People Are Sharing 30 Little-Known Yet Genuinely Useful Travel Tips

Nobody wakes up early. Like you can wake up before dawn and get fantastic golden hour pics when the city is empty then go back for breakfast and a nap before heading out for lunch.

Like the best city for this is Rome. No one is around and you can get wide shots that would never happen during the day and the lighting is better.

ActualWhiterabbit , Mono_420 Report

Three things; 1.) bring an orange. If someone you are sitting next to smells bad you can open the orange up as a natural deodorizer. 2.) Bring a spare pair of socks and change socks after you are settled on your flight, train, etc. Put the sweaty socks away in a plastic bag. Dry socks after a long day of travel feel luxurious. 3.) Stupid and Cheerful. A cop stops you in a foreign country? Stupid and cheerful. Never be belligerent. A border guard says your papers aren’t in order? Stupid and cheerful. The airline says you are too late to board? Stupid and cheerful. Cheerful always works better than aggressive. And it transcends culture. I knew an elderly couple who literally drove across the whole of Africa and “stupid and cheerful” was their advice. It’s far harder to punish someone if they simply claim ignorance and are smiling.

daveescaped , Augustas Didžgalvis Report

I don’t travel much but I book travel for a living.

If your plans change and you need to cancel your hotel reservation against the hotel’s cancellation policy, don’t call and cancel. I’ve tried to barter with hotels many times, but truthfully unless you have a good relationship with the hotel, they have no reason to refund you.

Instead, call the hotel and move your reservation to next week. Even if it is against the cancellation policy, most hotels will allow you to alter a reservation without issue. Then (usually a few hour later to guarantee you talk to a different hotel rep) call and cancel your “new” reservation.

NellieJaycee , Mikhail Nilov Report

I’m sure I’m preaching to the choir here, but whenever I travel i go to the subreddit for the city I’m traveling to and search for a “best food in the city” thread. Never let me down before. I’ve found some amazing hidden gems that way

Successful-Income-22 , Brett Jordan Report

Have a distinct hat.

* Meeting up with strangers / couchsurfers / tour group? You’re the person in the hat.
* When talking with officials, the act of taking off a hat shows obedience to authority and will make the interaction just that much smoother.
* When you’re tucking in for the night, putting keys, coins, that new bus pass, &c. in the (upside-down) hat so they don’t get misplaced in a new place.
* Similarly, the (upside-down) hat can be used to store pocket junk before you go through an x-ray checkpoint.
* Does all the normal hat things. (Keep warm / cool, less sun, covers eyes, &c.)
* A hat soaked in water can feel amazing on a hot day.
* You can tuck a handkerchief (or even a napkin) up into a hat to give your neck and ears cover from the sun.
* A rolled travel towel (don’t panic and […]) can be folded into a hat to make an impromptu pillow.
* A hat on a chair or similar can help hold a spot when customs (or languages) are unfamiliar.

Finally, this is not a *travel* tip, but post-travel: if you buy a hat for a trip and limit souvenirs to pins & patches, you have created a little display that’s a bit more interesting than “here are photos on my phone”.

SimonPennon , Marc Kleen Report

Take a plastic bag with you. Put dirty clothes in it, it keeps clean and dirty separated throughout your stay, plus when you get home it’s easier to take all the clothes in the bag and put them in the washing machine.

Laxly , Abbas_Muntaqim Report

The best room in a cheaper hotel is often better than a standard room in a more expensive hotel. When looking for luxury on a budget, don’t overlook the cheaper hotels – they often have fantastic suites for what you’d pay for a standard room somewhere pricier.

distantapplause , Pixabay Report

Make sure your shower gets hot when you get to your room…. not after you come back tired from exploring and all you want to do is take a hot shower, but it’s after midnight and there’s no maintenance person around

CoralPilkington , Armin Rimoldi Report

Chill at the airport. We are trying to get somewhere. Keep moving in lines. Take your friggin earphones out for flight/gate announcements. Know what documents you need for checking in (passport), security (your ticket), customs (passport and sometimes ticket), gate (passport and ticket).

Be a d**k and you will get treated like a d**k.

fanglazy , Victor Freitas Report

If you’re asking for an opinion, don’t ask the opinion of someone who’s being paid to provide it.

Want to know where the best meal near your hotel is? The cleaner isn’t getting a kickback from the nearest steakhouse, but the concierge probably is.

Want to know the easiest way to get to the airport? The front desk clerk is going to tell you to hire the hotel preferred transfer, but the barman will probably tell you what train to catch for 1/20th of the price.

dannyr , cottonbro studio Report

* Never eat where you see other tourists eating. Look for a place jammed with locals.
* Never let anyone “take” you anywhere. This applies especially to taxi drivers and random strangers.
* Don’t bring anything you “might” need and can acquire locally if you do.
* Pack n+1 pairs of underwear, where n is the smaller of the number of days you will be away and 6.

substantial-freud , esrageziyor Report

Travel with good company that wants the same as you do. Having the wrong people around you on a trip can make you scared for life with them and never make you wanna go again no matter if it was only 1 person who did the whole group wrong.

Ok-Basket-4803 , Helena Lopes Report

If you are alone and don’t know where to go or what to do in a non English speaking city, go to the Irish pub, they will be kind and helpful and you can have a pint.

Beneficial_Elk3018 , Nellu Mazilu Report

Try searching for flights in the airline’s original language. I once saved $700 booking tickets in Peru by using Spanish rather than English.

Huge-Recognition-366 , Alan Levine Report

While you’re standing in the security line, take the stuff in your pockets and put it in your bag. You won’t be holding up the line to gather your stuff from the container.

Idiotforrent , Politikaner Report

Grab one of the mini sized bar soaps or bath gel from your hotel and bring it with you when you go sight seeing. Often bathrooms won’t have hand soap (more likely in international destinations) and you will want to wash your hands with soap. Especially before a meal. I wrap the bar soap in a small plastic bag or a plastic hair cap that it often provided at hotels.

cbarabcub , Johnson Wang Report

No one cares about you wearing the same thing more than once. Pack light and wash your stuff every few days.

Do not entertain people asking questions in other countries.

Know the rules/laws/currency exchange rates for the country you are going to. Ignorance is not a get out of jail free card.

Uajhxz , Vlada Karpovich Report

Make a safe out of a toothpaste tube for your money. Cut off the end, rinse it out, keep the cap on, roll up your money and put inside and roll up the tube to hide the end that you cut. Most likely won’t get toothpaste stolen.

paigeralert , tiny-waste Report

Plan ahead:
1) Allow time for things to go wrong.
2) If travelling long distance don’t leave ‘just in time’, better to arrive early. The further you’re travelling leave even earlier. eg. If your friend is getting married on Saturday and it’s a four hour drive, leave Friday lunchtime not Friday evening. If it’s a transatlantic flight away leave Wednesday or Thursday morning, not Friday.
3) It’s going to cost more than you think.

p-rking , Priscilla Du Preez Report

1. Learn basic words/phrases of the country’s language you are traveling to. This will help you more than you think.
2. Make sure you have a universal adaptor. And a portable charger
3. (speaking for the US) You most likely have an e-passport, it’s that little Pokemon ball looking emblem at the bottom of the cover. Utilize those e-gates at the airport.
4. Don’t convert your cash. Just use your debit/credit or withdraw money from an ATM when you get there.
5. Call your bank in advanced if you’re traveling internationally unless your bank app has a feature where you can automatically turn on international purchases.
6. If you land early in the morning and check-in isn’t for another couple hours, ask your hotel/hostel if you can drop your bags off until check in.
7. Get shower shoes if you’re staying in a hostel.
8. Free up phone storage before you leave for your trip.

camboprincess99 , Andrea Piacquadio Report

I bring old underwear, socks, clothes the kids are about to outgrow, etc, and then throw them out before we leave to make room for souvenirs.

Also, if you are bringing water bottles or travel coffee mugs cut a kitchen sponge into pieces, soak with dish soap, then toss in a Ziploc bag. You can use the sponges to wash water bottles/tumblers in the hotel sink.

Macandwillsmom , Ketut Subiyanto Report

Pack light, you need fewer things than you realize. Buy things like shower gel at the destination, don’t bother carrying cheap stuff you can just buy again easily.
Pack flexible outfits that all go together.
Dress comfortably especially shoes.

Gfflow Report