Rolf’s travel advice from the Italian version of Glamour magazine

Last summer, when Marco Polo Didn’t Go There was making its debut in Italian translation, the Italian version of Glamour magazine asked me to offer readers 10 tips for improving their travels. Mixing advice straight from the pages of Vagabonding with some more recent sentiments, this is what I told them:

1. Go slow
Remember to keep your travels at a slow, enjoyable pace. Don’t micromanage your itinerary, and don’t try to do too much at once as you travel. Travel shouldn’t be approached like bulk shopping: The value of your travels does not hinge on how many stamps you have in your passport when you get home — and the slow, nuanced experience of a single country is always better (and more affordable) than the hurried, superficial experience of forty countries.

2. Be flexible
No matter how intricately you’ve planned and budgeted your travels back home, what you learn from your first few days on the road is far more valuable in the long run. Thus, be prepared to adjust your itinerary and reconsider your budget as you make new discoveries. Keep open to advice from locals and fellow travelers alike. The most memorable travel experiences usually find you by accident, and the qualities that will make you fall in love with a place are rarely the features that took you there. So be ready to shift your plans as you learn new things.

3. Take out the “middleman”
Resist the temptation to purchase your travel specifics in advance. As wonderful as that Ugandan safari looks in the promotional literature of a Rome-based travel company, shopping for the same experience when you arrive in Africa will be infinitely less expensive — and you’ll have saved yourself the trouble of adhering to a fixed date. As a general rule, remember that pre-packaged adventures and micromanaged arrangements — even those touted under the guise of “budget travel” — are for people who are in a hurry.

4. Unplug from the “electronic umbilical cord”
As recently as ten years ago, one of the challenges of travel was that you were out of contact with home for such long periods of time. Now one of the main challenges of travel is almost the opposite — how to break contact with home so that you can enjoy where you are. It’s come to the point where electronic technology keeps us so closely wired to our friends back home that at times you can feel like you never left. Ideally, you should only check email a few times a week when you travel, and use your cell phone only for emergencies or hooking up with local friends as you go. What’s the pleasure in going to Tahiti or Rio or Geneva if you spend most of your time attached to your phone or laptop, sending messages home?

5. Get off the beaten path
Getting “off the beaten path” doesn’t mean you have to plunge into the jungles of Borneo or the icebergs of Greenland. Sometimes it simply means trying something different from the obvious tourist attractions. For example, try visiting towns that are on your map, but not in your guidebook. Talk to locals. Rent/buy a bicycle or motorbike and go your own way. Check out the local parks, markets and sporting events. In the process you’ll discover that the rumors about the world being “discovered” and “overrun” are just a bunch of hype. You’ll also go home with some amazing and unique experiences.

6. Learn a few phrases in the local language
Even if you aren’t naturally talented at learning languages, it’s never too hard to commit a few words and phrases of the local language to memory. Lazy afternoons or long bus rides are a good opportunity to begin your memorization. Good starting phrases include: “Hello”; “please” and “thank you”; “yes” and “no”; the numbers 1-10, plus 100 and 1000; “How much?”; “Where is it?”; and “no problem!”. Additional useful words to translate are “hotel”, “bus station”, “restaurant”, “toilet”, “good”, “bad”, and “beer”. Any local idioms and slang you can pick up will delight the locals (just so long as you aren’t learning something profane or offensive).

7. Patronize the local “mom and pop” economy
A great way to save money and have an enhanced travel experience is to sidestep international hotels and tour companies. Instead of luxury chain hotels, seek out clean basic, hostels and local guesthouses. Instead of flying from place to place, take local buses, trains, and shared taxis. Instead of dining at fancy restaurants, eat food from street vendors and local cafeterias. This principle also applies to day-to-day life on the road. Shop for food in local farmers’ markets instead of continually seeking out processed supermarket food and restaurant meals (you’ll end up healthier for the experience).

8. Volunteer on the road
Just because you’re out having new travel experiences doesn’t mean you constantly need to be on the move. One of the best perks of long-term travel is the opportunity to stop in one place and get to know it better. And a great way to do this is to volunteer in local communities as you travel (formally through an agency, or informally as the need arises).

9. Utilize hospitality exchanges
Hospitality-based lodging services like Couchsurfing.com, HospitalityClub.org, and Servas.org are a great way to save money on the road, but their charm goes beyond thrift. They are also a great way to meet interesting local hosts who can give you great tips on what to see and do in their home area. And hosting travelers in your own home is a great way to reconnect with the travel experience once your own travels have finished.

10. Don’t set limits
Don’t set limits on what you can or can’t do as you travel. Don’t set limits on what is or isn’t worthy of your time. Dare yourself to “play games” with your day: watch, wait, listen; allow things to happen. If you set off on down the road with specific agendas and goals, you will at best discover the pleasure of actualizing them. But if you wander with open eyes and simple curiosity, you’ll discover a much richer pleasure — the simple feeling of possibility that hums from every direction as you move from place to place.