Feisty Tourist

My travel tip this Tuesday is to leave your guidebook in your hotel room/cabin or give it a book cover.  By following this tip, you’ll avoid appearing to be a typical tourist - or you’ll at least look more like you know where you’re going!  This is good for a couple of reasons:

(1)  You’ll have the opportunity to ask directions from natives instead of whipping out one of those gigantic maps all the time.*
(2)  You’ll miss less of what’s going on because you won’t have your nose buried in your guidebook.
(3)  Because you’re more observant, you’ll be less likely to be a target for pickpockets.

You can purchase guidebook covers, like this nylon one from EverestGear or this stetchable one from the Jungle Store.  In the alternative, you can make your own.

*Yes, you’ll still probably want to carry one of those gigantic maps around unless you’ve been to the place a bunch of times and don’t need a map.  If you want to pull it out, don’t do this in the middle of a street/sidewalk somewhere.  Ideally, you should duck into a bank or shop.  If you don’t have the time or opportunity to do that, at least step to the side of the sidewalk with your back to a building so that you’ll have fewer sides from which someone could approach you.

Bonus tip: Sometimes I like to carry a guidebook for a future trip around, esp. while in an airport, without any cover.  This can lead to fun conversations with strangers who might even give you tips about where you’re going.

Another bonus tip: Check out this post from Journeys Near and Far about swapping your guidebooks.  This blogger has lots of other great travel tips and ideas as well.

Image from ExperiencePlus!.