Since this is a Travel & Living Subforum I don think it is appropriate not to a have a thread on this. And to start, here is some of mine(some are invented myself, some read from here and there and some are given by ppl)

1. Bring enough clothing. Always bring extras just in case.
2. Jeans can be worn for more than a day.
3. Always bring a set of clothing in your hand carried luggage in case your checked in luggage were missing/stolen or some other mishap happen(touchwood tochwood)
4. Use a waist strapped travel pouch(not the ahbeng VCD peddler type but those that can be hidden behind your clothing and thin. ) to store your money, credit cards etc.
5. Never keep all your money in one place(ie; wallet). Put them seperately in your other pockets or inside your shoes.
6. Get comfortable shoes(for me I prefer sandals as I like my feet to be free)
7. Hotel hair dryer have more usage other than for drying your hair.(I just found this out recently)Earlier I said that jeans can be worn for several days right?but then sometimes it gets a little moist and cold on the inside and it could be very uncomfortable. So use the hair dryer to "shoot" some hot air into ur jeans before putting them on. Same goes for shoes and socks. When it is a little humid on the inside, use the hair dryer.
8. If some heavy shopping are planned, bring an extra luggage. Put all your clothes into the smaller one and put that luggage into the bigger bag.
9. When buying pottery/plates/bowls/cups, it is not necessary to use newspaper to wrap them. Ur Used clothing will do. IMHO it is safer this way. You could even stuff your undies inside the bowl/glass to save space.
10. Unless you are freaking rich and your trip are fully sponsored, do not eat the stuff from your hotel room's minibar or fridge unless it is stated FOC. It costs a bomb. One trick I learnt from my uncle is that after you eat/drink those stuff and wanna avoid paying extra, go get the exact thing from the nearest supermarket/7-11 to replace them.
11. when travelling to rural/undeveloped/dirty area, dont order teh-o-peng or kopi-o. Insists on untampered can drinks or bottled mineral water to avoid infectous diseases. . This only applies if that place is really that dirty.
12. Never leave your luggage unlocked in your hotel room.
13. Before going for holiday, do some research on that place first. Internet or experiences from others. Read up on their cultures to avoid cukture shock later on.
14. If going for holiday in a group, make sure it is well planned. eg; where to go and when to go. This is to avoid arguements and confusions later on and thus, wasting valueble time.
15. Brochures and maps available in hotels and airports are there for a reason. Since it is free, why dont just grab a few(dont finish everything though. Thats a very bad habit). It will be helpful especially those maps. It could also be a very good momento

This is all I've got. gonna post somemore if I have. So whats your tips guys?

from u guys
[shark]

• Always bring one or two locks - dont forget to seal the brand of the locks.
• Bargain whenever u can, alot of tours or hostels give concession prices to backpackers or students.
• Photocopy (or scan and print) ur IDs like passport, IC, insurance blabla. And leave that copy to someone else.
• Leave emergency contact in ur pocket or wallet.
• Let someone know ur plan (travel itinerary). Leave a copy to someone at home maybe

[/shark]


[koochy_rat]

• Bring washing detergent so you can wash some clothes in the hotel sink.
  
• Not all hotels have tea/coffee making facilities, so bring a portable heating element to make your maggi mee or boil water for drinking.

[/koochy_rat]

[Singh_Kalan]

• u need to carry ur passport all the time in a foreign country. Failure to do so will make u end up in jail.
• If u travel for a long period of time and carry a large amount of cash, it's better to convert it to traveller's cheque and carry a small amount of cash only.

[/Singh_Kalan]

[mr lappy]

• 1 tip, have a strong stomach... dont touch anything that will potentially upset your stomach(if u have a crappy stomach tongue.gif)
• if u have regular medication that u must take, MAKE SURE u bring it along, coz control of drugs are strict in some country and u cant just get them in pharmacy(need priscription and stuff) and this could ruin your entire trip.
• and build up your stamina for walking as well. travelling involves lots of walking if u want to see more stuff. as for others, i think its been mentioned the wallet and stuff.
• ID=very important. loose it and u will be in a world of trouble....
• and another thing when travelling to a foreign place, be alert and aware of your surroundings and try not to look lost(as in that u dont belong in that place/be calm at all times) this is to prevent 'unwanted' ppl from turning their attention to you.
• and have a creditcard with a high limit(if u from m`sia) coz of xchange rates.. just incase...
• its also good to keep some major currency as well... USD/EURO/sterlings... easier to change if u ever need it

[/mr lappy]


[elb]

• I can't believe it that no one hasn't mentioned bringing along a camera yet.
• Or a guidebook. Lonely Planet / Rough Guides help a lot.
• Low cost airlines are not usually recommended when you are going as a tourist. Based on my experiences.
• Better to overbudget than to underbudget.
• Do not hesitate to spend money. Seriously. You might never ever return to that place ever again in your life (by choice or otherwise). Within reason of course.
• Try out the local cuisine! Even if it means spending more money than you had originally planned. Tell the staff that you want the local menu, not the tourist menu. Eating pot noodles/ bread three times a day is just sad. So is eating Chinese food in Italy (thanks to number 7). Refer to number 5.
• Go on your own/ with friends. Tour guides cater for all and sundry and are inflexible. Tours are more suitable when you are older and are travelling with young children/ elderly folk.
• Need to check how money you have left? Do it in the toilet. Doing so in the open invites all kinds of trouble.
• DO NOT FFK ONCE PLANS HAVE BEEN FINALISED AND BOOKINGS MADE. Losing interest because 'it was too expensive' eventhough the final price was agreeable with the initial budget reflects badly on you and might end up screwing your friendships.
• LEARN HOW TO TIP. Not every country has a service charge!!!
• , is . in most of continental Europe. If something costs EUR10,00 it means TEN Euroes not one thousand!
• Check for visa requirements! ensure that EVERYONE in your group (easily forgotten when you're travelling with friends from several countries) makes the necessary arrangements and provide for enough time for delivery of the visa! We had the unpleasant experience of planning for a trip when we realised that we needed visas, and with only two weeks to go before the planned date we had to start over.
• Hostels are great for meeting new friends! Although some females prefer their privacy, so maybe you might want to rent a room instead for the 4/ 6 of you.
• A student card comes in very handy while sightseeing. get an ISIC card; many places also accept your college/ university card
• Booking online can lead to great savings. Not only can you compare hotels/ hostels, you are also able to get discounts on transportation. Note again that I do not recommend low cost air carriers if you are travelling as a tourist.
• Pay more for more centrally located accommodation. Not only is it safer, but you save precious time commuting and reduce the risks of getting lost (really undesirable in dodgy areas). Money buys precious time when you travel.
• Do not travel in a tour group if you can help it. You will not have the time available to wander off in search of a good photograph.
• Bring along a light tripod (usually around 1.4kg for carbon fibre), or a light monopod. Make sure that it still can take the weight of your setup! Note that you might be able to use it everywhere.
• Minimize your kit if possible. Two zoom lenses should be sufficient, once covering wide angles and the other for telephotos.
• Going digital will help you save a lot in terms of space i.e. no need to bring various films around, no need to worry about x-ray radiation etc.
• Bring along ample memory! This is especially if you choose to shoot RAW. If you shoot JPEGs you do not need to worry as much because they take up less space compared with RAW and you can always find photography stores who are able to burn your pictures onto a CD for you, freeing up memory.

[/elb]

[Xue]

• One of the worst attitud is converting prices to ringit Malaysia, and ending up eating bread or junk food, or some awful chinese restaurants' fried rice in Euope/USA.
• Walking on the street like the local people, eat the local cuisine that their people eat daily and dont try to save this type of money. Of course I dont mean spending a lot to eat in a high class restaurant.

[/Xue]


[Kyliemin]
Some of you might think that looking like a foreigner is cool, but in some country is not. This is because you could be a victim of a crime.

How not to look like a foreigner:
1) Observe the culture. If the culture is t-shirt and jeans, follow it. If the culture is pants and shirts, do as they do.
2) Do not wear "I LOVE MALAYSIA" or "I LOVE NY" shirts. It is wayy too obvious.
3) Do not hang your camera in front of you
[/Kyliemin]

[greyshadow]
How to pack you clothing more efficiently:
Don't fold, but ROLL...
Yes, you heard me right, ROLL your clothing as tight as possible like a swiss roll.
Then you'll have many tightly rolled "swiss roll", then you can start to stuff those "swiss rolls" into your bag.

Why roll and not fold?
Fold will gives you ugly fold mark, wrinkle and etc... also tends to eat up more space in your luggage/bag. Not so space efficient.
If you roll properly... you won't get any ugly fold mark/wrinkles. Also save more space.

Another tip is try to bring a formal wear... at least a long sleeve shirt w/ black slack, or a dress for gal. No batik shirt as batik is only acceptable as formal in this region. Some venue might have certain dress code before allowing you to go in.

[greyshadow]

This post has been edited by epsilon_chinwk86: Feb 20 2006, 10:14 PM

Bring washing detergent so you can wash some clothes in the hotel sink.

If not, then clothes can be worn for more than a day

Not all hotels have tea/coffee making facilities, so bring a portable heating element to make your maggi mee or boil water for drinking.

Bring a fridge too coz not most hotel got. U know after a tiring walk u need some cool drink Come on ler...detergent can be bought anywhere around the world for less than 5 bucks. What for carry around in your luggage??

Hmm...I suggest this be pinned up, since it is a good read to anyone visiting this part of the forums..

How about passport? Its not recommended to leave in Hotels is it? But what if you bring it out, and it gets stolen/drops out? Would it be safe to keep it with Hotel Reception or what?

After all, waist pouches are kinda out of fashion (to me anyways..)

What i meant when i said waist pouch are those used for travel purposes which is invisible and hidden behind your shirt/pants. Whos gonna wear the ahbeng VCD peddler type and walk around anyway.

Leaving it with the hotel reception is acceptable provided they are trustworthy. But in foreign country it is always better to bring them with you right?(again, in your invisible waist pouch)

Hmm.. my dad?

u need to carry ur passport all the time in a foreign country. Failure to do so will make u end up in jail.
Tips: If u travel for a long period of time and carry a large amount of cash, it's better to convert it to traveller's cheque and carry a small amount of cash only.

Well, i've been in such situations where those things would have come in handy. I didn't say bring the whole 1kg bag of detergent lar Just a bit will do. Remember that not all hotels are nicely located in the city where you can easily get provisions.. the nearest shop can be miles away. And have you ever paid RM40 for a 1.5l bottle of mineral water?

40 bucks for mineral water still never. But 60 bucks for a jug of beer got la. Juz recently.

yes and probably more...

have u ever paid RM130++ for a snack?

1 tip, have a strong stomach... dont touch anything that will potentially upset your stomach(if u have a crappy stomach )

if u have regular medication that u must take, MAKE SURE u bring it along, coz control of drugs are strict in some country and u cant just get them in pharmacy(need priscription and stuff) and this could ruin your entire trip.

and build up your stamina for walking as well. travelling involves lots of walking if u want to see more stuff. as for others, i think its been mentioned the wallet and stuff.

ID=very important. loose it and u will be in a world of trouble....

and another thing when travelling to a foreign place, be alert and aware of your surroundings and try not to look lost(as in that u dont belong in that place/be calm at all times) this is to prevent 'unwanted' ppl from turning their attention to you.

and have a creditcard with a high limit(if u from m`sia) coz of xchange rates.. just incase...

its also good to keep some major currency as well... USD/EURO/sterlings... easier to change if u ever need it

This post has been edited by mr lappy: Feb 8 2006, 01:13 AM

nowadays traveller's cheques might be difficult to cash in some banks and some countries, some of the banks will charge certain amount of 'service charged' as well, read some guidebook or google before travelling.

carrying creit cards will solve problem only if you are in big hotels, certain part of europe rarely take cards for payment of dining, unless you want to go to big restaurant and let them cut throat.

Where do you guys change currency?? at the money changer in town, or at the airport?

1) I can't believe it that no one hasn't mentioned bringing along a camera yet.
2) Or a guidebook. Lonely Planet / Rough Guides help a lot.
3) Low cost airlines are not usually recommended when you are going as a tourist. Based on my experiences.
4) Better to overbudget than to underbudget.
5) Do not hesitate to spend money. Seriously. You might never ever return to that place ever again in your life (by choice or otherwise). Within reason of course.
6) Try out the local cuisine! Even if it means spending more money than you had originally planned. Tell the staff that you want the local menu, not the tourist menu. Eating pot noodles/ bread three times a day is just sad. So is eating Chinese food in Italy (thanks to number 7). Refer to number 5.
7) Go on your own/ with friends. Tour guides cater for all and sundry and are inflexible. Tours are more suitable when you are older and are travelling with young children/ elderly folk.
8) Need to check how money you have left? Do it in the toilet. Doing so in the open invites all kinds of trouble.
8) DO NOT FFK ONCE PLANS HAVE BEEN FINALISED AND BOOKINGS MADE. Losing interest because 'it was too expensive' eventhough the final price was agreeable with the initial budget reflects badly on you and might end up screwing your friendships.
9) LEARN HOW TO TIP. Not every country has a service charge!!!
10) , is . in most of continental Europe. If something costs EUR10,00 it means TEN Euroes not one thousand!

for 1) i think any1 who is travelling would have thought of that... if any1 who travel without a taking a camera along shouldnt be allowed to travel at all

well, its just that sometimes the most obvious things are often the most overlooked, just like visas are often forgotten. ;P And in my opinion, if you choose to be a miser, you don't deserve to travel. Imagine someone I know, travelling all the way to Scandinavia and wanting to stay in another friend's room all day and choosing to eat cheap bread as meals instead of making the most of the rare opportunity that she had . Good thing the other friend had the sense to drag her out. You might as well sit at home and stare longingly at photographs other people took of the places you want to travel.

even more tips from my experience:

1) Check for visa requirements! ensure that EVERYONE in your group (easily forgotten when you're travelling with friends from several countries) makes the necessary arrangements and provide for enough time for delivery of the visa! We had the unpleasant experience of planning for a trip when we realised that we needed visas, and with only two weeks to go before the planned date we had to start over.
2) Hostels are great for meeting new friends! Although some females prefer their privacy, so maybe you might want to rent a room instead for the 4/ 6 of you.
3) A student card comes in very handy while sightseeing. get an ISIC card; many places also accept your college/ university card
4) Booking online can lead to great savings. Not only can you compare hotels/ hostels, you are also able to get discounts on transportation. Note again that I do not recommend low cost air carriers if you are travelling as a tourist.
5) Pay more for more centrally located accommodation. Not only is it safer, but you save precious time commuting and reduce the risks of getting lost (really undesirable in dodgy areas). Money buys precious time when you travel.

This post has been edited by elb: Feb 8 2006, 10:51 PM

quite a nice info u have there
Topic Pinned

just pm me if u feel this topic should not be pinned

One of the worst attitud is converting prices to ringit Malaysia, and ending up eating bread or junk food, or some awful chinese restaurants' fried rice in Euope/USA.


Walking on the street like the local people, eat the local cuisine that their people eat daily and dont try to save this type of money. Of course I dont mean spending a lot to eat in a high class restaurant.

precisely what i meant earlier you need to think in terms of local currency

haha.. there is a few tips I read from a magazine 2 days ago.

Some of you might think that looking like a foreigner is cool, but in some country is not. This is because you could be a victim of a crime.

How not to look like a foreigner:
1) Observe the culture. If the culture is t-shirt and jeans, follow it. If the culture is pants and shirts, do as they do.
2) Do not wear "I LOVE MALAYSIA" or "I LOVE NY" shirts. It is wayy too obvious.
3) Do not hang your camera in front of you

*I can't remember anymore. Will come back and update.

I don't think I can quite do that with my SLR setup. It, along with my tripod, sticks out like a sore thumb LOL. I haven't run into trouble so far yet carrying it around with my travels luckily *touch wood*

Speaking about that, I think I'll put up a little post about travel photography (with regards to SLRs) later

This post has been edited by elb: Feb 10 2006, 04:50 AM