“Please, thank you,… where am I?”

On a recent trip to Poland, I arrived at the airport and immediately thanked my lucky stars that the cab drivers in Warsaw spoke English. I was by myself, and as soon as the plane touched the runway, I realized I didn’t even know how to say “please,” “thank you,” “hello,” or “goodbye” in Polish. I felt incredibly rude throughout my trip when I couldn’t even say one of Polish to these people in their own country, and I vowed never to be so unprepared again.

It’s important to know the standard polite phrases like “please” and “thank you,” but it’s also good to have a few other phrases up your sleeve. Even if you can’t understand what people are trying to tell you, you will be able to help them understand your problem or question, and then both of you can get creative in understanding the solution or answer. One of the best phrases to have a grasp of is, “where am I?” so that a person can help you find yourself on a map and point you in the direction of where you need to be. In addition, knowing the directional words “right” “left” and “straight” can be useful in those situations.  Along with this, knowing the words for things like “restaurant,” “cafe,” and “hotel” are equally important.

And, finally, your trip finances, wallet management, and general communication can be made infinitely easier if you have a general idea of numbers. Written numerals are great because they look the same around the world, but it never hurts to be able to speak some numbers and recognize the sound of the language’s numbers on your own.

So, if you’re traveling solo to a place where English isn’t the national language, you’ll feel better prepared if you know these simple yet very useful phrases.

New York Times “Why We Travel”

I love reading travel articles, even when I’m not traveling. Traveling has a unique role in my life, and I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that way. I recently came across an online article in the New York Times Travel section entitled “Why We Travel.”  It showcases people’s travel photos from around the world along with the background story of where, when, why, and how the photo was taken. The photos are beautiful, colorful, and insightful, and definitely worth taking a look at. Some of the stories accompanying the photos are inspiring, others are sweet and nostalgic. Take a look for yourself: New York Times: Why We Travel 2010.

My Top 5 Travel Necessities

There are a few little necessities that you should never leave home without when you’re gallivanting around the world. Some of them may come in handy if you get stranded somewhere, others you may use every day!  Below are a few things that I always make sure I have in my bag.

(1) A copy of my ID or passport. If (or when!) you lose your ID or passport, you will be so thankful to have a copy because it will make it ten times easier to replace the document. Be sure to store the copy in a different location than the original – you don’t want to lose both at the same time.

(2) Chapstick or Vaseline. Nothing is worse than chapped lips when you are trying to enjoy the view from the mountains, the Eiffel Tower, etc. etc. You can also use Chapstick or Vaseline to moisturize hands.

(3) A bottle of water. Self explanatory, but it is always good to have water available for (most importantly) drinking, and then maybe rinsing off your hands.

(4) An international cell phone. I’ve used mine as a safety net on many occasions – Googling hostels, grabbing a map, or even looking up exchange rates, not to mention actually using the phone part of my cell phone and calling an airline, hotel, or a friend.

(5) A little extra cash hidden away. Very important- for those times when you may be caught off-guard, having a few extra bucks hidden in your sock, shoe, inner coat pocket, or wherever, could get you out of many sticky situations….just plan to use it only for emergencies.

Some of these things may seem simple, but they can come in handy when you least expect it.  They are easy to pack and don’t take up much space, so there’s really no excuse not to keep them conveniently at hand.

Feel free to comment on your own top 5 list as well!

Follow Travdy on WordPress, Twitter, and Facebook!

Hey all!

My name is Megan Yarnall, and I’m Travdy’s principal blogger.  As you may have heard, Travdy is undergoing some changes and website shifts before our own Travdy website is up and running.   Since you won’t be able to follow us from meetup.com, you can still follow us on Twitter at @TRAVDY, here on WordPress, and also on Facebook.   If you have ideas for blogs, questions for Christine (Travdy’s Lead Organizer), or questions about trips, you can email Christine directly at travdy@gmail.com.

I’m currently working on keeping these three sites updated, so feel free to email me as well at megan.travdy@gmail.com.

Here’s what you can expect in the upcoming future: Travdy’s OWN website- where you can organize trips, meet and connect with other travel buddies, and gain access to travel resources.

Please be patient and stick with us during all the changes!  You can still connect with us via tweets and blog comments, and we’d love to hear from you.

Till next time,

Megan

Embrace Your Solo Travel Experience

When I travel with my friends, I know we will go out and laugh over dinner, we will be silly and we will make our trip fun. When I travel by myself, I know that I will say fewer words (unless I speak out loud to myself!), I most likely won’t have dinner company, and I will enjoy my trip in a different way. I have to tell you guys that unfortunately I learned this lesson the hard way –so take it from me, so you don’t have to suffer! The first time I went somewhere alone, I went for an extended period of time, spending about six weeks in Milan and on the Ligurian coast. I was sorely disappointed and grumpy a large part of the time because I missed my friends, and I found it hard to adjust to not having them palling around with me. I ended up coming home early because I was having a hard time coping by myself.

The next time I went to Italy by myself, I was more prepared. I knew how to take care of myself,and I knew that I couldn’t spend time wallowing in the feeling of being alone. I reminded myself that I could choose all my activities, I could always decide where I wanted to eat, where I wanted to stay, and so on and so forth. I wouldn’t miss any sites that I wanted to see. And while I would miss my friends, I could grab onto my own interests. While company is always nice, the truth is that we can’t always have it. It’s important to embrace what’s in front of you, especially when you are alone, so that you don’t get too lonely and you can revel in your special trip!

Megan Yarnall

Trust Your Best Judgment

Though I’ve figured out how to entertain myself when I’m alone, sometimes I feel really lonely and crave some interaction when I sit in the airport, or when I’m by myself at a hostel or hotel, or museum, or a park… ok, you get the point. As a woman, I often feel intimidated putting myself out toward others when I’m traveling because the reality is that women are more vulnerable than men! However,what I’ve also found is that is it possible to keep myself safe while still making friends and interacting with people.

On one of my first days in Italy last fall, I found myself completely lost (and normally I’m a pro with directions!) in the pouring rain, with no umbrella and no rain boots! As I wandered the main shopping streets trying to place myself, a young blond girl offered to share her umbrella with me. When she spotted the map in my hand, she asked where I was going and offered some directional help as well. The first things I noticed about this girl were that (1) well, she was a girl. I’m not sexist, but I am always more suspicious of men when I’m alone (2) she was little – if need be, I could take her! (3) she was about  my age – less creepy! and (4) she spoke softly, and didn’t speak to me in a strange way. These are the reasons that my gut instinct told me it was okay to let her reach out to me. She ended up driving me home because I was a lot farther from my destination than I thought I was. Even she had trouble finding the place, but as we worked together, I was so thankful to have company. I did text one of my friends and tell him where I was and what I was doing, just in case! This wasn’t the first time I had traveled by myself, and so I had time before to learn how to trust my judgment. It comes with time. And afterward, you will be able to cherish new friends around the world!

Megan Yarnall

Wasting Time in the Airport… Alone

Copyright ines saraiva, Flickr Creative Commons

One of my biggest fears about traveling alone has always been… well, being lonely (obvious,right?). When I was fearful of flying, the airport was always the worst place because my anxiety of being lonely and my anxiety about flying coupled together to create some very embarrassing airport moments for me (including one scene which involved me staggering through Chicago O’hare). Those incidents aside, I now consider myself an expert at keeping myself (and my mind) busy when I’m alone at the airport. One of the most important things for me is a routine. I have a definite routine at the airport,and anyone who has seen me preparing for a flight more than once knows this.

I’m sure you can guess the first two stops – check-in and security. My 3rd stop is scoping out the gate,and then I head to grab a bottle of water. When I travel, I always have a bottle of water. It’s like a security blanket. When I get nervous, I take a sip. Once I’m settled in and really have nothing to do, I pull out my Ipod, a book, or a magazine. This usually satisfies me for about 5 minutes before I get incredibly bored and can’t concentrate. From this point, I commence one of my favorite activities: staring at people. Sounds rude, I know, but what do you do the majority of time while traveling? You look at things and people, so why not start in the airport? Just be nonchalant, and don’t let people catch you. This is especially fun in foreign airports or large airports with international flights because you can see lots of foreigners. I like to observe different fashion styles and mannerisms and guess where people are from, where they are going and why. Once this ceases to entertain me, I sit back and visualize getting off the plane at my destination. If it’s a place I know, I think of what it looks like. If I don’t know it, I try to dream up images of it. Before I know it, the attendant is interrupting my thoughts so I can actually get on the plane and see the place for real!

Keep Your Money Personal

Like most solo travelers, I am a fairly independent person, which means that I don’t enjoy asking people for money, even if I can pay them back an hour later. However, not everyone thinks this way. Which is fine, but when it’s you who is the lender, it’s a little different. My money habits when traveling with people I don’t know well aren’t just habits – they also serve to protect my money, and, believe it or not, my new friendships. Case in point: the same girl who despised reading maps also despised lending money, but had no problem borrowing ours. The real problem lay in that this girl would scrunch her nose, wrinkle her lips, and start to make whining noises when we requested our money be paid back, as if we were trying to rip her off (which we weren’t, of course). The burned sketch of this face in our minds still makes my friends and I giggle and cringe at the same time, but it also serves as a constant reminder of my second rule: don’t share money or split bills, unless everyone pays up front.

I think I know what you’re thinking – sometimes it’s necessary. Yeah, you’re right. But there’s also a good way to go about doing this. After my experience with this “friend,” I came up with a few simple rules for managing shared expenses during travel:

(1) Always make sure you have your own cash. If you don’t ask people for money, it’s easier to say no to them, since it’s not like you “owe” them anything.

(2) If you rent a car or book a tour together, have everyone pay up front. This way, there’s no disagreeing about it later.

(3) If you do end up lending or borrowing money, save receipts and write expenses down.Otherwise, you might find yourselves arguing later.

(4) If lending or borrowing doesn’t go well with someone, don’t repeat it again. It took me a little while to learn my lesson, and it caused some suffering, which makes travel more stressful when it shouldn’t be.

Money is a very personal thing, so it’s best to keep it… personal. Not sharing money is another way of protecting your money while you travel – just like zipping your purse or carrying your money in your front pocket!Sometimes we all forget, but these are habits with which we should be living anyway!

Travel with Strangers

You’ll find that when you travel sometimes, strangers are all you have for company.  Hope that doesn’t sound too negative, because I have to say, I’ve had some fantastic experiences traveling with strangers or people I had just met. Some loved to pamper, making sandwiches for our whole group as we traveled for the Australian bush, and others were more subtle, waiting for me outside a store to make sure I could find my way back to the bus. When people do things like this, I can’t help but feel a nudging sense of renewed faith in humanity. This may sound silly, but I always appreciate a small reminder that sometimes strangers still care about each other when they don’t have to.  And as I’ve seen karma running my life in circles in other respects, travel is no exception. Sometimes it’s my turn. I have been called on to lead or to take care of other travelers. One girl I traveled with whom I traveled all over Europe refused to touch a map,refused to ask questions when we needed to, and refused to help with tasks such as finding transportation from the airport to our accommodation. From this four month long drama, I learned this very important lesson, which, dare I say, I believe is the most important lesson of traveling with strangers or new friends: Be prepared to do everything yourself, because you may have to. And when you help other travelers, you’ll see that help returned. It’s part of the traveler support network!

Happy Holidays!!!

You may have already noticed – Travdy’s on a holiday break!

 

If you’d like to keep the conversation going, hit “comment” and tell us about your holiday travels – the good and the bad! We’ll be back blogging on January 5th!

Meanwhile, Happy Holidays from Travdy!

-Travdy blogger, Megan Yarnall