01/21/2015

What I Wish I Had Known…When I Started Traveling

Traveling is one of my favorite parts of life. I love the adventure of it. I feel like seeing what the sunrise looks like from somewhere else is the best. I also enjoy getting to travel for work because the people I work with are usually locals who have the best recommendations.

There are a few things about traveling though that aren’t so fun. I wish when I started traveling, someone would have told me some of these things.

Make plans

It seems pretty basic, but go with a game plan. Some people like to wing it when they get somewhere. It takes time to see all the things you will want to see. You want to make sure you have time to do it all. If you like to wander, at least plan out the most important things and leave time for the unexpected.

Pick a hotel, airline, car rental, etc. and stick with it

Insider secret, if you pick one and stick with it, they give you free stuff. I wish when I had started traveling for work, I had stayed true to one airline and hotel chain instead of just picking a flight or convenient hotel each week. It wasn’t long before I realized my mistake, but I definitely missed out on some perks from it. I fly American or Southwest everywhere and I stay at Starwood hotels (Sheraton, Westin). To give you perspective, I flew to London roundtrip for free and stayed at The Park Tower Knightsbridge in London and The Westin in Paris for free for a week. In suites. Trust me, loyalty pays.

Be a tourist

A lot of people hate playing tourist and that’s fine. You do you. But it’s totally acceptable to act like a tourist, because spoiler alert, you are a tourist. The one thing everyone is going to want to know about your trip is if you saw the big sights. Do you want to tell your grandkids you went to the Top of the Rock or tell them you were too cool?

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DSC_0518Eat like a local

One of my favorite things about traveling is the food. Shocking, I know. But I love to eat local specialties and the famous foods in each city. I ate fish and chips in London, wine and cheese in Paris, and mussels in Brussels. Side note, don’t like mussels in America, still don’t like them in Belgium. I made up for it and ate all the waffles they had.

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Take pictures of everything

“Gosh I really regret taking that beautiful photo to remember this trip for the rest of my life” — Said no one ever. I know you will look like a tourist if you take pictures of everything. Get over it. You don’t know anyone, so just take all the photos you want. Every photo in my house is from somewhere I’ve been. Photos don’t just remind you of the beauty of the places you’ve been, but of the feelings you had when you were there.

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