10 Handy Travel Tips
So after being apart for a whole year, we decided we should travel the states together- so we did. It all seemed like a distant dream when we began to briefly plan our trip in our flat in Manchester a year ago, but the time soon came around quick enough, and off we went starting on the East Coast and heading West.
1. Don’t overplan!
We both agree that you should never
have a solid plan of what to do when travelling, you should definitely just go
with the flow and see where travelling takes you. We changed our schedule about
20 times in total with no exaggeration and nearly even ended up staying in
Canada longer with some people we actually met on the plane! This made our trip
so much more fun; imagine bumping into some cool people in a hotel
and actually being able to stick around with them for a few more destinations!
2. Use your accent!
Its
more than likely you’ll be in a country or even a different state, or city,
where people will notice your accent. This definitely needs to be used to
your advantage! We got countless free things because of it, and the fact people
were genuinely interested in where you were from and a bit about you. This is
not just exclusive to free drinks either, we even had access to private boxes
in a Red Sox game and a lovely woman bought us dinner!
more than likely you’ll be in a country or even a different state, or city,
where people will notice your accent. This definitely needs to be used to
your advantage! We got countless free things because of it, and the fact people
were genuinely interested in where you were from and a bit about you. This is
not just exclusive to free drinks either, we even had access to private boxes
in a Red Sox game and a lovely woman bought us dinner!
3. In hot places wear sun
cream- even when cloudy!
cream- even when cloudy!
Having
being all over the states we thought we had adapted
quite well to the ever-changing weather we encountered. However EXTREME sun and
windburn (damn you Jersey Shore beach with your deceptively sunny weather) + sitting on buses for 12 hours do not go together at all! Take it from the
expert lobsters over here! Who knew you could burn so badly when it was cloudy
outside!
being all over the states we thought we had adapted
quite well to the ever-changing weather we encountered. However EXTREME sun and
windburn (damn you Jersey Shore beach with your deceptively sunny weather) + sitting on buses for 12 hours do not go together at all! Take it from the
expert lobsters over here! Who knew you could burn so badly when it was cloudy
outside!
4. Take a bigger bag/suitcase
We
both tried to embrace the travelling lifestyle with small bags and limited
clothing- but as two girls who never travel light this was a struggle! By our
third destination we both bought a bigger suitcase, which by the end it had
ripped because it was also over full! We advise always taking a bigger bag than
what you need. Believe me, with souvenirs (we have a spending problem) and bits
and pieces you’ll pick up on your way you wont regret it!
both tried to embrace the travelling lifestyle with small bags and limited
clothing- but as two girls who never travel light this was a struggle! By our
third destination we both bought a bigger suitcase, which by the end it had
ripped because it was also over full! We advise always taking a bigger bag than
what you need. Believe me, with souvenirs (we have a spending problem) and bits
and pieces you’ll pick up on your way you wont regret it!
 |
| Mrs Potato Head AKA us! |
5. Pack sensibly
Having just mentioned our baggage
struggle, we realised we spent more time buying new COMFY clothes than we did
wearing our original clothes (Asha packed 3 pairs of heels and probably wore
one pair for one night). We advise packing sensibly with more comfy clothes and ALOT of underwear- travelling essentials, we definitely regretted having enough bikinis to supply the entire Santa Monica beach.
struggle, we realised we spent more time buying new COMFY clothes than we did
wearing our original clothes (Asha packed 3 pairs of heels and probably wore
one pair for one night). We advise packing sensibly with more comfy clothes and ALOT of underwear- travelling essentials, we definitely regretted having enough bikinis to supply the entire Santa Monica beach.
6. Plan a few rest days
Initially we thought of travelling as an 8 week long holiday, but by
the time we had travelled for two weeks we were drained and exhausted!
Travelling is hard and moving from place to place so frequently is tiring. We
soon realised we needed to just chill for a day or two between destination
hopping, so we picked hotels based on how nice their pool was, so we could spend a couple of
days by the pool to recuperate.
the time we had travelled for two weeks we were drained and exhausted!
Travelling is hard and moving from place to place so frequently is tiring. We
soon realised we needed to just chill for a day or two between destination
hopping, so we picked hotels based on how nice their pool was, so we could spend a couple of
days by the pool to recuperate.
7.
Budget, budget, budget
Budget, budget, budget
I’ll
tell you, you can spend a thousand dollars in less than a week. We can. After
living like royalty for the first week, eating grand meals and having
several glasses of wine whenever we felt like it only in the finest
establishments, we found ourselves skating on the poorer side. After this we
started to budget, which allowed to us to have fun but more consciously with
money; and we both agree that if we had budgeted from the start we could have
had more money through the whole trip.
tell you, you can spend a thousand dollars in less than a week. We can. After
living like royalty for the first week, eating grand meals and having
several glasses of wine whenever we felt like it only in the finest
establishments, we found ourselves skating on the poorer side. After this we
started to budget, which allowed to us to have fun but more consciously with
money; and we both agree that if we had budgeted from the start we could have
had more money through the whole trip.
8.
Keep a diary!
Keep a diary!
If
you are travelling for a long time each city/state/or whatever sort of all
blurs into one, and you forget some of the small but hilarious experiences you
have! We’d suggest keeping a brief diary or even a picture diary- we both did this in our own way by using Instagram and our ever so creative hashtag ♯SAMANDASHATAKETHESTATES for us both to kind of keep track of
what we were doing (plus we thought it was cute)!
you are travelling for a long time each city/state/or whatever sort of all
blurs into one, and you forget some of the small but hilarious experiences you
have! We’d suggest keeping a brief diary or even a picture diary- we both did this in our own way by using Instagram and our ever so creative hashtag ♯SAMANDASHATAKETHESTATES for us both to kind of keep track of
what we were doing (plus we thought it was cute)!
9. Take A LOT of photos
When
you get home and are feeling depressed and your amazing trip feels like a
lifetime away, you’ll feel better being able to look back at these memories. Trust
us! (I am in this depressed stage now and printing off a million pictures we
took to block out reality is quite helpful- Sam)
you get home and are feeling depressed and your amazing trip feels like a
lifetime away, you’ll feel better being able to look back at these memories. Trust
us! (I am in this depressed stage now and printing off a million pictures we
took to block out reality is quite helpful- Sam)
10. Anddddd finally- Enjoy EVERY second
Travelling is amazing! But it has its ups and downs! But just
laugh everything off and enjoy it all, not everything in life is perfect and it
makes for good stories afterwards I assure you.
laugh everything off and enjoy it all, not everything in life is perfect and it
makes for good stories afterwards I assure you.
For instance our car got
towed in LA less than 24hours after we rented it (Could have cried for a good 5
minutes- until it became a hilarious joke that it would only happen to us). But
hey there is always somebody in a worse position- in this case a man who had
his car stolen; he had to travel 6 hours and pay $600 to release the car, even
though it wasn’t his fault.
towed in LA less than 24hours after we rented it (Could have cried for a good 5
minutes- until it became a hilarious joke that it would only happen to us). But
hey there is always somebody in a worse position- in this case a man who had
his car stolen; he had to travel 6 hours and pay $600 to release the car, even
though it wasn’t his fault.
Want more travel posts from our VGB Team? Check out our Wanderlust tab on the blog to check out all the places we’ve visited. Our personal favorite is Bali. Some other travel favorites include Travel 101 / Airport Etiquette / + Travel Disasters.
Learn from us and have fun guys- Sam & Asha xoxo
