10 Biggest Travelling Mistakes (And How to Avoid Making Them)
I tried really hard not to title this one “How not to be an asshole while travelling abroad” but I figured you might not be so inclined to read it. Truth is, it’s easy to inadvertently be a bit of an asshole while travelling. Tourists don’t have the best rep, and there’s a whole host of ‘traveler’ stereotypes that I’ve seen ring true a number of times. Not wanting to tick either of these boxes, I decided it’s worth figuring out how to be a decent human while travelling. Several of these were mistakes I made myself and have since learnt from, and hopefully there’s something useful in here for you too. Whether you have a short trip abroad planned, a gap year, sabbatical or a longer stint of travelling, here are a few useful tips to help you avoid falling into tourist traps, or pissing off the locals.
1) Only speaking English
(Unless you’re visiting an English speaking country, obvs.) It’s crazy how much people appreciate the effort of learning simple phrases in their mother tongue. It’s not that hard and it makes a world of difference in every interaction. Solution? Learn the basics — google a few phrases or get on Duolingo. While you’re at it, it’s worth researching the culture a little; what are the standard ways of greeting people, are there different ways of addressing elders? What are some norms and cultural expectations it would be useful to know about?
2) Habitual spending
This looks like going to the same restaurant every night, or visiting the same coffee shop in the mornings. I get it, you find a place that’s good and it becomes comfortable and easy to just return there again and again. I learnt this one by making this mistake myself. Not only are you missing out on potential new experiences, but you’re funnelling all your money into the same business when you could be diversifying your coin and helping out a few businesses - I learnt this one from a couple on the Annapurna circuit in Nepal who chose to do this on the trail; they would never sleep and eat at the same lodge to make sure they were supporting as many families as they could.
3) Not knowing how to show support for local businesses on low budget
You might not have the money to support every business that looks amazing, especially if you’re travelling on a budget. The good news is you can support in different ways! Leave reviews of local businesses — I did this in Indonesia for a restaurant on Gili Meno, one of the tiny Islands that had recently been affected by earthquakes with a devastating impact on locals who depend on tourism. Every now and then I get a notification from google that my review has been read thousands of times, and hopefully that review has encouraged some people to eat there. You can also tag a business on instagram if they have social media. On the flip side, don’t be the asshole who leaves bad reviews (unless there really was something worth warning people about). Your not-crispy-enough fries or ‘unfriendly’ service (that might just be a cultural difference) is not worth damaging someone’s livelihood over.
4) Buying into big businesses
This is another way that wealth gets directed away from locals - be wary of Airbnb’s, clothing stores, restaurants etc. that are owned by ‘expats’ (I hate this term) - white folks taking advantage of low-wage labour economies, establishing businesses in a place where their overheads are lower so that they can make more profit and by extension end up pulling income out of the hands of the people who actually have to live in that economy. Solution here - opt for locally owned wherever you can. You might not always have this information before using a service — find out as much as you can before purchasing, and be sure to redistribute wealth where you notice local people working - adequately pay/tip the parking guy, your servers, buy from street vendors for food and souvenirs rather than supermarkets or big stores.
5) Only having experiences with other (often white, western) travellers
I’m not suggesting you ignore your hostel roommates, but isn’t travelling an opportunity to step outside of your bubble? Why not get to know some people who actually live in the country you’re visiting? One of the best ways to do this is to get involved in a community project or volunteering (just be sure to avoid the pitfalls of voluntourism). I also love staying in ‘private room’ airbnbs — actually living with a local is a great way to get the insider scoops on what to do and where to eat, and you might even make a friend in the process, who knows?
6) Leaving litter
Please don’t be that particular asshole. I’m assuming if you found your way to my blog that you’re not that type of asshole anyway, but we can do better than just not leaving a place worse than we found it! Try taking a zip lock bag with you when you go out to the beach or on a hike. That way you can actively be part of the solution (rather than simply not being part of the problem) by picking up litter as you come across it and disposing of it properly.
7) Getting into run-ins with the wildlife
I’ve seen people get themselves into dangerous situations with everything from monkeys to angry swans before, and thankfully I never had any altercations with them myself, but snakes, spiders and scorpions featured heavily in my travels in Mexico and Costa Rica. It’s worth doing some research about the wildlife of the place you’re visiting beforehand so you can be as prepared as possible in case you encounter one of these creatures. I was thankful to learn from one of the hosts I stayed with in Costa Rica about the body language of snakes, and insights into the favourite hiding places of scorpions (check under your pillows folks!). My friend Connie is a great resource on ethical tourism with regards to wildlife, particularly when it comes to recommendations of how to interact with monkeys. Also let’s just not ride elephants please.
8) Visiting packed tourist spots
Not only are many of these places over-hyped or misrepresented by photos that cut out the hundreds of other tourists waiting in line to have their chance at that insta-worthy snap, leading to the inevitable disappointment when you get there, but there are other more beautiful places out there, you just have to look for them. A discovery I made when it comes to beaches is to simply walk 20 minutes or so down the coast. The landscape will be similar but usually with a lot less people.
9) Contributing to the degrading of an area due to tourism
So you followed my suggestion of that last point and found the most beautiful pristine, secluded private beach, congratulations! Now enjoy it, just maybe don’t post the exact location tag on instagram. Doing this can just turn this quiet spot into the one you were trying to get away from - what if your post accidentally goes viral? Also these tend to be the spots that locals relish because they don’t have to put up with the hoards of tourists there - this is certainly the case with a few spots in my home country of Scotland. You can respectfully enjoy the place without ruining it for others.
10) Rushing to see everywhere and not really getting to know anywhere
The first time I went travelling full time, I spent a month in each country I visited, thinking this would be enough time to get to know a place. In reality I was moving from one location to the next every 3-7 days, trying to see as much of that country as possible. This last time, I chose to reduce the number of places to really get the time to know it. 2 countries in 6 months, and even then, I spent 5 weeks in one place in Costa Rica. The ways I was able to deepen my connection to the land there and integrate into the local community really gave me an idea of what it would be like to actually live there and I had many more meaningful experiences as a result. It can be hard sometimes to acknowledge that you won’t get to do/see everything you wanted to in the places you visit, but the pay-off is worth it. Plus less time packing bags and booking travel and accommodation: win-win.
This is purely based on my own experience; I’ve lived in a van road-tripping around Europe, travelled for 6 months around parts of Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and just recently returned from 6 months travelling in Mexico and Costa Rica. I’m not done travelling and I’m not done learning either, this is always a work in progress, as am I! Fellow travellers out there I’m curious to know - what do you have to add to the list?
Solutions! A cheat sheet (screenshot for later)
Learn the basics of the language, maybe research the culture too.
Diversify your investments.
Leave reviews, share local businesses on social media.
Opt for locally-owned where you can.
Get involved in a community project.
Always bring a zip-lock bag.
Do your research on the wildlife you might encounter.
Choose the less-walked path.
Don’t use precise location tags on IG.
Take your time!
Photo Credits - (if not listed here, the photo is mine)
Photo: 1983 (steal my _ _ art) from Unsplash
Photo: Soner Eker from Unsplash
Photo: shark ovski from Unsplash
Photo: Annie Spratt from Unsplash