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This is a guest post by Jeff at Sustainable Life Blog as part of the Yakezie Blog Swap. Jeff blogs about finances, sustainability and DIY over at Sustainable Life Blog. You can check out Jeff’s blog today for my post.
There are obviously hundreds of travel tips around: Join loyalty programs, stay with relatives, replace meals with ice cream and caffeine and many, many more.
A lot of those travel tips will be subjective of course and limited by what you’re willing to do and what type of trip you’re interested in having. If you’re on a trip mostly for culinary reasons, a trip about how to get into museums free wont interest you much.
That being said, the best travel tip that I have is walk as much as possible if possible.
If you’re in a larger area with great public transit take it if you like, but I’d prefer to walk.
On my first trip to NYC with then-girlfriend (now fiancee) we walked everywhere. We were able to see some of the most awesome little stores and find amazing restaurants.
We got a deep down feel for the city (though it didn’t matter for her, she used to live there) and saw plenty of things there was to see in the area we were staying in.
Walking also allowed us to save money on cabs or train tickets. There was plenty to do where we stayed and I think we only took the subway 4 times during 3 full days there.
Usually we would get up, pick an area to go to and walk there (or subway if it was too far) and just walk around the area seeing what we could see.
We wandered into lots of stores, coffee shops and corner marts (all free!) that we would have just whooshed by in a cab or on the train. I dont know about you, but I find few things more frustrating than getting home from a nice fun vacation and finding out that I spent the 2nd most money on transportation of one type or another once I reached my destination!
So much for spending money on great food, local attractions and tourist traps, right?
One of the things that we stumbled on while walking was the NY Transit Museum. I’m not too fond of art museums, so this place was right up my alley. Though it was semi difficult to find (it’s underground) it had some of the coolest stuff that I’d seen in a museum in a long time.
Old fare coins, stories of train robbers and 1 of just about every subway car they’ve ever used on the line. Probably one of the most fun museums that I’ve ever been to, and we never would have known it was there if we were not on foot.
Not only were we able to save boatloads of money on cab costs, we got some great exercise too.
Most large cities are planned so that 1 block equals X% of a mile, and in New York it’s 1/10th of a mile = 1 block.
It makes it easy to count how many miles you walk in a day and how far you’ve gone.
Though it’s not always comforting to know that you’ve walked 10 miles in a day visiting places and wandering to find the nearest pizza joint, you can rest easy knowing that your pizza is guilt free!
SB’s thoughts : I think this is a wonderful tip from Jeff. To know the people, smell the weather, taste the food and to get accustomed to the place you are in, walking is the best option. Plan for the walking tours, set time, map the route and start walking. Almost any major city provides a walking tour guide.
While walking, stop on your way, taste local food, talk to the people around you. Notice their way of living, notice their accent, notice their clothes. Travel is an important part of education. Get yourself educated by knowing your destination well, and you can do it the best way when you are walking. Let’s walk!
Readers: What travel tips do you have? Do you walk often on vacation or do you typically go to places that aren’t very pedestrian friendly?
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We are living in Bangkok and I try to walk as much as possible, but sometimes it is difficult with temps pushing 100 and high humidity. That being said, we have found wonderful restaurants and shops when we do suck up the heat and walk. With all the small side alleys Bangkok is a great place for making discoveries like this as long as you can take the heat!
That is great MI – where I live it’s never that warm and it’s not humid at all – though It is taxing to walk in areas like that!
I was born in a city in India called Kolkata (bigger than LA). Its same a Bangkok w.r.t heat and humidity. I can understand what you are saying. Walking in that condition is taxing. But, millions of people do just that.
Millions do it here in Thailand too, including us. The Thais are much more used to it though. My wife typically has little problem with the heat and my daughter seems to bear it better than I do as well. 45 years living in the NE US has made my body better suited to deal with the cold or at least temperature climes. While I sweat profusely 9 months out of the year here I rarely see a Thai person with even a drop of sweat on them even when working outside in 100F temps.
Kolkata is assume is the same as Calcutta? I’ve never been, but I have been to Mumbai, Chennai and Dehli and if Kolkata is similar in size then yes it must be immense.
Yes, Kolkata is same as Calcutta, in fact its the new name. Second largest city if we combine greater Kolkata metropolitan area after Mumbai. Amazingly even though I spent 28 years there, now I sweat profusely when I go there for vacation. I have been in US only for 6 years now.
That is amazing. My wife is Thai and lived in the US for 5 years, but when we got back to Thailand it was as if she never left. And we lived in PA so she was in a pretty cold climate for a good part of the year.
I haven’t had the chance to travel much, but I think this sounds definitely reasonable – when I have been able to travel, we walked everywhere and I felt like I got to see more!
That’s great daisy – keep it in mind!
One tip though, keep at least a few days in hand to cover everything. A quick week end gateway to a big city can’t let you walk, if it’s a first time visit for you.
I walk everywhere. I save thousands doing it too. The only time I don’t walk is if the temp is unbearable in either direction.
That is awesome jai – it’s nice to live in a dense area like that.
We went to Chicago last Thanksgiving and walked everywhere for 2 days. It was a lot of fun, but SO tiring. We probably walked 20+ miles, but saw a TON of Chicago.
I did the same in Minneapolis, MN – one day I covered about 15 miles, and I was beat at the end of the day (It was worth it though)
Believe me we walked from John Hancock to millennium park and to Navy pier. It was less than 5 miles and we were damn tired. 20 miles is a lot!
I walk everywhere when I travel. Its the best way to find hidden gems that arent in the guide books.
Agreed – I couldnt have put it better myself.
I like the walking tip because figuring out public transit in a foreign city can be confusing and time consuming. Rather than wait for the next train, I usually get there quicker by not thinking about it and hoofing it.
I do that a lot too – even though occasionally a train will get me there faster, my inability to want to wait for it usually sends me walking.
This is great advise. I tend to visit cities that are walking friendly… it just makes trade easier. Plus, when you walk around and get lost you ALWAYS have an adventure. I travel frequently and am gearing up for a post on what to do when on academic travel. I’ll be sure to add this post to the list of great suggestions!
You’re right, it does always give you an adventure!
Yes, some cities are not walk friendly, specially at night. I would advice all to do research and read reviews before planning for a night walk.
We tend to walk A LOT when we travel. We have only rented a car once. Saves a lot of money and feels good to walk
Great point – it does save a lot of money!
Yes! I love walking – it’s a perfect way to think, explore, and enjoy your surroundings. We live in a major city in Australia, and each day I walk 3 miles roundtrip to work.
In the past year, I’ve traveled to London, Hong Kong, and Macau. I walked all around those cities too! It’s the best way to find known-only-to-the-locals restaurants and small shops. (As an added bonus, you can then eat whatever you want on holiday and not gain weight!)
that’s a long walk to work – mine is like 3/4 mile.
We walk as much as we can on vacation too. That way we can get a true vibe of the city.
yes exactly what I wrote in my little foot note, as thoughts.
We like to walk in cities too. I think it is because we were brought up in New York city. Last time I was in San Francisco, we took a walking tour of Pacific Heights. It was through the city for no cost, just tips.
I went to SFO a few years back, that time I didn’t have much time on hand. We rented a car. Fisher man’s wharf to Muir Woods, cover ’em all.
We took a couple days to visit Boston, where I was born, for a family vacation several years ago. We walked the Freedom Trail from Boston Commons to the North End. If you haven’t done this one you need to!
I happen to walk on the freedom trail as well. It was great fun.
We do self-guided walking tours in all the new cities we visit. You can find them online at frommers and other sources. Great tip!
Even the local tourism office keeps the map of walking trails. This thanks giving we walked on a portion of Appalachian trail in the smokies. It was great fun.
We walk all over creation on vacation, normally. I love doing that for exactly the reasons mentioned here, plus it also means I can eat whatever I want (and often lose weight) because we’re getting so much exercise. (We can easily log 10-15 miles in a day.)
Walking is a great exercise. Although I hate to admit I don’t walk a lot daily.