Beginning of Week 5 London/Dublin 2015
The best traveller’s tips I have learned are to know the country’s tipping policies, and if it is a country that speaks the same language as you do, to learn slang words that mean something entirely different where you are from.
Learning when to and not to tip is something very vital to the social scene. Workers may try to take advantage of the fact that you are American and squeeze a little bit more money out of you. For the sake of your wallet, it is important to learn the guidelines of when to and not to tip, and I promise you no decent person will get mad at you if you follow those guidelines. I probably would have had to spend an extra 50 Euro and 50 Pounds at the very least if I followed American tipping guidelines rather than British and Irish tipping guidelines.
The other important travel tip I learned is the necessity of knowing slang terms in that country. Not only will it save you embarrassment on the street, but it will help you fit in better in an every day setting. You can’t change your accent, but you can at least make it sound like you’ve been around for awhile and know what it’s like to live in that city. It’s not foolproof, but the people you interact with will enjoy your effort at integrating into the culture. It makes for simpler cultural translation in a conversation. You know the local equivalent to the word you use back home, but that individual does not, so it’s best if you simply shift your words around slightly. This will make conversations flow better, and the person you are speaking with will at least pretend with you that you’ve been around the area for some time now.
As far as safety goes while travelling, it is important to travel in pairs at the very least, but preferably groups. NEVER travel somewhere alone, especially at night. Also, I made sure to keep my wallet in my front pocket – basically somewhere that would be very obvious and very difficult for someone to steal. I never ran into safety troubles, but the opportunities for something horrible to go wrong are present. Just be smart.
