Traveling to a new destination is an exciting way to spend your holidays, but it can also be a daunting ordeal. This is especially true if you are traveling to a place where the locals are speaking in a language you don’t understand, or the culture is completely different.
To make the most of your vacation and your traveling experience, you should know how to avoid mistakes that might end up being costly. These are our two cents towards helping you do that, by sharing some tips and knowledge that we have acquired after years of traveling around the world.
Learn the Language
Ok, this sounds like an impossible task, but bear with us. We do not expect you to learn the language perfectly. However, you should learn some most important phrases, that will come in handy if you need to communicate your thoughts to the locals.
There are numerous sources online where you can learn a new language quickly, and interestingly, so you should make use of that. Moreover, the locals will appreciate that you are trying to speak their mother tongue, even if it is not perfect and you are making many mistakes. You might even get special treatment if you try this trick in a local hotel or a B&B.
Learn the Do’s and Don’ts
In case you are traveling to a destination that has a culture completely different from yours, you should know that you will need to do certain things differently than back at home. Therefore, it is important to learn what is considered acceptable and what is not in the country you’re visiting. This will help you stay out of trouble, and the locals will not see you as ignorant or downright insulting.
Meet the Locals
A lot of people make the same mistake when travelling to a new destination – they try to find the elements of their own culture in that destination and connect with people from their country/culture who live there. You may do this, to get their perspective. However, it is much more important to meet local people, talk to them, and learn as much about their culture and their viewpoint. This will make your trip worthwhile and will add a completely new dimension to your experience.
Stay Open Minded
When traveling to a new place, you need to realize beforehand that things are going to be different than back home, and that that is fine. You need to stay open-minded and be accepting and understanding of the differences you might encounter.
We all have prejudices and a biased point of view of some parts of the world, but we should work towards eliminating those as much as possible. Travelling to a new destination should be like writing on a blank piece of paper – you need to start from scratch.
Be prepared to try new things that you perhaps thought you would never give in to. Because who knows, perhaps you’ll realize you like them!
