15 travel tips / 15 conseils de voyage
TIP 01
Pack as small as you can. The less things you have the better it is. You can live with a lot less than you think.
TIP 02
Don’t plan too much. The less you plan the better it is. Live in the moment and go with the flow.
TIP 03
Learn as much as you can of the language of the countries you visit. The more you know of the language the easier it is to get around.
TIP 04
Try to meet local people to learn more about the culture and learn about the good places to hang out.
TIP 05
Inform yourself of the transportation and safety of transportation of each country. When it's cheap it usually means that it's unsafe, but it depends on the country so do your homework.
TIP 06
When you book a hotel, hostel or airbnb try to find one near good restaurants. It usually means that it is in a safer neighbourhood.
TIP 07
Get informed properly of the possible diseases in each country sometimes it is necessary to get vaccinated. You can also have problems to get back in your country after if you did not get certain vaccines.
TIP 08
Make sure to always check your stamps of exit and entry for the borders. Sometimes in poorer countries they forget to stamp you. This means that you have to pay fines when you exit.
TIP 09
Always count your money when you buy something in a store or on the street. You can often get the wrong amount back.
TIP 10
The longer you stay in a place the more you can negociate the price.
Here are a couple of good and affordable places we stayed per country ;
Nicaragua :
- Garden Grove Surf (Playa Santana),
- Cafe Con Leche (Popoyo),
- Los Chocoyos (Ometepe),
Peru :
- Miraflores cerca al mar, habitación para dos (Lima)
- Da Hueif Surf Camp (Punta Hermosa)
- Ica Wasi Hospedaje (Ica)
- Spacious studio in historic city center Cusco (Cusco)
Colombia :
- Room in Ceramics Studio (Bogota),
- Hacienda Venicia (Manizales),
- Arte y Aventura (Isla Grande)
- Nirvana Hostel (Taganga),
Bolivia :
- Landscape Backpackers Hostel (La Paz)
TIP 11
Some hostels offer exchanges of work time for lodging and food. This can be a good option if you are running low on cash.
Check this site to know more about this ; workaway.info
TIP 12
Try to travel in low season because plane tickets, restaurants and lodging are cheaper. There is also a lot less people on the beaches, surf areas and in the usual touristic places. The downside is that the temperature is occasionally not always as nice but it's worth it!
TIP 13
Use small fabric compartments to separate your clothing in your bag. This makes it much easier to manage your clothing in small rooms.
TIP 14
There are many sites to find hotels. Here is our top three that we used every time we had to look for a new place to stay ;
TIP 15
You don't have access to internet everywhere so to get around when we were offline we used "Mapme". It's basically an app that works like google maps but can also work even if you are offline.