Top 10 Travel Myths

If you made the effort to travel, take the next step - participate! As you wander down the streets you are assailed with the mouth-watering smells from a zillion vendors. Now think - the locals are all queuing up, and manage to survive. The fact is, everything you heard or read about street stalls is mostly wrong [mostly because sure, once in a while you might get the runs. I know I did, after eating a hotdog from a street stall in New York - but that's the risk I took eating from a street stall in a Third World country, right?]

The food from street vendors is exotic, tasty, different - wonderful. Sometimes, amazing. Think about this: this stall represents the ENTIRE INCOME for this family. If they get it wrong - how many people do you think will return? They'll starve! They are generally more conscious of hygiene than you are!

A rule of thumb: hang back a bit and see which are the most popular stalls. This tells you two things: Firstly, there is a rapid turnover so the food will be fresh. It won't have been sitting there all day waiting for a customer. Secondly, word of mouth rules. Everywhere - even [surprise] on the internet. So if the locals trust this stall - dig in!! It will be heaps cheaper than a restaurant, filling, exotic and... NOT MacDonalds.

In a building, like a hotel or apartment, the biggest problem with the water is likely to be the taste of chlorine! The water is usually safe, just horrible. Perfectly safe to brush your teeth etc. If you don't like the taste, bottled water is a cheap alternative, but don't go being paranoid.

As for ice - same rules apply. Just use your common sense; if you are in a built up area, go for it. In outer Mongolia or inner Siberia... maybe not. But if you were adventurous enough to go there, I'm sure you can handle the water situation.

A hard one... "Sorry, but I just don't have time to live... let me get back to the office and make my boss richer."

Make the time. It's that simple. Go for a week, a month, a year. Trust me - you will do it again!

Read my article How to Live Your Life NOW... Motivation For Those Seeking Meaning in Life or my article If Your Life is Empty. Maybe something here will touch your travel nerve.

The time to travel is NOW. It is a mistake to work 24/7 for the next twenty years, putting money aside to travel in your retirement. [You can do that, sure - but travel during those twenty years as well!] The world is changing all the time, there are so many things you may miss doing this. [Nope, this is not a Global Warming scare... but on the other hand... what will be left to see after the ice melts, huh] For example, did you see the view from the top of the Twin Towers... before September 11?

"Now" might not mean today - it may be in six months, or a year. But 'now' starts today!

There are two articles on this site which can help you enormously. Firstly, you need to know HOW MUCH your trip/holiday/world tour is going to cost. So go here to see how to figure this out: 10 Easy Tips to Help You Plan Where To Go.

Next, go here for some ideas on how to get the money: 10 Easy Tips to Help You Finance Your Trip.

It's actually possible to travel and spend very little as you go - and have a great adventure.

If you are a traveler: male, female or in-between - you need to keep your wits about you. Simple as that. Kay Cottee sailed solo around the world in 1988 and she wasn't raped by a shark. Marie Javins crossed Africa solo in 2001 and wasn't eaten by the Masaii. Susan Thorpe traveled solo down the Amazon in 2006 and wasn't sacrificed by the Xingu Indians.

The sad, boring truth is, women have been traveling solo for the past 100 years. They have found it more liberating than threatening. Tens of thousands of women have explored the globe alone. And loved it.

Let your boyfriend stay home and have the baby. Go buy an air ticket.

Go to my planning page and solve all your problems [ALL your problems... personality, financial, marital...] Planning a trip should be fun - great fun! And it is impossible to plan for all contingencies, so don't try. Your adventure will happen when you get there - your planning should be flexible, even fluid. Sure, to have an idea of what to do, where to stay, how much it will cost is vital - but to know what time the 10:09 train for Luxemburg leaves?

Homer Simpson on tour: "Quick! Operator! Gimme the number for 911".

This may come as a big surprise to many people, but - the locals don't expect the traveler to speak their language!

You can do the cave man thing, and grunt and point. Or you can smile, and laugh a bit, and shrug - and have everybody fall in love with you and bend over backwards to help you.

There are innumerable tiny pocket-sized language guides available [Lonely Planet is a good example]. They can be extremely helpful, and in more ways than you think. When the locals see you desperately struggling to get your tongue around their language, they see it as sign of respect. Just stick to English and they often see it as a sign of arrogance - the whole world should speak English, right? [Well, sorry, but if George Bush can't... why should they?]

Air Miles currently in circulation are said to be worth $500 billion - making them the second biggest "currency" after the dollar. Phew! And at the current rate of growth the stock of miles could overtake the dollar within two years.

Always check how many miles you are trading for a flight. Of course, you need to consider whether your miles are close to expiring... the worst thing you can do is to let them expire - if you're not going to use them, email them to me. God could I use them....

One more consideration: there are so many unredeemed vouchers it is likely to get harder for customers to secure the flights of their choice. So... plan ahead... but you have already gone to my planning page and done that, right?

"Hostels are for backpackers - smelly, sweaty, unshaven, drug-taking bums!" In 2007? How many do you think would survive [hostels, that is, not backpackers...] with the education and sophistication of the modern traveler? Very often hostels offer a good accommodation alternative to the hotel - including private rooms, bar, swimming pool.

• All flight attendants are attractive. Sorry...
• Website X always has the cheapest fares. Sorry... you just have to shop around. But there is a Golden Rule - never settle for the first airfare you find.
• It is always more expensive to fly on weekends. Wrong. Go check delta.com and aa.com - they have dedicated weekend travel sections and special deals.
• Flight check-in is time consuming and stressful. Check-in online rather than at the airport. You may even be able to print out your boarding pass. Avoid the long lines, even if you have baggage! To know if it is possible for your flight/airline... go google it.
• Travel during high season/holidays always costs more. Peak season is more expensive... except for the actual holiday dates! Why not fly on Good Friday, December 25, July 4, Thanksgiving, or January 1? Cheaper and available!