44 little travel rules no one tells you

by Mike Barish on

Here at Gadling, we pride ourselves on sharing the best travel tips and advice with you. And from time to time, someone from outside the Gadling family adds something so fantastic to the travel discourse that we need to feature it. And that’s exactly what travel writer Robert Reid has done. [Full disclosure: Robert is a friend of mine. A talented and well-traveled friend, but a friend nonetheless.] In the latest entry on his blog, Reid on Travel, he shares 44 little travel rules that no one tells you.

At the heart of the post is the sentiment that we should each feel comfortable creating our own experiences. In other words, feel free to put ice in your beer (rule #8). Or proudly sport socks with sandals (rule #28). So long as you are broadening your horizons and being respectful of others, you should be comfortable being you.

Two of Robert’s rules hit particularly close to home for me:

21. Try a couple days without the camera or email.

I tend to over-document my trips. Lately, I have been attempting to get lost in moments and experiences rather than viewing them through an LCD screen. As much as I love to share my pictures with friends, I’m trying to teach myself the value of being in the moment rather than framing it perfectly for an album.

37. Take public transit — a tram (I LOVE trams), subway, ox cart — at least once, even if you don’t need to get where it’s going. So few Americans EVER take one, it’s sad.

I happen to love public transit. So much so, that I even used it in Los Angeles, where cars are considered a necessity (more on that in a future post). You can observe so many slice-of-life moments while on a train or bus that you would otherwise miss in a taxi. If you want to immerse yourself in a culture, public transit can provide you with a window into a place’s real character.

Take a gander at Robert’s full list and feel free to suggest some more travel rules in the comments below. And then plan a trip. Just be sure to get a hat (rule #29).

Photo by flickr user swimparallel.

Indie travel guides – pipe dream or way of the future?

by Leif Pettersen on

With all due respect to my generous client Lonely Planet, without whom I’d still be an obscure, broke, moonshine junkie in a forlorn corner of Romania, guidebook authors wallowing below the Sushi Line are increasingly probing new “Screw the Man” applications for their hard-won expertise – namely their very own online travel guides.

There’s certainly something to be said for a trusted brand name guidebook, but equally independently produced, digital travel guides allow authors to toss in all kinds of wacky content in addition to the usual sights/eating/sleeping content, uncorrupted by editors, guidelines, house styles and meddling lawyers.

A 2,000 word, absurdly detailed walking guide to Tijuana? Why not? A sidebar entitled “Top Ten Curse Words You Should Know Before Attending an Italian Football (Soccer) Match”? Bring it on! Why [insert your least favorite German city] sucks? I’m all ears.

This developing genre was recently augmented by the completion of Robert Reid’s online guide to Vietnam. As Reid rightly points out, the advantages of an independent online travel guide are numerous:

• It’s free – Guidebooks cost $25. Why pay?
• It’s fresher. Unlike a guidebook, turn-around time is immediate.
• You can customize it. The most common complaint guidebook users have is having to tote around 400 pages they’ll never use.
• It’s more direct, personalized. With my site I can ‘tell it like it is’.
• Anyone can talk with the author. [Just] hit ‘contact’.

In addition to this excellent resource, other free sites serving the online travel community include Croatia Traveller, Kabul Caravan, Turkey Travel Planner, Broke-Ass Stewart’s Guide to Living Cheaply in San Francisco, and (cough), the Romania and Moldova Travel Guide (now with extra moonshine).

For the time being, these independent travel guides are usually not money-making ventures (and boy do they take a lot of time to put together!), thus the current scarcity. However, as print media gasps to its inevitable conclusion – one decade, mark my words – the online stage is set for authors to leverage their expertise and provide autonomous, interactive, up-to-the-minute travel information for anyone with an internet connection.