My Top Tips To Get The Most Out Of Every Trip

Use these simple tips to enjoy a less stressful and more memorable vacation every time!

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Looking for the best smart travel tips? You have come to the right place!

Traveling makes my heart skip a beat! I love to explore new places, meet new people and experience all that a destination has to offer.

As much as I love traveling now, I did have had to learn some things the hard way. Luckily, from each experience I have taken that information and used it to make my future travels better.

Now, because I care about all of you, I want you to always have a GREAT time! That is why I gathered my favorite travel tips to share.

As you may have guessed, many of the travel tips are about planning. I believe taking a small amount of time to prepare can really help reduce stress immensely.

With that said, let’s get right to it…

7 Smart Travel Tips For Every Trip:

1. Pack Smart

Pack what you need. Need being the key word!

Packing too much really can just weigh you down. It is more to worry about, keep track of, and carry.

Efficiency is all about packing pieces that can be easily mixed and matched. Classic, comfortable pieces help to keep you looking and feeling great. Keep in mind that layering is your friend, especially when weather can vary in the destination. I recommend sticking with neural color tops and bottoms, then adding in a colorful scarves or accessories.

How do you know if you have packed too much? I think the easiest rule to live by for this travel tip is: Everyone in your group should be able to carry all of what they pack. The only exception to this rule being children under the age of 10.

That means you should only pack what you can move yourself. Essentially, if you aren’t able to lift a bag yourself, it might be time to consider getting smaller luggage that is more manageable. Whenever possible, sticking with one piece of luggage and one carryon bag is the ideal amount.

2. Plan For The Unexpected

We all know the saying: “Hope for the best, plan for the worst”. This is an incredibly important saying to live by when traveling as there are so many things out of your control.

Some easy ways to plan for the unexpected are to:

• Purchase Travel Insurance to cover you in case of medical or other emergencies.
• Pack a variety of medications in case of illness.
• Check to make sure your emergency medications such as inhalers and epinephrine autoinjectors are not expired.
• Carry allergy-friendly snacks/meal replacements in case you’re not able to find food to meet your needs.
• Download these apps so you can be more prepared to know the allergy forecast, communicate with the locals, and even get help in an emergency.
• Pack an extra outfit in your carryon bag in case of an accident or lost luggage.
• Keep thieves away with my travel tips on How To Protect Yourself From Pickpockets When Traveling

3. Create A Food Plan

This is my most important travel tip to reduce stress for fellow travelers with food allergies. If you wouldn’t go on a trip without booking a hotel, then you shouldn’t go on a trip without creating a food plan.

A food plan helps to protect you from ending up in a foreign country or city without safe options. It does take a bit of work and preparation, but from experience I can tell you it is absolutely worth it!

Writing out a food plan entails planning for places to eat for each day by grouping the restaurant option with the planned activities.

I love that it can reduce my stress and increase my enjoyment of traveling as it allows me to try new restaurants along the way. Most importantly though, it guards against making impulsive eating decisions that could be life-threatening.

If you’re unsure where to start – I make it easy! Just click the link to learn How To Create An Allergy-Friendly Eating Plan When Traveling.

4. Start With A Walking Tour

As soon as I get to a new city, I like to go on a walking tour. The best part is that in almost all cases, the walking tours are FREE!

Yup, you read that right. Many cities around the world offer free walking tours. These tours have been some of the most fun and informational I have ever been on!

They usually work by having you meet the guide at a central point in the city. From there you walk and see various sights and hear a brief overview of the history of that city.

I find the walking tours help me get acquainted with the city and give me a taste of what is available. If I only had one day in a city, this would be the thing I would choose to do. Often when I have more than one day in a city, I choose things that piqued my interest during the walking tour and head back to learn more.

I also love planning them for when I first arrive in a new city. It can be so nice to stretch your legs after a long day of plane or train travel! I find walking around is also a good way to get fresh air and sunlight to help me get over jet lag more quickly.

With all that talk of “free”, I feel there is something else I should mention: The tour itself may be free, but the tour guides get paid based on your tips. Keep that in mind especially if you’re planning to go to a walking tour immediately after arriving. You’ll want to remember to stop at an ATM and grab some cash so you wont be caught off guard!

5. Book Tours In Advance

There is so much to keep track of when you’re traveling. That is why booking tours in advance is one of my favorite ways to reduce stress.

I like knowing in advance what I have on the schedule for that day. It helps me make sure I don’t miss any must-see items on my list.

Plus, tours are so great because for a little while I can pass all the responsibility to someone else to entertain me. Just show up and enjoy learning while soaking up the experience.

I book my tours in advance online through this website. Personally, I use them for every trip! They really have been great for tours all over the world. One of the best parts is being able to read reviews from other travelers. Doing that seems to help give me a clear idea of what to expect.

A really great part of booking tours in advance when you have food allergies is that you can communicate with the tour operator. Especially when a tour includes lunch or other food. You will often want to email the company in advance to tell them about your allergies. I found it is the best way to know if they will be able to accommodate me. If they cannot then it is time to select a different option.

6. Hop-on Hop-off Tours Are A Lifesaver

If you haven’t tried hop-on hop-off tours, you have been missing out! Of all my travel tips, this one might be the best for saving money.

Hop-on hop-off tours of the city are usually on buses or boats. Essentially, you purchase a ticket, they give you a headset and a map, and you’re off. These buses are set up to stop at major destinations around a city on a set time schedule. While you ride the bus, they have headsets available for the audio tour. All you do is listen and they tell you about what you’re seeing from your seat.

Once you get to a stop that looks interesting you can hop-off and check it out. Once you’re done you head back to the stop, wait for the next bus and hop-on. Many even have multiple routes in the same city to show you different sights on each.

I love these buses for a variety of reasons. One of the major ones being that it simplifies your life. You don’t have to worry about navigating your way through the streets to find each destination on your own! The audio tour also tells you more about the city and sights you might not have time to stop and see.

Unlike the walking tour, the hop-on hop-off buses offer a much larger route of the city and a different way to experience it. They are great for farther out sights that would otherwise be difficult to get to. I especially enjoy hopping on them on rainy days so I can get a tour without feeling pressure to get off.

I always purchase tickets for these tours in advance online. That’s because they almost never require you to select a specific day to use it. When you get on the bus at the first stop, they will scan the ticket. That is when that day’s ticket (often good for up to 24 hours) starts counting down.

7. Pace Yourself

Please, whatever you do, don’t plan too much! You may have noticed I mention this over and over in my itineraries. That is because it is REALLY important.

Now you might be thinking, “but Tessa, you just told me to plan all my tours in advance!”. Yes, I did, but let me explain.

While I do recommend you plan tours in advance, I also know that more isn’t always more. That is why pacing yourself is so important.

So, how much should you plan for each day? Obviously, it is a personal choice based on how you like to travel.

With that in mind, here is my opinion on the topic:

I suggest booking in advance an average of a half day of tours for each day you are traveling. I consider a half day in travel time to be roughly 4 hours. That means, if you do plan a full day tour, try to leave one full day open. The one exception to that rule would be the hop-on hop-off tours mentioned. Those are a great way to fill those “open” times.

That does not mean I am saying you should do NOTHING for the other half of the day. Quite the contrary, I want you to have the day open to explore as you see fit!

From my experience, you don’t always know all the things that might be interesting to you before you go. That is why I believe leaving that time unscheduled creates space to actually add in more things that might have otherwise been missed if the day was too booked up.

I also like there to be some breathing room between activities. I find it helps me to spend more time being in the moment. You see, in our daily lives we get into a routine of going from one thing to the next. When we travel, we should take time to “stop and smell the roses”, take it all in, and really savor the experience.

Conclusion

I hope you can take some of these travel tips and apply them to make your own future trips even better. I believe if you follow these tips, you will have more fun and less stress. They really can make your life easier! Having the right plan means you ultimately have less things to worry about each day. It is a way to ensure your trip can feel energizing instead of draining.

Do you already use any of these travel tips, or is there one you want to try? What else would you add to the list? I want to hear from you!

My Travel Must-Haves: