You get the most out of a trip if you know a couple of things before you hit the ground in a new country – duh. Don’t get me wrong, my favourite trips are the ones with the least planning and greatest spontaneity. I like travelling without a guidebook and having to ask people who I should do, and I love being on the road and not quite knowing where I’ll end up at the end of the day. But just to prevent yourself feeling like a idiot while you figure out the lay of the land, it’s handy to know a few things that can get you started and help you along the way.
While being able to sail or lead a group rock climbing might help win some friends and make the trip a touch more interesting, here are the five key things I think you should know before starting off your adventure:
Current exchange rate and what some simple goods (cheap meal, t-shirt, bottle of water, etc) should cost.
How to say at least a few key things – like hello, goodbye, please, and thank you – in the local language
Popular local scams. From the steps of Sacre Coeur in Paris to the Royal Palace in Bangkok, I’ve had scammers try their moves on me, and being aware of the popular local tricks helped me avoid them.
Visa policies for neighbouring countries. You never know where the road may take you, so it’s good to be ready.
The cheapest way to get to and from the airport (or train station). You could end up paying tons for a taxi into town, or wait a little while for a cheap bus. Choice is yours.
Other than that, I say let curiosity fuelled by polite ignorance be your guide.
If watching this doesn’t scare you off of backcountry skiing for a little while then I don’t know what will. I love cruising around off-piste, but damned if I don’t get myself the best avalanche gear money can buy before I get any more adventurous than I am right now.
This was a decent sized avalanche. 1,500 feet the dude fell in a little over 20 seconds. The crown was about 1 – 1.5m. The chute that he got sucked through to the skier’s right was flanked on either side by cliff bands that were about 30m tall. He luckily didn’t break any bones and obviously didn’t hit anything on the run out.
1,500 feet in 20 seconds? Damn. Read the rest of the description for a bit of background on how he got into the situation and a more words of caution on skiing in avalanche zones.
How good is the Shake Shack (a famous New York fast food joint in Madison Square Park)? I don’t know. Not a clue. But, I can tell you that it is massively popular. In fact, I think it’s too popular. The picture above is a bit of the line (I couldn’t fit the whole line in the frame) at 1:30 PM on Saturday. In the time I watched, the line was moving at a rate of about one person getting served every minute. At that rate people near the back of the line would be waiting for the better part of an hour. For a burger.
Unless you are on the burger pilgrimage, this sort of dedication to a simple food product is baffling. Sometimes when you’re traveling, your need to realise that even though something is a tourist destination, that doesn’t mean it should be the be all end all of your trip. If you go to the Louvre, you don’t have to spend hours queuing to see the Mona Lisa. Trust me, it’s smaller than you think and there is plenty of other great art to see without crowds of people jostling for a better position. Same goes for the Shake Shack. I’m sure it’s good, but I bet you can find a burger that’s just as good, if not better, without the wait. Just because something is famous and a tourist destination, doesn’t mean that you have to see it. Reach out and find the next big thing. Odds are you’ll spend less time in line and more time enjoying where you are.
While the trend in Europe is towards disappearing boarders (yay Schengun!) the US and Mexico went the opposite direction on the first of this month:
Beginning June 1, 2009 U.S. citizens entering the United States at sea or land ports of entry are required to have documents that comply with the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), most commonly a U.S. passport, a passport card, a trusted traveler card such as NEXUS, SENTRI or FAST, or an enhanced driver’s license. See the complete list of WHTI-compliant documents.
On the upside hopefully that means more Americans will be getting passports and will then be encouraged to travel further afield. On the downside, it bet it means that fewer Americans will visit Mexico, and when there is less cultural interaction, everyone loses. Too bad.
It’s spring time! Today is spring equinox in the northern hemisphere. I’m excited. I enjoy winter, the skiing, snowball fights, the mulled wine, but I love springtime. Those first warm days when everyone is outside and everyone is a friend and you’re blinded by the half-frozen pasty girls laying out in bikinis.
I hope that everyone can get out and about in the coming days. For my part I’m going to grab my bike and see what trouble I can get into this weekend.
Photo: People taking a lunch break in a park near my office earlier this week.
