So, you’ve built up the courage to travel somewhere new, whether it be domestic or international. This means new experiences and new things to see, but things don’t always work out exactly the way you think. You planned your entire trip with where you’re staying, sights you’ll see, places you’ll eat, etc; but none of these places were as you expected. Here are some helpful hints for traveling and making the best out of every experience, no matter what.
- Hotels and Places to Stay
Hotels, AirBnBs, hostels, and more are all different options for your traveling experience. Each place has benefits. Hotels are cleaned daily and are usually much classier, AirBnBs are normally fairly priced and puts you directly into the society you’re in, and hostels are normally the cheapest options and allow you to meet new people. These places also have their negatives as well. Hotels can be pricey, AirBnBs can be unclean and outside of city centers depending on the price, and hostels can be dirty as well and you have to share the room with complete strangers! But, to each their own choice.
Before booking a place to stay, look at all the different options. Choose the one that best fits in your price range, but also pay close attention to reviews and pictures. These can give you a good idea of what it’s like in the location you’ve chosen.
But what happens when you arrive at your destination and the place you’ve chosen to stay doesn’t look anything like the pictures and doesn’t have any of the qualities the reviews claim it had? This is very common in traveling, so don’t worry immediately. Richard Johnson, an associate at the University of Buffalo, recently traveled to Thailand where he had a “catfish” experience with his hotel.
“My friends and family told me about this wonderful hotel right on the beach, perfect for a short stay and cultural experience. But when I got there, the floor was covered with dirt, bugs crawled everywhere, and the room had obviously not been cleaned. I was disgusted and booked the next flight to Australia [his final destination]. The hotel completely ruined my experience in Thailand.”
If you feel as though you have been “catfished” by your hotel, don’t let it ruin your trip. Contact the manager of the hotel, the owner of the Airbnb, or the manager in charge of the hostel and let them know about your concerns and complaints. There might be something that they can do to make your time at their place more enjoyable. If they’re not contactable or are unable to help, there are normally other options of places to stay in popular destinations. If you had chosen a hotel, maybe look into an Airbnb or hostel, especially because these places are good with last minute bookings. If worse comes to worse; your place to stay isn’t up to your standards and there are no other options for you, you’re going to have to stick it out. Make up for your hotel experience with cultural experiences; visiting different locations, trying new foods, and immersing yourself into the culture. You might end up completely forgetting about your terrible stay!
- Visiting Popular Locations
One of the most important things to do while traveling is to research before you go about the different places that you can visit and different things to do once you have arrived at your destination. The “Lonely Planet” books are really good to help you with this research. Each book deals with a specific country or region of the world and includes information about each city; so even if you are backpacking around a country or continent or just a city, all the information you need can be found in one book. It will list all the locations to visit, places to eat, tours you can join, and more; including information on pricing, hours of operation, and days that these places might be closed if they are. Easy right?
Before you depart on your journey lay out a loose plan of what you will do each day while you are there,that way you get to see and do everything you want to! This will help guide you throughout your trip and fit everything in.
But what happens when that plan doesn’t work out? Sometimes you could arrive at a destination and the hours the book told you were wrong, or the prices to enter were incorrect, or even the days that they are open are wrong. This can put a huge hole in your plan and completely disrupt all the research that you put in your trip. You were “catfished” by the travel books!
Not to worry. One of the most important things to keep in mind while traveling is to be flexible. Things don’t always work out exactly the way you plan them too, but new opportunities can arise and new places to explore can be found. Don’t be afraid to stray from your original plan if you find some aspect of the place you’re visiting super interesting. You’re bound to enjoy yourself more if you do the things that interest you while traveling, instead of sticking to a premade schedule.
- Food
Eating while traveling can be pleasant or it can be horrifying. Some cultures are very well known for their food; France has great cheese and wine, Germany has great sausage, and Italy has the best pasta. While other cultures are not, such as England; and this sometimes can scare people. While traveling and eating, it is important to remember that each cultures has a different approach to food and not to be scared of that. Try everything that you can, you might end up loving it. Even if you don’t, you can still say you tried it. I’ve tried escargot three different times, and I’ve hated it every time; but it’s the experience that matters, not the food.
Eating in a country that doesn’t speak the same language as you can be difficult. Sometimes you have to rely on pictures to tell what certain foods are, or point to pictures while ordering to show the server what you would like. Even then, the food doesn’t always look the way it looks in the pictures when it is placed in front of you. You’ve been “catfished” by a restaurant.
Don’t just decide to not try it because you think you won’t like it, you never know until you try it. Even the most unappetizing things can be delicious and change your entire outlook on the food culture of that place. I ordered vegetable spring rolls when I was visiting/staying in Beijing, China, but the waiter brought me shrimp spring rolls due to a communication barrier. I didn’t know enough Chinese to send them back and correct them, but I don’t eat seafood because it grosses me out. But even as a young child, I endured and tried the shrimp spring rolls, which I ended up enjoying. It definitely wasn’t my favorite food experience when traveling, but it also wasn’t the worst. I still prefer vegetable spring rolls, but again, it’s the experience that matters, not the food.
My best advice about food, try anything and everything. Be cautious about the cooking methods in countries that are not well known for hygiene, but try everything you feel comfortable to. It will make your traveling experience much more interesting.
No matter what type of “catfishing” you experience during your trip, the most important part is to cherish every experience, and try to find the best in tricky situations. There are always opportunities to turn your trip around, so keep an eye out. Good luck on your journey, adventure is out there.
