As a resident of Richmond, Virginia, I discovered that cruise ships leave from Norfolk after being refurbished at a shipyard in Newport News. When they leave port, the rooms have been thoroughly cleaned and upgraded. The ships are like new again.
The best part is that you can hop on board and cruise down to the Caribbean. The trips usually come back to Norfolk, so you can save on airfare both ways. For each person that cruises, you can save as much as $200 on airfare.
Many cruise ships offer free lectures and lessons, and they regularly bring aboard one or more specialists to educate guests.
When on my own cruise, my favorite lecturer was the wildlife expert. He spent a week aboard the ship, lecturing once a day or more. During his discussions, he talked about animals native to the ports we were about to visit. His discussions were fun and didn’t feel at all like “school.”
Ultimately, he helped make my shore excursions much more fun. Learning about what I was seeing while ashore made my adventure all the more enjoyable.
Whenever I travel internationally, I always carry a few small gifts from my hometown that other people might be interested in — things like chocolates, pens, dress shirts and basic housewares like vegetable peelers. These kinds of gifts are appreciated in many developing nations.
Even though India, for example, exports many of the clothes we purchase in developed countries, those clothes are not available for sale domestically.
High-quality, everyday items provided to your host family or helpers or service workers will ensure you get a personal touch, and they mean as much or more than a generous tip.
If you’re going abroad, getting local currency from an ATM attached to a bank is cost effective and easy, but the problem is that you only get large bills, and many times the attached bank is not open to exchange for smaller bills.
When traveling, especially in South America and Africa, I have found it helpful to bring American one dollar bills for tips. There’s nothing worse than trying to ask someone who you want to tip to make change.
Dollar bills are almost always greatly appreciated, and are typically very tough to find once you’re abroad.
Counterpoint: Don’t pay in dollars – International travel tip