I’m sitting at a train station in Italy & reflecting on how helpful the RS guidebook was when we first started traveling. This could be very helpful for our new readers. Don’t write a long story reply to keep them easy to read. : )
What’s ONE thing you learned early on from a RS guidebook?
What’s ONE thing you have learned from local RS monthly meet ups?
Even better if we don’t duplicate answers. : )
Guidebook: Be sure to validate your train & bus tickets to avoid fines. Now it’s even easier with the Trenitalia app.
Local RS groups: Aimee taught Pam who taught me how to set up & use ApplePay - so helpful! I barely use any cash now while traveling.
Guidebooks. The logistical and practical information--public transportation, getting to and from the airport and train station, city tours, tour guides, hours and days of operation for major sites (which need to be confirmed online), the listing and ranking of top sights (which provides ideas for what I might want to see).
I occasionally look at recommended hotels. For museums I really want to visit, I may read the museum write-up. I look at the orientation walks in the beginning of the city chapters for ideas. I rarely look at recommended restaurants.
Get local currency at a bank atm. Use your atm card, not a credit card, to avoid higher fees. If possible, do it during banking hours so you can go into the bank if there is a problem.
Carry some coins for pay toilets.
Guidebooks: Buy tickets or passes in advance to avoid standing in lines just to buy tickets.
Great topic!
Guidebooks: Neighborhoods to look at for hotels, even if the RS mentioned hotels are not available.
Guidebooks--Logistics of how to get around in an area, whether bus, train etc.
Meetups--Useful gadgets, such as a teeny tiny sound machine (about 2"x2").
Laundry locations
Guidebooks: Rick’s itinerary planning always helps us plan our trips. We use it as a start, and adjust according to our interests.
How to make international phone calls.
RS guidebooks cannot cover everything or place everybody wants to visit. Branch out and conduct additional research for things and places RS didn’t cover. Nothing negative about RS, just that there’s more information than could possibly be included in one book.
Guidebook: RS introduced me to the concept of packing light.
Meetup: Hahaha!! Jean! Yea to Aimee not giving up on me and convincing me to set up Apple Pay. Also, the concept of meeting/bonding with others who travel for a shared experience…even if we don’t have the same likes or dislikes! Priceless!
Jaimielsabio brought up an interesting point: Rick Steves was my first tutor is]n doing good trip research which has allowed us to,try new-to-us places fearlessly.
Pam, good point on packing light! Never before had I bothered.
RS Guidebooks: I don't really buy them, but I have used the Library copies once or twice. Not so much for hotel or restaurant recommendations, but the logistical information, tips and tricks of travel are very informative and helpful.
RS Guidebook (a repeat, I know): Europe Through the Backdoor was the go-to book when I was a young 20-something, freshly out of college and ready to backpack my way around Europe (before Internet, before email.) One thing I learned: Rick said "get lost in Venice. It's an island so you won't be far from anywhere." Well, I got lost. Didn't love it. Learned I like knowing where I am. One thing from a monthly meet up: Too many things! Lots to learn from my fellow travelers. :-)
Guidebooks: what sights to arrange in advance (depending on season) and when you can wing it.
Guidebooks: the encouraging of use of public transportation. I know not technically a guidebook, but having the audio app for visits to various museums and neighborhood walks. And, packing light and seeking out laundering options which have been fun adventures for me (dumping water from a dryer?!).
The inclusion of official websites for making contact.
Patty, that’s an important one with unofficial, suspect websites popping up on searches for booking tickets.
Guudebooks: Let's Go to Europe. Back when I was first traveling it was affectionately called the Bible by backpackers in Europe. Tens or hundreds of thousands kids followed it like a blueprint in an arrow when there was much less information easily available.
And then other people on the ground. Again back in the day pre-smartphone, the common room of a hostel was not just a place to meet people socially, but a constant exchange of logistical information and tips. Folegandros wasn't in Let's Go; I went there because someone told its tale in the courtyard of an Athens youth hostel.
From guidebooks: a kickstart for potential itinerary and sights to see, that can be modified to your own taste. Nothing like a completely blank slate to paralyze me, so having the guidebook helps get things moving.
I haven't been to a local meet up, so I consider this forum my "meet up." I appreciate the ideas for packing light and smart, like using contact lens cases for small amounts of creams and liquids, using bar shampoo, and identifying an alternative to taking a hair dryer diffuser (the hot sock). And though my pocketbook protests, all the shopping enablers have provided some great gear ideas.
"The inclusion of official websites for making contact."
"Patty, that’s an important one with unofficial, suspect websites popping up on searches for booking tickets."
Both Patty and Jean....this is such a problem! If even fairly experienced travelers and tech users can land on the "wrong" websites, I can't imagine how hard it is for beginners without the support of forum folks!
Forum: Use the Charles Schwab Investor Checking account debit card that will refund any ATM fees. This works great.
I have also learned that now the Fidelity Cash Management account debit card has the same feature. It also works great.
They both are a great way to get cash from ATM's around the world.
RS Guide Books: Overview of major sights. Then I go online for more current information and ticketing. Google maps helps determine logistics.
Local RS meet-ups: No longer one in Phoenix so that has never applied. But the RS Audio app gives me info and walking tours. And of course this website, as well as city and area websites.
But my biggest go-to for learning and information over the past eight years has been this forum. Thank you everyone! I've learned a lot from you all.
RS Guidebooks: How to put together a plan for a two- to three-week trip based on our interests. The guides provided almost everything I needed to know to plan our first three European trips myself (2 weeks Northern Italy 1997, 3 weeks England and Scotland 1999, and 2 weeks Normandy and Paris 2010). From practical aspects to opinionated advice on sites likely to appeal to Americans on a first trip to a country. RS guides are still the backbone for all of my planning, although I now use other resources.
Local meetups: That I'm not alone in my travel obsession.
The forum: So many things! But a recent example is that I would need an ETA for a trip to England.
On escalators, stand on the right, pass on the left. Just like on the autobahn or freeway. In lands were it is the opposite, do the opposite.
You have to ask for the bill in a restaurant, it will never be given to you until you ask.
Roll your clothing, you will get more in your suitcase.
Take photos of pages from a guide book. Then you don't have to destroy it or bring it along.
Use a translation app, like "google translate" for menus, signs, and even gravestones.
Join FB pages for the cities you are visiting to find out local festivals, events or even to get restaurant tips.
Use YouTube for navigation help in stations and airports.
I got the "Europe on $5 a Day" guide book when I was 17 and hoping to back pack around Europe with a friend. She backed out and my parents wouldn't let me go. Wish I still had it, for some comic relief.
How to use buses and subways to get to major sites especially where to exit.
Guidebooks (before smartphones)
-most common phrases in the language of the country you are visiting.
-how to book a hotel with email.
-tear out pages of guidebook instead of taking the entire thing.
-how to use publc transportation
