It was great to see everyone at The Orient in April! We enjoyed a Chinese lunch while sharing favorite travel tips and tricks.
Special guests included TCC member Wilma Drummond from Oklahoma, and Chapter Co-Coordinator Paige Bequet‘s daughter, Brigitte, visiting from New York.
Travel Tips From the Georgia TCC Chapter
For those who couldn’t join us, here is a list of tips shared during lunch:
- Save locations and create lists in Google Maps to help plan your daily itinerary
- Carry a doorstop
- Repurpose a shower cap for a shoe bag
- Ask questions of multiple tour companies when planning a trip — go with the best response
- Visit Sedona!
- When you see something you like, get it!
- House sitting or house exchange jobs are a great way to travel inexpensively.
- Link together nearby countries, but always leave enough buffer in your itinerary to see things that are a “must” — just in case of the unexpected!
- Always travel with imodium!
- Fanny pack is the best thing to carry (this had multiple votes!)
- Cruise ship walls are magnetic — use magnets to hang stuff like shoe bags, or even a shower curtain to create a room divider.
- Carry a portable carbon monoxide detector.
- If you’re nervous about street food, sign up for a proper street food tour.
- Get chocolate at duty free for airline crew — it will be appreciated.
- When you use your smart phone for directions, double check the address so you don’t wind up in the wrong city.
- Google Translate is really helpful — especially camera translations of signs in Japan.
- Always select local currency (not USD) when charging to credit card to avoid extra exchange fees.
- Lychee is the best flavor of Korean Soju.
- Carry $2 bills to Vietnam — merchants are more likely to sell for less if you pay with a $2 bill.
- Work or teach at a foreign school to learn the language.
- Take the time to be with locals — learn to say hello in the native language, learn mahjong if visiting China, etc.
- Watch for quick, sneaky money switching to rip you off.
- If traveling somewhere at high altitude, spend time somewhere with a little lower altitude first to prevent sickness.
Drake Anderson
Paige Becquet
TCC Georgia Chapter Coordinators