for discovering these nearby gems. Usually these smaller cities are more affordable, the people are friendlier and the stress levels plummet without crowds. Last year around Christmas, we took the Eurorail train from London 2hr into Brussels and stayed for around a week, taking day train trips into Bruges, Ghent, and Cologne (public transit FTW!). By getting out of the metropolitan areas we were able to enjoy quaint Christmas markets and explore at our own pace. Sure it was holiday busy but nothing compared to the chaos of London, Paris and Munich (we’ve been to all 3 - they are magic - but they are very busy).
6 - Be (your respectful) self - do some research, keep a few phrases handy (hello, please, thank you, where are bathrooms?) and understand basic local customs. Google Translate & Chat GPT are great for this - e.g. “Tell me ten things I need to know when visiting Spain in summer”. Simply knowing what time people eat dinner, appropriate dress attire, and if you can buy an aspirin in a grocery store is all helpful to know when you’re visiting a country for the first time (in Norway, the answer is no, and it will cost you around 10 dollars when you can eventually buy 8 tablets, from a pharmacy; I recommend you bring some with you).