something random

(Asia is on my left, and Europe is on my right)

Tal’s Top Ten Travel Tips:

1. Buy a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. Don’t smoke them, but rather give them to people that you would like to solicit help/a lower price/or a friendship from. It works like a charm. Cigarettes are the way to the heart.
2. More important than learning “thank you” or “please” or “hello” in the native tongue is the word for “friend”. Even if you are not in fact their friend, people think it’s hilarious if you say you are… and with hilarity comes trust.
3. Get a map with pictures and learn the subway/tram/bus system in the first few hours in any city. It saves hours or wandering and a bountiful amount of money in the end. (with this comes another tip: people in the middle east and most of Asia HATE making change, as in… you will use a 5 dollar bill to pay for something worth 2 dollars and they will never ever ever have change for it, so small bills are the ticket)
4. Never travel with a group too large to fit into one Taxi. However, some countries have liberal policies when it comes to what this number is.
5. Your feet go to hell… bring lots of anti fungal cream (courtesy of the charming, honest, and disgusting Christen Toepel) (toilet paper is another good idea)
6. Everything is for sale: this includes clothes people are wearing; CD’s playing in a cab and so forth. This also means that things on your person are worth trading with. I have tried to trade my watch on several occasions (40$ watch knocked 100 dollars off my bribe for my pyramid climb), and using memorabilia from America to haggle is a good idea.
7. Finding the perfect souvenir is a pointless endeavor. Very few things are hand made, and the stuff that is… is expensive. Settle for cheap factory made stuff
8. It’s not necessarily where you go or what you do… but often who you are with that makes traveling fun and memorable. If anything, I have learned this in the past months.
9. For everything you want to do… bring twice as much money as you think you will need, and allocate twice as much time (wear a watch, but try not to look at it)
10. When in doubt follow the crowd. They are heading in the same direction for a reason.
11. When in Rome, do not do as the Romans do… they will laugh at you, just be yourself.