3 ms·

Things I wish I'd known before I started traveling

• Jun8 16y ago
  Some of these are very good advice (e.g. the local police is not always your friend), some are debatable (the health care in Costa Rica is better than the US, it may be cheaper, of course) and some are ludicrous (dollar is not teh world's currency, his link says a few small conversion shops in Amsterdam refused it). I would add the following: 1) Don't wear flashy clothes and flaunt your expensive photo equipment. Your multi thousand camera is an invitation. 2) Try to blend in visually, don't go around continuously checking a map or photographing everything. 3) If you are a woman, you should especially be careful. Lots of cultures have different expectations of proper behavior from women. Wearing ultra-mini shorts, as American college girls generally do overseas, can get you quite a bit of unwelcome attention, and not just in "backwards" countries either: I've seen many a girl harassed in Italy. 4) Try to go around with a local friend, if possible. They'll know the trouble areas much better than a guide. Many cities have such local welcome citizen programs.