Travel tips from the kiwitravelwriter

 Just as real estate is all about location location location, travel is all about attitude attitude attitude. Our attitude determines our experience, where people are fearful and suspicious they see nothing but trouble and ‘lucky’ escapes while others meet no-one but really lovely people no matter where they go.

I’m in the glass-half-full-group of travellers and could never write a book of ‘all the bad things that happen when you travel’ type book. Unfortunately they are the sort of travel books that sell – and perpetuate the myth of the big dangerous world.

My most dangerous place in my many years of solo travel was in New Orleans, USA (about 15-years ago) and none of the danger - a murder and a hold-up by knife - involved me. (See Murder and Music pg 25 Naked in Budapest: travels with a passionate nomad. ISBN 978-0-473-11675-0)

So what are some of my tips for great travel?

1. Be flexible with your travel dates and travel off season when you can: that way it’s not only cheaper but also, you don’t have to share great sights (and sites) with hordes of other travellers and tourists.
2. Use the web for research even if you do your booking through an agent
3. Travel close to home often ... you don’t always need an around the world ticket to have a great holiday and discover fabulous people and places
4. Jet lag is less when you fly east to west. Change your watch to the destination time as soon as you get on the plane to adjust your mind to the new time and stay up until the local bed time. Read 12 more tips here