#indie30 Day 30: What is the Best Piece of Advice You have Received While Traveling?
Today marks the last day of this month’s #indie30 prompts. While I’m sad to see it come to an end, it has been the beginning of new friendships and connections that will last years to come. I can’t thank BootsNAll enough for this project.
The prompt today is about travel advice – what’s the best you’ve gotten and what advice would you give?
I thought hard about the best advice I’d ever received, and I don’t know that many others have actually delved it out to me. A lot I learned through experiencing things on the road for myself. Sometimes, experience is the greatest teacher of all. Now, of course things like where to eat or what to see always come up. I always appreciate “insider” tips on where to go.
Today, I’m going to leave a few pieces of advice for others in hopes that over the last thirty days through the #indie30 project, they have been inspired to take journeys of their own:
- Travel with an open-mind. Everyone in the world can tell you they don’t like a place – or that they absolutely love a place- and your opinion may be different. In travel, form your own opinions.Even if I tell you to avoid Paris, go anyway! You may love it. Eat as the locals do. Listen to their stories. Approach each learning experience as an opportunity to grow.
- Use common sense just as you would at home. Beware of scam artists, but don’t let that spoil you to the honest, kind people you meet. If you choose to travel to an area of the world experiencing politcal unrest, educate yourself before you leave. And no matter where you go, always be sure someone you trust knows where you are and has copies of your credit cards, ID, passport and itinerary.
- Each day, take some time and PUT.THE.CAMERA.DOWN. Live in the moment. Sometimes, memories really are enough. My albums are full of great photos, but believe me – there are many memories that you won’t find on the internet. Some moments are reserved for only me. Do the same for yourself. I truly believe that carrying respect is more important than carrying a camera. Respect where you are, respect the people, their culture and traditions.
- Lastly: JUST GO! Don’t second guess! Whether you’re flying 10,000 miles or taking an hour road trip in your own backyard, go see the world around you! Don’t hesitate to travel and don’t think any destination is too small or too big! Don’t compare your travels to anyone else’s. Travel for yourself and what you get out of it.
This has been such a wonderful experience. I hope you enjoyed reading along these last thirty days as much as I enjoyed participating.
If you have travel advice, please put in in the comments.
Be sure to stay in touch, and on the lookout for the next 30-Day Challenge!
All the best,
Heather
