Questions tagged [tips-and-tricks]
Hints for solving a variety of travel issues, especially problems that require experiential knowledge to solve or are not covered by traditional travel books or resources.
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OK we're all adults here, so really, how on earth should I use a squat toilet?
OK so for anyone that's travelled beyond North America and Western Europe you know what I'm talking about.
Left: Romania, last year. Right: Turkey, last night.
They start popping up in the Balkans ...
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Tactics to avoid getting harassed by corrupt police?
In Uzbekistan I was stopped, searched and questioned six times in one day.
At the border with Tajikistan, one official tried hiding my paperwork to elicit something from me.
In Kyrgyzstan, I was ...
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How to avoid drinking vodka?
This summer, I spent some time in Moscow and St. Petersburg; I also visited a friend and his family. Their custom was to drink a lot of vodka during the meal. We, the guests, also had to drink some ...
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OK, we are all adults here, so what is a bidet for and how do I use it?
Confession time: I am from one of these barbaric countries where the use of the bidet is not widespread. So I have no idea...
Question 1: What is the bidet good for?
Question 2: How do I use it?
...
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Passing through airport security with autism
I am a young adult with autism (Asperger's to be precise). While there are many resources on how to travel with kids with autism, resources on how to do so if you have it yourself are rare to ...
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How to avoid toddlers on a long-distance plane flight?
I have recently taken a London - San Francisco (12 hour) flight, with a toddler in the seat directly behind me. His parents actively encouraged the kid to speak out in that typical proto-speech, while ...
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How to prevent "Delhi Belly" from eating/drinking locally?
Montezuma's revenge or Aztec two step in Central America, mummy's tummy, or Cairo two-step in Egypt, Kurtz Hurtz in Uzbekistan, Bombay belly or Delhi belly in India.
A case of the sh-- or Hershey ...
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How can black travellers deal with unwanted harassment from locals in China?
I recently took a trip to China with several friends. All of us are US citizens with US passports, and three of the people on this trip are black. (I am not)
Throughout China, including in the most "...
user65735
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Is there a way to prevent "looking like a tourist" in order to not be harassed?
Disclaimer - the title of this post is probably not the best
On my way to visit family in Belarus and Poland, I had a long layover in Paris, so I decided to spend the day in the city. My luggage was ...
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What's the safest way to protect your valuables from theft at the beach?
I am travelling solo to Barcelona. I was wondering if anyone has any tip on how to enjoy the beach when travelling alone.
As in, is it safe to leave your belongings on the beach when you go for a ...
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Can I ask for two meals for my flight without paying extra?
I know, this is a funny/sort of stingy question, but the last time I took a plane, after having the meal they serve, I was still kind of hungry so my girlfriend told me to ask for another one. I didn'...
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What can I do to prevent passport stamps being put on blank pages?
I'm running low on blank passport pages which are sometimes needed for full page visas such as those issued by Armenia, India, and Vietnam.
When I crossed the border into Turkey the other day I got ...
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How can I avoid or minimize jet lag on flights?
From my personal anecdotal experience, I've found it worse when travelling east around the globe. I also tend to stay awake most if not all of the flight, so sleeping time doesn't tend to matter as ...
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How to cope with too slow Wi-Fi at hotel?
So many hotels I stayed at (3~4 stars ratings) provided too slow Wi-Fi. The speed is somewhere around 2~3Mbps, and it frequently falls down to <200Kbps.
However, once you find that your hotel ...
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Orienting oneself after exiting an underground station
I have a terrible sense of direction and frequently struggle to know which way to head when I exit an underground station. I can use the map on my phone of course (though there are some places this ...
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How should I deal with beggars in India?
I have heard that it is unsafe to show money or help someone in India.
Are there any rules I should respect in order to avoid getting into trouble? How should I deal with these beggars?
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Long term travel without being wealthy - how is it possible?
Some people are practically most of the time traveling, from country to country, for a very long periods and sometimes even years.
How could one be able to travel for a long period of time, over ...
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What's the best way to take a cold shower?
This is a question that most people probably never think about, because it's an every-day thing. But for many of us, such as myself, who grew up in more western cultures, with more modern ...
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How to use sinks with separate hot/cold taps?
I just traveled to Ireland. I was amazed to find that water sinks (at home, restaurants and public) have separate taps for hot and cold water.
If you use only the cold water, your hands freeze. If ...
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What kind of things can you take from a hotel?
Hotels normally provide a big amount of sets (well, depending on the quality, but however, many!) that can help you feel more comfortable there.
So for example you can get towels, slippers, candies, ...
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My online friend is asking for money in order to visit my home country. Is this a legit request or a scam?
On Travel.SE we often see questions about a person (usually a love interest) asking for money to pay for airfare, visas, permits and other expenses. For example
Visitor requesting a cash advance to ...
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How to spend a night in an unknown city without a hotel? Is there a guide or resource online?
I had a late flight recently and due to a delay on the flight I was not able to get my transport to the city where I had my accommodation.
Staying in the airport was not an option either since it's a ...
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Will Wi-Fi passwords in Russia be in Cyrillic? How do I type them on a Latin keyboard?
I'm about to travel to Russia, and I made sure to book only accommodations that offer Wi-Fi to its customers, but a question came to my mind.
As Cyrillic is the standard alphabet in Russia, is there ...
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Where can I change my clothes at the airport?
I will have a rather formal event which I will attend in rather formal (and less comfortable) clothing. After that I will head directly to the airport, without having an opportunity to change.
If I ...
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How do I avoid leaving my passport as a deposit while traveling?
I was looking into activities to do in Seoul and I saw a free public government sponsored bike rental. To use the rental, I need to give them some sort of ID for the duration of the rental. The ID can ...
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Most respectful way to set alarm when sharing the room
I'm a pretty heavy sleeper and sometimes I need to wake up earlier for a bus/flight or to catch early light.
When sharing a room in a hostel type place, what's a good way to set an alarm without ...
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In an emergency, how do I find and share my position?
In the wake of the accident that affected Simon Gautier who made a bad fall while trekking in Italy, and emergency services took over a week to locate him after he called them, one may wonder: in an ...
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What techniques, tricks or otherwise have you used to get upgrades on flights?
I've travelled a lot. Living in New Zealand or the UK means anywhere is likely a flight, but I've always flown economy. Twice between LA and Auckland I managed to get the exit row after talking ...
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How to search for a flight when dates and cities are flexible but non-direct flights must not pass through a particular country?
Sometimes when booking a trip you can be very flexible with many factors but any route passing through a certain country cannot be considered.
Say you're going from country A to country B either ...
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How to safely store my locker key in a hostel at night?
When staying in hostel dorms I usually place my valuables in a locker provided by the hostel and lock it, typically with my own key-padlock. When I go out I take the key with me and I'm perfectly fine ...
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What are good security tactics for sleeping in airports?
Sleeping in airports is something I've found myself doing more often than I ever expected, and while I have no issue with sleeping on the floor or chairs or whatever, sometimes I have valuable stuff, ...
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How to find better food in airports
I travel economy, and so have no access to food in business lounges. In my experience, airport food tends to be both expensive and of poor quality. I would like to be able to find food that is ...
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OK we're all nerds here, so really, how on earth should I use a Japanese toilet?
OK so for anyone who's traveled to Japan you know what I'm talking about.
They're devices that are a textbook example of excessive featuritis.
But I want to use something other than the flush knob ...
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Are there any rules of thumb for the most comfortable seats on a long distance bus?
I traveled recently by bus and I was wondering about comfort.
In a plane there are a couple of rules of thumb when it comes to picking a place that provides a bit of extra comfort. (E.g.: sitting in ...
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What's an easy way of making my luggage unique, so that it's easy to spot on the luggage carousel?
I've bought a new piece of luggage which is great in every way except that... it's completely black and looks like half the other bags.
What's an easy way of making my luggage unique, ideally ...
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How to use toilet paper
If someone who has never used toilet paper ever travels to countries where only toilet paper is used - how could one learn to use toilet paper?
One of my (Asian) colleagues who is more of a friend ...
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So what can I do to avoid being "that" passenger with bad hygiene?
What can I do if I'm seated next to a person with bad hygiene on an airplane?
I've been that passenger several times, typically on connecting flights after a transoceanic leg. I really try hard ...
user4188
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Tips to avoid forgetting a bag
I have recently left a bag behind in a train.
It was a long travel day, and the last stage of it was a train ride with a change half way through. We were in a hurry to catch the connection, and were ...
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Preparing in case ATM/debit cards might go missing during a long trip
I've been pickpocketed twice and had debit cards swallowed by ATMs twice over the past decade or so. I've also had cards expire during a long trip.
For my upcoming trip which I envision will last ...
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Are drivers from mainland Europe likely to end up in an accident when driving in the UK?
I have a European license and would like to rent a car in the UK for a trip to the countryside. The only thing that worries me is driving on the left — it seems that one would need quite a bit of ...
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Is leaving airport at a stop before the final destination illegal?
There are tricks such as "fuel dumping" or "hidden city ticketing" which involve booking a ticket composed of several connecting flights, then leaving the airport at a stop, possibly even "hopping off"...
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Driving in the UK for the the first time - rules & to-dos that are different to India
I'm planning on renting a car in the UK for my trip through London, York, Edinburgh and the rest of Scotland.
Having driven in Mumbai, India, I understand there must be things I should keep in mind, ...
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What is the hotel room card slot inside the room for?
Several hotels I've stayed in lately (in the Middle East if that matters) have a card slot just inside the door of the room, and it appears that the lights/AC in the room only work if you have one of ...
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How to remove airlines/security tag stickers from suitcases?
I travel a lot, for both business and pleasure reasons. One of the annoying things I face (beside full passport pages) is the many tags stuck to my suitcase which I like to take in almost all my trips....
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What to do without underwear on a 4 day trip?
Ok, this might be a ridiculous question/situation but it's my situation.
I'm at a football camp in boston until Friday, and I've realized I forgot to pack any underwear (I wear boxers), I have the ...
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How can I deal with extreme temperatures in a hotel room?
Recently I've been on a business trip in Germany and I had a temperature problem in my hotel room.
Since it was an attic room without air conditioning the temperature rose to uncomfortable levels ...
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How to make sure that you get off at the correct bus stop in Thailand?
I find it extremely difficult to get off at the correct bus stop in Thailand, mainly for the reasons as:
The bus stop usually doesn't have a recognizable sign on which stop it is.
Thai characters and ...
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Does browsing ticket sites in incognito mode and/or from different IP's result in cheaper ticket prices?
I stumbled across a discussion yesterday where industry insiders share tips relating to their respective fields. Someone who works in e-commerce stated :
"When purchasing items on the internet (...
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I have discovered that the hotel room toilet is blocked, but too late. What should I do?
Ok, I have used the toilet after holding myself for too long because of a long haul flight and I am not comfortable using the airplane's lavatory. The problem is, after releasing all the damn load, I ...
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Stuck without toilet paper while travelling - what is the best approach?
Well, this has happened to everyone at some point - you find out there is no toilet paper just after you need it the most. Usually it's not a big deal, even in public toilet room you can wait until ...
