When researching your trip and recommendations, I believe it is important to understand the approach of the person making those recommendations. There are many different approaches to travel. What may be the ideal way to plan and have a holiday for one person, might be a nightmare for another. With this in mind, I want to share what my general approach is to travel, what I value, and the kind of experiences I’m looking for and my threshold for the unknown, adventure, and just having to sort things out.
Avoiding Tourists and Tour Groups
I do not do group tours. I hate them. In fact, I actively go out of my way to avoid other tourists (especially American tourists), whenever I can. I want to feel like I’m getting more of a real and unique experience than a manufactured one. I’m not afraid of ending up in the countryside in a region where I do not speak the language and no one speaks English. I just trust that I can sort it out, and have cell service to let Google Translate and other translation apps (I’m a big fan of Converse at the moment), do the work for me. That said, I do need to at least be able to read the language. I haven’t done a lot of country-side exploring in China for this reason. If there is no English on the signs, I would be SOL.
My aversion to being places where there are a lot of tourists, means that sometimes I will avoid seeing the main tourist attraction. It just depends on what it is. There is no way the first time I was in Paris or London or Amsterdam I wasn’t going to go to all the main ticket items. I HAD too. But, my true love for each of those cities came when I stopped being a tourist, and just let myself be. When I let myself do what I would do if I wasn’t a tourist; walk around a park, enjoy a long lunch, act like a local and take in the general mood and feel for the city and the people.
My desire to try and get a more authentic experience will (whenever possible) take me to the countryside or somewhere more rural. My itineraries often do not have that much time in the main cities, so that I can get out an actually see the country or place I am visiting.
Experience over Hotel
The amount of money I have to travel is finite. Therefore, I have to choose my priorities. I would rather stay in an Air BnB, Guest House, or local budget hotel than a nice hotel or a major chain. I do not plan on spending any time in the hotel! I demand that the place I am staying be conveniently located, clean, and have wifi. I can sleep on a single or double bed. I don’t need anything fancy. Therefore, the hotels I choose will not be the nicest or the most sought after. I’d rather pay for a nice meal, bottle of wine, or cool experience than a room I will sleep in. This doesn’t mean I don’t ever choose to stay in a nice hotel, but it isn’t something I actively need or want in a holiday.
Transportation
I tend to like to be able to control my schedule, which means if I’m going rural (which I try to do), I rent a car and do not rely on busses or trains. I don’t like driving in big cities, so if at all possible I will train to/from those destinations. I also have a UK and a US driver’s license, so it doesn’t matter to me which side of the road (or car!) I’m driving on.
Because I don’t have as much vacation time from work as I would like, I tend to choose the fastest mode of transportation. I don’t want to spend my time traveling! I want to be at my destination. Therefore, I’m willing to choose a more expensive travel option if it means that I can get from A to B quicker.
You will see that I very rarely list my flights. This is for a couple of reasons. One, I tie in a lot of travel to work or a work trip, so I’m not buying or paying for the flight. Two, because I travel a lot for work, I have airline miles that I can use, so I may not be booking the cheapest flight or the most local airline.
