5 Travel Tips to Enhance Your Travel Experience

Traveling to another place is always a great opportunity. It gives you the chance to relax, have some fun, and learn something new. Personally, I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel to eight different countries (Spain, Italy, France, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Canada, USA). To say it simply, I've gotten to travel A LOT. Through my experience, I have found there are five travel tips I would give to anyone to have an amazing travel experience.

Have an open mind.

Whether you are traveling domestically or internationally, it isn't uncommon to have feelings of culture shock. After all, we were all brought up in different parts of the world, raised with different values, traditions, climate, foods, people, etc. You name it, and these aspects of life are different for each person, depending on where they live. Although when traveling it may be easy to want to stay in your comfort zone, in order to get the most out of your experience, I recommend having an open mind to new experiences. Talk to the locals, try (and taste) something new, and immerse yourself in the culture as much as you can. Overall, having an open mind when traveling can lead to amazing new experiences, friendships, and memories that can last a lifetime.

Try new things.

In the first one of my travel tips, we discussed having an open mind. Once you have an open mind, it's time to try new things! For me personally, this has been very important for me wherever I have gone. I've ziplined in Costa Rica, I've walked several miles to reach the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy, and I've even taken a 12 hour bus tour of Barcelona. Why? Because I knew I may never get the chance to go back to any of these places. I truly believe that every moment of life is a gift. We are not guaranteed or entitled to another day, hour, minute, second, or millisecond. This is why it is very important to try new things while you still are alive. If you are spending all the money that traveling costs, you might as well get the full experience. When you step out of your comfort zone and try new things, it will definitely enhance your travel experience.

Take lots of pictures.

You are likely to see something you have never seen before while traveling. There are many beautiful sights to see and memories you make when traveling. This is why, wherever you go, I would suggest bringing a camera. Whether it be on your phone, or an actual camera, taking pictures is a great way to capture moments and look back on them in the future. I personally love looking back at all the pictures I took. Taking pictures is a great way to remember all the amazing memories you made while traveling and get excited about the next time you take a trip.

Live in the moment.

As much as I would recommend taking pictures when you can, other than that I would recommend staying away from technology while traveling as much as possible. I know most people don’t go on trips with the intent of spending hours in their hotel room watching TV or scrolling through Instagram, but the sad reality is that it happens. I can speak from experience. Especially when I initially began traveling, I found myself spending far too much time focusing on technology, and not enough time on living in the moment. I would worry too much about getting that Instagram worthy picture rather than living in the moment of the beauty that was around me. Overall, I found when you focus on living and savoring each moment while traveling, it enhances your travel experience.

Don’t forget to travel off the beaten path sometimes.

It isn’t uncommon when traveling. We want to do all the “touristy” things. After all, who doesn’t want to get a pic “holding” the Leaning Tower of Pisa? As much as I love going to tourist attractions, it is important to not forget about traveling off the “beaten path” sometimes. What is the beaten path? The beaten path is the cities, towns, and attractions tourists often use. It’s the typical “touristy” places that everyone goes. If you want to experience places where you will get the most real and authentic idea of what life is like in that location, it is important to travel off the beaten path sometimes. Some of the best experiences I have had while traveling was when I was off the beaten path and immersed in the authentic culture.