If you’ve never traveled before, you might be nervous about taking your first trip. That’s understandable, but you don’t want these nerves to get in the way of enjoying yourself. That’s why it’s wise to research as much as possible and to get as much information as you can before you head away from home.
To help you, this article contains some useful tips to ensure you have a great trip and don’t miss out on any fantastic experiences as a fresh-faced traveler.
- Don’t Follow Your Guidebook
Perhaps having a guidebook in your backpack will make you feel a little more comfortable when you arrive somewhere new, and it will certainly have useful information in it. However, if you follow it too closely, you’ll miss out on some of the exciting things these books don’t mention.
Imagine you visit Seattle, for example. You’ll already know you want Space Needle tickets, and you won’t need your guidebook to tell you that. So, once you’ve seen the iconic Space Needle, you can then put the book away and see where you end up. Ask cab drivers to take you to interesting places or speak to local residents about what they would recommend that tourists don’t normally get to see. In this way, you’ll experience so much more, and it will make your trip memorable.
- Slow Down
Another useful tip for new travelers is to slow down. It’s understandable that you’ll be excited about seeing a new place for the first time, and there’s a lot you’re going to want to do. However, if you don’t slow down and take things in, your trip will be all about ticking things off a must-see list and not really experiencing anything at all.
Remember that it’s better to see a smaller number of attractions to truly appreciate them rather than to try and cram everything in and just glimpse things on a whistle-stop tour. The exception would be if you are on a once-in-a-lifetime kind of trip and you know you won’t be coming back again – in that case, you might have to speed up, but always try to take your time when possible, even if it’s not something you can do all the time.
- Experiment With New Things
If you want to make the most of your time away from home when traveling, it’s important to be open to new things and say yes to opportunities when they are presented to you. Of course, if you know you wouldn’t enjoy something, or it doesn’t fit with your plans, you don’t have to say yes, but if you’ve never done it before, it’s safe, and your plans are flexible enough to accommodate whatever it is, try it.
Even if you don’t enjoy whatever activity it is or the place you’re going to, you can still say you tried, and that’s important. It will give you a new understanding of yourself, at least, and it might open your eyes to a number of new ideas that you had never thought of before.
Suggested Reads:
15 Best Things To Do In Seattle On Your Vacation
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