Frequent Flyers’ Most Obscure Yet Vital Travel Tips

by SharonKurheg

If you don’t travel often, even the most basic travel advice and info can be helpful.

If you’re a frequent flyer, you already know the basic info, whether it’s because you’ve experienced it (live & learn!) or someone gave you advice a long time ago and it’s never steered you wrong.

There’s something to be said about sage advice though – it never goes out of style. And even the most frequent traveler doesn’t know everything. Someone on Reddit recently asked frequent travelers to share their most obscure yet vital travel tips. Whether you fly once every five days or once every five years, it’s all really good advice.

Here were some of the best ones:

  • This is THE most brilliant travel question in the world — JoeHeg
  • When traveling off the beaten track where personal safety is less certain ( basically anywhere that you’re not supposed to be out at night ) carry at least $50 to $100 in cash in a separate pocket from your money/cards/etc. That’s enough to give a potential assailant that warm feeling of achievement, so they will let you go. — Gezuntheit
  • For some reason it’s often difficult to find sunblock and mosquito repellent in countries with lots of sun and mosquitoes. Take them with you! — sudoku602
  • Brushing your teeth is the quickest way to feel human again after long flights. Have toothpaste and brush ready so you can do this before you leave the airport. — AlternativeMinute306
  • Having light rain gear on a rainy day can make normally packed activities wait free. — PieMastaSam
  • Never pass up a bathroom. — virtual_humas
  • Always have spare days in your itinerary for either weather events, or just things you discover while you’re there. — JulieRose1961
  • Carry more than one credit/debit card — JulieRose1961
  • Learn a few simple words in the local language. Hello, goodbye, thank you, at a minimum. It will go a long way to making people friendly to you — lavidloco123
  • Pack antidiarrheal medications no matter where you’re going. — NoLemon5426
  • Google local scams in the area before visiting somewhere new. It’s helped me not fall for a few. — sumadviceplz
  • Don’t be too stressed out about the culture shock. The internet seems to be drowning in scare stories about you doing the wrong thing and causing an international incident. But if you aren’t being an obvious a**hole tourist jumping into water fountains or something, you are going to be fine. You might have a waiter rolling his eyes behind your back about your lack of proper local etiquette but most people know you are a tourist and give you the benefit of the doubt This isn’t to say you shouldn’t do a bit of research beforehand. — kevlarcardhouse
  • I always take some sandwich bags. There’s always a half eaten pastry, or leftovers etc when you’re out. That way I can pop it in my bag for later — oh_no551
  • I always take 2 or 3 sarongs. They’re so thin and fold up so small, but they are useful for SO much.
    They can be used as towels for the beach and as wrap-around clothes such as a skirt/dress, for getting changed under at the beach or wearing over your swimsuit when you’re heading back – they’re thin enough that they dry quickly.
    They can be used as a headscarf if you want to cover up in certain places, or as a shawl/scarf/shoulder wrap if you want to protect your skin from the sun or if you feel a bit chilly after the sun goes down.
    They can be folded/scrunched to use as a pillow during travel, or as a blanket if you’re resting somewhere. They can be a buffer on a cold bench or a hard seat.
    They’re light and small enough to throw one in your day pack for any eventuality. I recommend it to everyone! — McBird-255
  • When getting local currency from an ATM, use a weird dollar amount to get smaller bills. So if I need 2000 and the machine dispenses in 20s, I will withdraw 1980 so I’ll get an assortment of smaller bills rather than big bills that no one will break for me. — AgentOrangina
  • Always check the refund/cancellation policy of any booking before making payment. — Rimwester27
  • When staying on an island, clarify ferry/boat schedule prior to buying your plane/train/bus tickets, make sure to take possible weather issues into account and thus water transport halt on your way back. — AllaZakharenko
  • It is not a requirement to pack your bag as full as possible. — lunch22
  • When visiting a city get up before sunrise and walk as the city wakes up. I did this in Venice and it was magic! — sunbuddy86
  • If you are in a country where you don’t speak the language and might be taking taxis, have the staff at your hotel record a voice memo on your phone explaining how to get back to the hotel. Then just play it for your taxi driver. Or use this strategy for allergy messages to play in restaurants , or basically any message you can anticipate needing. — Previous-Atmosphere6
  • If you need to poo in the center of a city, search for a public library and enter confidently. Library toilets tend to be much cleaner than those in other public buildings and are free. — hzanahoria
  • If you’re going on a hike, bring a bag of Fritos. If you ever need to make a fire, Fritos light quickly and burn slowly like a candle. — f**kin-slayer
  • When flying long haul return with the same airline, I like to go at the end of one month and come back in the next month so the films are different! — justmycup0ftea
  • in the EU and UK, carry about a dollar’s / euro’s / pound’s worth in change, because some public restrooms charge. — nucumber
  • Don’t plan your trip around ideas you got from social media because reality v. instagram is real. Keep in mind also travel forums are full of people who make things up/advise on things they’ve not done or experienced so get a breadth of feedback to consider. — NoLemon5426
  • If you are traveling with someone put a change of their clothes in your checked bag and a change of your clothes in their checked bag. Then put a change of clothes for you in your carry-on and they do that same. This way if one of you gets your luggage lost, you at least have 2 days of clean clothes. — smitham97
  • Every mediocre meal is a wasted opportunity.
    A little advance planning can improve the chances that you’ll have great and memorable dining experiences. And if nothing else, a few default destinations will eliminate the stress of trying to make decisions when you’re tired, jet-lagged, and hangry.
    e.g. Research restaurants before you go. Find a few near your hotel and major sites that you’ll visit during meal times (lunch or dinner). Mark them on a map.
    You don’t have to go to your pre-picked restaurants. You may stumble on better options. Follow the locals! But it’s always nice to have some easy default destinations at hand. — EthanDMatthews
  • It’s ok to be sitting in your hotel room, across the street from the Eiffel Tower/palace/mountain and decide…today is a sit in my room and order an amazing pepperoni pizza and binge a tv show day.
    You travel to relax, not to run a marathon of “how much can I fit in”. — photoguy8008
  • Google local holidays/festivals on your period of travel. With details. Sometimes a bunch of businesses you expected to be open will be closed. Sometimes the main square or a central road will be closed. Sometimes hundreds of people will douse you in water if you are anywhere in public.
    Edit/ and of course there’s opportunity as well as risk. You may want to amend your plan to enjoy the celebrations. — anaccountthatis
  • I take a spork thing that also has a (albeit very blunt) serrated edge – easy to tuck away in a side pocket but comes in handy if you pick up something yum to eat from a cafe/bakery/market etc only to get back to your accommodation and realise it didnt come with cutlery and it’s going to be a bit too awkward/messy for fingers. — Careless_Nebula8839
  • My obscure tip is obscure because it will only apply to a small percentage of the population.
    If you’re vegan or vegetarian, download the app HappyCow. It has a world map of user-sourced restaurant recommendations sorted into categories (vegan, vegetarian, veg-friendly) with detailed reviews and photos.
    I’ve had some of the best meals of my life from places I found on this app, and it’s helped me find places that seem like they wouldn’t be vegetarian-friendly except for reviews that say things like “chef used to be vegan so there’s always one vegan special.” — _CPR_
  • For those who menstruate – take extra sanitary stuff. It can be hard to get it, especially in remote places, or those where having your period is taboo. I’ve also cut up pads to use as make-shift band-aids when I’ve run out of gauze strips…as you’d imagine, they’re very absorbent! (For that matter, always take a little roll of microporous tape with you, to stick down non-sticky band-aids).
    Oh, and always take your own TP or a pack of tissues … many bathrooms do not have anything to wipe on! — NuzzyNoof
  • When buying a bus ticket, note the general direction the bus will be going and the position of the sun for the majority of the trip. Pick a seat on the side away from the sun. — cheerstothe90s
  • Learn the country’s emergency number. It’s crazy the amount of times people get in trouble abroad and try to call their home country’s emergency number. — OccasionAmbitious449
  • Move really fast when you get off the plane so you can pass all the people you could potentially be waiting behind in the immigration line — jacka**4224
  • I’m one of those people with a mild coffee addiction, where if I don’t have at least a cup by 11am my time, I develop a splitting headache or migraine. On busy travel days where I don’t have time to stop for a coffee, it can be miserable.
    So, I always travel with either a box of the espresso Clif bars to stick in my bag or, if I’m really tight on space, Excedrin. One dose of Excedrin has 65mg of caffeine, almost as much as coffee. So it’s like having a bottle of 50 cups of coffee for when I’m short on time. — SuppleA-hole
  • When you have the opportunity, sit at the bar or counter for dinner. After a day of traveling (solo or with a companion), there isn’t as much conversation since you both did the same things that day. At the bar/counter, you’re bound to have at least some level of additional interaction. My husband & I have gotten some of our best travel tips from bartenders & other people seated at the bar. — rosemarylavender
  • Know where your closest embassy is if you’re abroad. Write the address down, have some cash, and paper clip them together and have it on your person the entire trip. If there is ever an emergency that wipes out technology and networks then you have the address and cash to take a cab there. You can never be too prepared. You maybe never need it but the one time you need it you’ll be glad you did. — brook22

Still with us? What can you add to the list?

Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.

Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.

Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.

Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!

This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary

Leave a Comment

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.