Wanderlust is in the blood of a traveler. One can not just remain as a mediocre traveler. You can always become an upgraded type of a traveler.
Learn to Pack the Best Way
It won’t be so surprising if you paid extra for your hefty baggage on your first time to travel. As you experience the hassle of bringing too much and not using them, you will make sure, you won’t do the same mistake again. Travel light. Focus on the basics. It is more comfortable. It won’t slow you down.
Have an Effective Time Management
You may not consider that time is gold but others do. To some, it is as precious as gold.
“It’s better to wait than let anyone wait for you”. When you travel with a group, it would be safe to take this simple thought to heart as your motto.
Be conscious of time. When you need to meet your group in a specified time, be there a little earlier if not on time. There is nothing more irritating than having to wait for someone who is already late.
Be Extra Patient
It is so true that patience is a virtue. It could bring you to places and enjoy them. There is nothing more patience consuming than being tossed about in the midst of a crowd, being the last of a very long line, trying to understand delays of your booked flights, and waiting for a late member of your group. But before impatience can kick in, accept it as natural for a traveler to experience.
Be Genuinely Friendly
Even if you are generally a quiet person, learn to go out of your way and make friends with fellow travelers or the locals who are complete strangers.
When you are pushed by someone who is in a hurry just like you, smile at that person.
If they managed to step on your toes, it’s understandable you won’t really feel like smiling, just hold your tongue. It is something you can’t be thankful for, but don’t be rude. Nobody wanted to do something like that intentionally.
When you are supposed to fall in line in a queue of passengers, turn your back and smile at that person behind you. Just hope that the one in front of you will turn their back so that you can smile at them too. When you’re done smiling at them, you can strike a simple conversation. Say, maybe how long the line is before you get to check in. When they seem not too interested, let your emergency measure out. Maybe a not so thick paperback novel. If you can’t really understand what you are reading while standing, you can make use of your waiting time to call a friend or a family at home.
Just enjoy the chance to stretch your legs which you can seldom do while at work.
To be able to form friendship anywhere you go, is one of a traveler’s fulfillment.
Patronize Local Products
Different people from different countries have their own unique craftsmanship and creativity. Souvenir is always on the list of a traveler and it is often what friends of a traveler receives.
Buy products of the place you are visiting. It can help the economy of the locals and it can be a nice gift for friends and family. Souvenirs preserve memories of the places and experiences you once had, that time made you forget.
Be Extra Cautious
A traveler’s goal is to learn, to enjoy, and to relax. But don’t loosen your defenses. A foreign country is as foreign as it sound. Study their culture and customs ahead. It would bring more excitement to the visit. It would make you safer.
Be Eco-friendly. Love the Earth
Do not allow yourself to be an accessory in harming Mother Nature. Be a responsible traveler. Throw your trash in the garbage bin provided. Do not rely so much on disposables. Bring a water tumbler which you can just refill.
Do not pick flowers in bloom. Their beauty are more appreciated when they are fresh, not wilted.
With these traits and behaviors, you will be loved by the locals. You will not be considered ill-mannered. And you will not be remembered as someone who is not a good travel companion. Practice makes perfect always applies.