Every starting traveler starts out with a lack of experience, so it’s important not to chastise yourself if you make little mistakes, or look like a typical tourist. You’re not necessarily bad at travel because you don’t know every tip and trick just yet, or instead of reading everything about your destination, you wanted to experience it first-hand.
That being said, it’s also true that as with anything, learning mistakes the hard way or the easy way is a matter of preparation. You can learn from the mistakes of those who have come before you.
Never fear, because in this post we hope to express the differences between a seasoned traveler and a tourist, and what the former will often do to experience a new country with much more comfort and wisdom. Without further ado, let’s get started:
Learning To Take Care Of Valuables
Im certain busy areas, or even populated towns, doesn’t take long to realize how easy it is to become an obvious target when you’re distracted. All it takes is standing outside a train station, your bags at your feet, phone out, looking around trying to get your bearings. That’s usually when someone clocks you, and you might be a target for a pickpocket. Not every destination is dangerous of course, but being visibly unprepared can put you on the radar, so it’s a good idea to make a habit of keeping things close and zipped up.
You’ll see seasoned travelers keep theri items like their passport, phone, and wallet tucked in a zipped inner pocket, ideally not in the same place every time. Don’t wave it around or hold it out in one hand while following a map GPS. You can also use a cross-body bag that sits in front of you, which generally works well, especially in busy crowds. It’s just about being sensible with your valuables and looking out for one another.
Speaking To Locals & Knowing When To Visit Tourist Traps
The well-trodden spots aren’t always a bad choice of course, as most often there’s a reason certain landmarks or attractions are popular, so visiting them doesn’t instantly make you a “tourist in the worst way.” But people who travel more often will learn to know when to go and how to ask for recommendations. Maybe that means seeing a place first thing in the morning or heading over late in the afternoon when the big tour groups have moved on.
What makes a big change, though, is engaging with locals. Sure you shouldn’t ask someone to be your personal guide, it just means being open and friendly. Asking for food recommendations instead of defaulting to the highest-rated spot online can get you an answer that actually reflects what people in the area enjoy, especially if you’re polite and show your excitement. You can feel the difference between something designed for tourists and something that belongs to a community, and that’s what seasoned travelers look for. It’s good to learn some phrases to get you moving in the right direction, as far as that goes.
Contributing To The Local Economy
You see a lot of souvenir shops selling things that all look kind of identical after a while, or you’ll notice they’ve got the exact same products across cities too, just with a different name printed on the front. It’s all fine in a pinch, but more thoughtful travel often includes looking for ways to actually support the place you’re in.
For a souvenir, it’s wise to find something handmade at a weekend market. You could also choose guesthouse over a chain hotel, or just eating in a tiny café down a side street where the owner is also the chef and probably knows every regular by name. None of this has to feel like a moral checklist either, it’s just nice ot be mindful that your money can go somewhere meaningful instead of only places designed to extract it.
Managing Luggage
Dragging a suitcase across busy streets in the middle of summer isn’t fun, and it usually feels ten times worse when you’re trying to check out of your accommodation early but your flight isn’t until much later. That’s where luggage storage can be smart, even if your hotel isn’t checking in yet, or if your bags are dealt with, as they let you drop your things off for a few hours so you’re not weighed down trying to explore.
Experienced travelers will usually plan for this kind of thing ahead of time. They know where the storage spots are, or they’ve booked somewhere that offers the service. If you find someone traveling light, even just for a day out to the nearest city, you know that they’ve planned in advance and are comfortable in packing their smaller bags. It’s a skill new tourists could do well to learn.
Taking Your Time
There’s always a temptation to cram everything in, especially if you don’t know when you’ll be back, but the difference between just visiting a place and really experiencing it tends to come down to pace. Travelers who’ve done this before usually choose one or two things a day, and leave the rest open, strangely enough.
It feels as though super-experienced travelers will plan each event like a military operation, but in actual fact they’ll be happy to really engage with fewer bookings. For example if you’re going to a museum, that can take up most of the morning and early afternoon. It’s okay if you just want to embed in the cafe culture of Paris or Zurich for a couple of days. Take your time, it’s your trip after all. This is easier if you think about:
Traveling During Off-Season Periods
Not everyone has the luxury of flexibility, but if it’s an option, going somewhere just outside of peak season can be nice and a good way to feel less pressured on your holidays. You also get shorter queues, better prices, more relaxed locals, and a general feeling like you’ve actually stepped into the depth of the place, not just a version of it built for mass arrivals.
Even if you just go to a local city in your own country with this in mind to practice how you travel during these slower moments, that can be great too.
With this advice, we hope you can more easily become the seasoned traveler you were always meant to be.
