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Hello friend, I recently wrote an answer to a Quora question.

And the answer did well, so I thought I would share it here.

Here is the exact breakdown of my Quora answer to the question:

What are your top 10 travel tips?

1. Just book the trip

The best travel hack is to book the damn trip. So many people talk about going places, but never actually do. Don’t talk about booking the trip, just bloody book it. Because if you don’t book it now, when will you? I used to be someone who said I would travel to Rome, as I always wanted to go. It took me years to muster up the courage to actually book the trip. Because I had two wrist surgeries, which meant I couldn’t travel anywhere for over a year, this experience really forced me to book a trip to Rome when my wrist healed. And going to Rome was one of my favourite trips I’ve ever been on.

2. Write a list of what you need (the non-negotiables)

If you’re like me, then you have the memory of a goldfish. So I try to make a list of all the non-negotiable items I’ll need and try not to take unnecessary items because they just take up space.

3. Get travel insurance

If bad things can happen, they can happen when you’re away on holiday abroad, so don’t skimp on travel insurance because if you get into a pickle abroad and get sick/injured and need treatment, you can sometimes have to pay thousands for treatment. Getting travel insurance completely dissolves this risk. On my last holiday, my travel insurance cost me £50, which is pennies compared to the price I’d have to pay if I were critically unwell abroad.

4. Go to places you’re generally interested in (don’t feel like you should go to places just because other people go to them)

With Instagram and social media as a whole, we see people going to all sorts of bucket list destinations, but in reality, it doesn’t matter if they’re bucket list destinations or not; all that matters is that you genuinely want to go to those destinations.

5. Wear comfortable shoes

Last year, when I travelled to Rome, I bought and wore new shoes on holiday. Unfortunately, these shoes gave me awful blisters on my feet, which I needed to get seen by a podiatrist. Luckily, my feet are fine now, but make sure that you’ve tested your new shoes before you go on a trip where you will walk a lot (when I was in Rome, some days I walked over 30k steps).

6. Try to get an early flight there and a late one back to maximise time away

This one is self-explanatory; if you’re travelling somewhere you want to make the most of your time, so try and book the early flight on the way there and the late flight on the way back, especially if you’re only going for a few days.

7. Book the sights that you want to see

When I travelled to Rome, I booked to see the Colosseum beforehand, but I didn’t book to see the Vatican, so I had to pay over the odds for a tour around the Vatican while in Rome. Next time I go somewhere, I will book all the main trips beforehand.

8. Leave some room for adventure and spontaneity

Don’t forget that when you travel, it should be an adventure. Go on a trip down an interesting neighbourhood, live like the locals, and try to learn some of the language. Learning about other cultures helps us learn about ourselves because we can always take things away from how other people live.

9. Don’t live like you normally would

You’re away from home. If you wanted to live as you did at home, why didn’t you just stay there?

10. Get up early

Again, this is self-explanatory. What’s the point of travelling to foreign lands if you’re going to sleep in and waste most of your day?

Here is a picture I took while I was in Rome from the Castel Sant’Angelo.

One final point on how travelling boosts confidence

I found that after my first solo holiday, I grew in confidence massively. I think it was because I very much relied on other people to plan the logistics of holidays and trips, but on this occasion, I had to do it myself, and it was actually really easy. It made me realise I’m capable of a lot more than I think if I’m just willing to try. 

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