Hey Everyone,

Here we talk about travelling, and no that doesn't include travelling to your local grocery mart. Anyways I look forward to reading stories about those of you who have had the oppportunity to travel abroad. Any cool tips and tricks for surviving certain parts of the world are good too. (i.e. certain hand gestures in Greece could prove to be harmful).

Have fun,

I've actually been to various places in Europe (France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and Austria). Sure, it was six years ago (still can't believe it was that long ago), and it was loads of fun.

Sadly I can't really give much advice (don't remember a lot of the customs and such).

I've been to:

Greece
Italy
Turkey
Switzerland
Mexico
England

Looking forward to going to:

Germany
Scotland
Ireland

..next year :P

In the near future, I hope to go back to Disneyland, Vegas, or the Bahamas!! :p

I have traveled the West coast from Washington - Tiajauna Mexico,,

Here are a couple of tips...

1. If you go to Hong Kong, no matter how hot it is, make sure to dress somewhat conservatively!

2. If you go to a big city in China, there's no need to pay attention to traffic lights if you're a pedestrian. Just make sure you look before crossing 6 lanes of traffic (or do what the locals do and cross one lane at a time)!!!

It sounds like FROGGER tactics :P

i am in northern italy once again, though this time its only me..
9hours without a smoke from vancouver to frankfurt, though i got to sit in business class, better food thats for sure... 2 hours delay in frankfurt because of fog in turin or torino, italy- 1 in car to my cousins in pont st.martin....and on and on. im having a blast.
so far ive been to aosta, pont st martin, arreves, and a couple other small small cities like this, as well as vercelli, and saw milan, etc via innercity train for 4 hours, then venezia, (venice), monfalcone, trieste, udine, duino, venezia again, palmanova, and some more smaller towns and cities all in three weeks. its been a blast thats for sure.
things to watch out for....
1...when you order a coffee here, its espresso, a little water and the rest coffee, i was up for days with that stuff...
2...they all drive like madman...bikes, scoots, weaving in and out of traffic thats going over 90 km/hr. people crossing the street when the lights green...
3...it you are going to venice and its snowing and the wind it over 30 clicks, dress like you are going skiing or something. and make sure you got your picture and extra film...it costs 15 bucks for a roll of film here, i know, it happened.
4...northern man are not as aggressive as southern italian man.
5..when buying maple syrup put it into 2 plastic bags and for god sakes keep it AWAY from your clothes...reason...i bought a bottle in plastic instead of glass so it wouldnt break. i spent 15 bucks on a bottle because you its a delicate thing here. it was -10 with wind and all in venice, and with the cold it broke in two, on me, everything covered in syrup, yes, yes, its true, it happened, and not only did i not notice it for 3 hours, when i saw it my cousin said it was probably frozen water, it was dark, the maple syrup froze on my jacket, my new boots, my pants, BEAUTIFUL! thank goodness for it not being good quality syrup, it came off my boots and pants, and my jackets at the cleaners:rolleyes:
my cousin and her friend couldnt stop laughing ... so what to do, i joined them, what could i do!
unforuntaley these last couple days have been hard with family as my cousins grandmother passes away on friday, rest her soul, as she was very ill with a blood infection from surgery, as i will be travelling in car for 7 hours with the family to the funeral in the mountains in her home town. here the funeral is always held in the place of birth...
well stay tuned...i will be adding more of the next month and a half, as well as i will be downloading pictures when i return.
i have decided to stay an extra week in italy for the festival of spring in feb. it starts at 5 in the morning and finishes late late late.
the city is in the area of aosta, in the mountains, music, a parade of colour, all the people in the town dress up, young and old and then at the end of the day, dinner and dancing at an castle....
stay tuned...:alien:

This topic is a good one because travelling is something I do a lot of.

Here are a few good tips:

If going to Indonesia, or any country of a similar nature, be wary of the following:

The porters at the airport will be all over your luggage. Have no fear, they aren't stealing it or anything but they are going to try to rip you off. They will ask for a 'tip' to carry your stuff and they will be wearing the official airport garb. You should note that you can choose to carry your own bags and if you do want them to move your bags that the tip does not have to be large! I saw people who were nervous about what to give them and they started handing out $10 bills, etc. To give you an idea how much extra this is.... the airport suggests you pay them 20 (US) cents per bag.

Never pay for anything of any significant monetary value until you get a good idea of what that thing should cost. When I've gone shopping in some of these countries I have had vendors haggle with me by opening with a price 600% over what they will happily accept. They will ALWAYS make you feel like you got a good deal no matter how badly they have ripped you off.

Always smile, be polite, but don't get eaten alive. Rolling tourists for all they have got is an artform in many of these countries.

Well those are my two bits, I hope they help save someone from having a bad trip.

Cheers, Dylan.

Welcome to the forums dlopez. Feel free to introduce yourself in the New Members forum as well. :)

Some good travelling advice here in this thread. Keep it up guys.

Originally posted by dlopez
This topic is a good one because travelling is something I do a lot of.

Here are a few good tips:

If going to Indonesia, or any country of a similar nature, be wary of the following:

The porters at the airport will be all over your luggage. Have no fear, they aren't stealing it or anything but they are going to try to rip you off. They will ask for a 'tip' to carry your stuff and they will be wearing the official airport garb. You should note that you can choose to carry your own bags and if you do want them to move your bags that the tip does not have to be large! I saw people who were nervous about what to give them and they started handing out $10 bills, etc. To give you an idea how much extra this is.... the airport suggests you pay them 20 (US) cents per bag.

Never pay for anything of any significant monetary value until you get a good idea of what that thing should cost. When I've gone shopping in some of these countries I have had vendors haggle with me by opening with a price 600% over what they will happily accept. They will ALWAYS make you feel like you got a good deal no matter how badly they have ripped you off.

Always smile, be polite, but don't get eaten alive. Rolling tourists for all they have got is an artform in many of these countries.

Well those are my two bits, I hope they help save someone from having a bad trip.

Cheers, Dylan.

Thanks Dyl,

Maybe you should start a thread about Tips When Travelling in Different Countries.. we could have different sections for different countries! :) Also, if you could, post a thread in the New Members section so those who are new to the forums will have an idea of who you are and maybe give them a little info about yourself.. aka what you like to do etc.

Welcome Back Loco Lopez!

In response to dlopez's comment. No kidding these people in these countries are going to try to rip tourists off. The reason? there are lots of STUPID tourists out there. It only takes a little bit of common sense to figure out what something should cost. If you have any brain, think of how much it would cost you in your home country for product or service x before handing your $ over. Hmm...If you can get it cheaper than what you could at home, then you got a good deal. Remember these people have to make something too. They see tourists as GOLDMINES, and ya if I lived in one of those countries, I would try to squeeze as much $ out of stupid tourists as well.

As for the baggage thing? Would you pay $10USD or $20USD in and industrialized country? Here is a line that works wonders. Be stern and point, " Don't touch my bag, I am a healthy boy/girl, I can carry it myself- goodby " Sometimes you have to be bit of an ass. Your will figure out really quick that "Nice tourists" get taken for a big ride.

Another tip- Walk out of the airport for transportation and accomodation. It is WAY cheaper. The airport even rips you off. When traveling to deveoping nations, don't worry there will be TONNES of eager vultures waiting to scam you out side...what that luggage and your pockets and don't get robbed :)