Sunday, October 11, 2015

The Five Simple Rules I Follow Each and Every Time I Travel

As you probably know, I am a rule follower. I always drive the speed limit or maybe a bit over. Not 15 mph over like the rest of these crazy Charlotteans, but that's another story.  Once when I was younger, a cashier gave me $20 in change instead of $10 and when I realized it, I actually took the money back to get the correct amount of change. I'm serious, guys. It's bad. At least I can sleep at night though, right?

Anyway, in honor of my trip to Miami later this week {insert sun + margarita emojis}, I also have some basic rules I follow for every trip which I thought I would share with you all.  These tips basically started out as unwritten rules which changed and evolved as I traveled more. I truly believe that these tips are the formula for a successful trip.

Travel Tips
CLT > SEA: Mt. Rainier from 10,000 feet last Summer  
1. If travel is a priority to you, then always keep in mind that you will be back, you don't have to do EVERYTHING in one trip.   I struggle with this one a lot, but have finally embraced this attitude. For example, on our first trip to NYC, we tried to see the Brooklyn Bridge and Statue of Liberty but ran out of time. On our second time through, we made it to the Brooklyn Bridge and finally on our latest trip, we got to see the Statue of Liberty.  

2. No watching TV while traveling. It's a waste of time. Even in the hotel room.

3. When it comes to picking out restaurants, I make reservations on opentable ahead of time or at the very least browse restaurants on yelp and the key here is -- filter by 'most ratings' and/or 'highest rated'. I can't remember the last time I just popped into somewhere without looking it up on yelp first. It just doesn't happen.

4. Plan and schedule out each day -- and overschedule if possible. What I want to avoid is feeling like I don't know what to do next and then I end up wasting time. It's always easier to take things off the schedule as opposed to rushing to find stuff to do. I don't want to feel like I'm missing anything either.  I can be flexible if we don't get to do everything that we planned. 

5.  Stop, take photos and document everything. There are so many times that I have said to myself, oh I wish I stopped and took a photo of this or that. Now I specifically go at a slower pace and don't stress out when I take a few breaks to take photos of things I like.


Do you have any tips or rules that you follow when you travel? 


1 comment:

  1. This is excellent! Such great travel tips. I might make you be in charge of scouting out our dining options in CLT from now on :-D

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