Leavelivelove - 14 tips to don't do anything stupid on travel (that's better)

Travelling is an adventure, but take some time to think about it: it doesn’t mean you can afford everything or do stupid things!

There are bound to be some amazing situations that every traveller has to go through. When they end well, we remember them over a drink and laugh. Being subjected to the vagaries of a foreign country whose language you don’t speak is a source of exchanges, experiences and beautiful encounters. But frankly, it is better not to do anything stupid, annoying or disorganised that will lead you to the hospital, prison or cemetery.

What does “nothing stupid” mean?

Here is an anthology of shocking, lamentable or silly situations that have particularly marked me. My number one rule here is to tell only the truth, the whole truth. It applies particularly to this theme.
Is it useful to point out that everything that follows is the result of real facts, seen and heard during my explorations or simply from my own experiences?

1 – Organise a minium so that you are always ready, like the scouts!

“Ou-la-la-la-la-la-la, I’ve lost my passport, my wallet, my bus ticket, my smartphone…“. Departure is in 15 minutes.
When travelling, it is important to be well organised. Being a victim of your own disorder, your own inconsequence (and annoying others also) is stupid!

2 – Don’t get into trouble with the locals thinking you can do anything you want

You are neither “at home“, which is why you are travelling, nor in conquered territory. If the country seems to you “too cooool, we do what we want here“, well, it is rarely true. The sweetest, most peaceful, most zen countries are home to inhabitants who are very attached to their traditions. Even if they seem absurd, delirious or stupid to you, respect them. On a trip, you are no more excusable if you act out of ignorance, even without the will to harm or mock. Thinking you can do what you want out of your country is stupid!

3 – Respect the habits and customs of the country

If you deliberately act because “‘they’re too dumb here with their prayers or salamaleks‘, that falls under the previous rule (and stay home, it’s better). Ask the locals or other travellers about the do’s and don’ts of travelling. Being chased out of the village with stones because the sacred statue has been touched, wandering around Cairo in a miniskirt and then complaining about being harassed, openly criticizing religion, the political regime, appearing front of Buddha naked, mocking and hilare, is useless, offensive and stupid!

4 – Only try what you feel you can do and always have a fallback solution

Try only what you feel you can (really) do. You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. If you feel hesitant about going on a trek for a few days at high altitude or with a steep gradient when you have never done one before, it is much wiser to give up or opt for a day trek.

If you still want to try the adventure, make sure you can come back anytime, stop along the way if you get tired and walk at your own pace.

Rushing off on a journey to impress everyone on the mode “i’ll get it” and end up injured, lost, exhausted or crippled, going into the jungle all alone because you’ve been told “too easy” and getting lost (even more easy), that’s stupid!

5 – Always have a plan B and know the country a minimum

Not all countries are as organised as in Europe. Trains blocked for 5 hours on the track, random departures, broken down buses… the journey doesn’t always go as you want it to! It’s better to be prepared to change your itinerary (but is having an itinerary reasonable?) or ready to change your plan.

A good travel book or research on the web to find out where you’re going to land will help you to react well to all situations. Because venturing into a region where you don’t even know the geography, means of transport, weather or climate is stupid!

6 – Charging your batteries before leaving

Charging your batteries well if you rely on your smartphone to find your way back home is really important when travelling. Finding your hotel without GPS, that wonderful technology, located in a street with an unpronounceable name in a city wide as Shanghai, surrounded by people who don’t speak your language, is really not a good idea. Just like being unable to make an emergency call because the phone is flat, it’s stupid!

7 – Ask for advice from those who already know your travel destination

Gatter information from travellers who know the country, the city. Don’t be satisfied with just one recommendation and reap the benefits of advice. Your experience of travel will enable you to distinguish between “too cool!” and exaggerated “rat holes“.

8 – Leaving well equipped is better!

Go on an adventure with good shoes, a good jacket, a fleece jumper and solid walking trousers, that’s the minimum!

The Himalayas in flip-flops, the glaciers in shorts, the jungle in Crocs, on a trip you can see everything.

What if you left with well-fitting shoes and the essential wardrobe for the trip? Because to find yourself with bloody feet at an altitude of 5000 metres and to be forced to go back down on the back of a mule because of unsuitable shoes is stupid!

9 – Having a good first aid kit

A small wound in a hot and humid climate can sometimes have serious consequences and this also applies to food poisoning. It is essential to have a minimum of medical supplies when travelling. Suffering martyrdom because of a long-lasting tourista or wounds that become dangerously infected because you haven’t made room for a minimalist but essential first aid kit is stupid!

Once upon a time, a very unpleasant wound

He rolls up his sleeve and discovers an oozing and inflamed wound.
Me: “It’s been like this for a long time? “
Him: “Uh, about a week“
Me: “Bandage, antibiotic cream, antiseptic? “
Him: “No, I’m waiting for it to pass“
We (dismayed): “…”
We are in Cambodia. The story ends at the hospital. General anaesthesia, scalpel operation, sutures, high dose antibiotics to stop a galloping septicaemia… and all this to pay cash!

Seriously? Yes, it’s true!
In many countries pharmacies are very well stocked and you will find products from renowned laboratories. Antibiotic creams are delivered without a prescription and are not expensive at all: gauze + plaster + Fucidine = 36 Egyptian pounds or 2.03€.

10 – Knowing how to say NO

In dubious situations, escaping is sometimes salutary, even if it means looking like a old bachelor. On a trip you constantly meet new people you know nothing about (who have may not read this article) and who are ready to take you into very bad situations.

Landing in the middle of a fight at 2.00 am, dragged along by a noisy, thieving, violent and alcoholic Englishman, having to pay his beers under the threat of the barman, taking him to the hospital because he wants to fight with the security service… and having his mobile phone and wallet stolen as a bonus, it’s stupid!

11 – Trust your instinct (and listen to it)

How many times, when the damage has been done, have you said “I knew it, I was sure, I didn’t feel it that time“?

Your intuition, your travel instinct are your allies! Pay attention to the little voice, make room for your “shoulder angel”! To be robbed because you didn’t listen to it is a shame and afterwards it’s especially stupid!

12 – Know how to keep a low profile when you’ve been ripped off

When travelling, it is sometimes better to say nothing and keep a smile on your face than to make a scandal for 2 euros and end up with the Vietnamese mafia chasing you! The game is often not worth, not knowing how to stop in time before the situation becomes explosive and irreversible, it’s stupid!

13 – Tell your mind, be trustworthy, have an irreproachable attitude

Inspire confidence and thoughtfulness by behaving elegantly, so that the trip goes smoothly, this is essential. It is an attitude that will bring many solutions to your worries by calling on the benevolence of those around you.
One downside however, for obvious reasons, I lie like a tooth puller when I say that I am married and that my chosen one is waiting for me 100m away… But this is the exception.
To say lies, to try to swindle, manipulate or to steal (locals or other travellers), that can create real problems and… it’s stupid!

The palm for stupidity: using drugs means a 99.9% chance of getting into trouble

The tabloids are full of stories of girls and boys travelling to exotic jails or being reduced to vegetables for having tasted local drugs.
The point here is not to discuss drug use, but the consequences of possessing/consuming/selling drugs in countries that are far less complacent than France in terms of sanctions. For a few grams of YABA, spending the next twenty years in the shade of a prison or life or in a psychiatric asylum rather than in the shade of coconut trees as originally planned, is really, really, the height of stupidity!

Don't forget to pack some common sense and anticipation in your bag and have a nice trip!

Is it necessary to take out insurance for long-distance travel?

In your own country, it’s already no fun to break a leg or get sick, so in the middle of Guatemala or Zambia, that’s even more dangerous!
Is it necessary to take an insurance to go far and long on the roads of the world?

2 thoughts on “When travelling, don’t do anything stupid!”

Beth wilters

19 December 2022 at 21 h 51 min

oh my god, I don’t know how I manage to travel successfully. here is how I do stupid things whilst travelling:
– I try to learn languages but I ridiculously struggle, it makes me feel stupid compared to other travellers, I must be learning in a stupid way.
– I struggle to connect with fellow travellers alot of the time due to incompatibility, I guess I do stupid things to make travellers detest me
– I really go hard core with frugality, not realizing that sometimes you need to spend more to have a richer more meaningful travel experience
- Kristin Ka
  
  27 December 2022 at 11 h 39 min
  
  The answer is in your message : “spend more to have a richer more meaningful travel experience” and relax, take it easy and enjoy your trip !