Chapter 5: Enjoying and Documenting Your Travels

Posted on Published 4 min read

Now it’s important to consider how to tackle some of the standard challenges you’ll face on the road, all while ensuring your adventures are well documented. Enjoy these tips for staying safe whilst on your own, without forfeiting the carefree vibes you went travelling to enjoy in the first place.

Safety, Locals, and Other Travellers

Personal safety

We have already mentioned a few points earlier about carrying money, valuables and your passport. These are important, but will never trump your own personal safety – ultimately, they can be replaced, while you cannot.

Generally, personal safety is going to be the same anywhere in the world – don’t accept candy from strangers, be wary of dark alleys, and if something is too good to be true, it probably is.

It is important to always check the local laws and rules – do your research beforehand, so you’re aware of anything that you may not have even realised would be unwelcome. It’s also important to check with your local government to see if there are any recommendations for where you’ll be travelling.

Interacting with locals

Keep in mind that, while you’re on holiday, the people you’ll be meeting may not be. It is important to remember this and be respectful of the fact you are visiting their country, and this is their home. For this reason, we always recommend a friendly smile, a few words in the native language (even if poorly pronounced!), and a calm approach. Over the years this approach has proven effective time and time again, especially when there may be cultural or language barriers in place.

Other travellers

While travelling, often we will cross paths with other travellers from other parts of the world. By putting in a small amount of effort and putting yourself out there (even what might seem to you as a small bit), you will find it is quite easy to make friends with other travellers. The phrase “Hi, whereabouts are you from?” will work wonders, and you will amaze yourself with how entertaining a simple puzzle or pack of cards are!

Documenting your Travels

Setting up a travel blog/journal –Documenting your travels is a great way to keep track of your trip and all the incredible, fun and exciting things that happened along the way. While WordPress is is the most commonly used platform in the world, it can take some getting used to; and if you are just keeping track of your travels for yourself and your loved ones, there are easier options out there.

Facebook – Something as simple as keeping your facebook posts and photos up to date will help you keep track of your travels. If you don’t want to be spamming your friends’ feeds, you can set your posts so that only you can see them, so that you can keep track of everything while not feeling like you are imposing on your friends.

Tumblr – User-friendly, simple to set up, and with its own community, Tumblr allows you to post content text, photos, and videos from anywhere.

Photography tips

A great way to remember all of these new and amazing travel experiences is to take photos, and lots of them. With the cost of memory cards and portable hard drives these days, there isn’t really a reason not to take as many photos as possible!

There are some simple photography rules that will make your photos that much better: keep the horizon straight, try to keep about 1/3 or 2/3 of the framed sky (try to avoid half and half), and make sure people are in focus!

While sights might be good, you will also want to remember the people that you had those experiences with, so it is recommended to take photos with your friends and other travellers in them! Asking a passerby to take a photo can be a good way to get a photo with you in it, as well as a way to interact with the locals.

Want more tips? Check out a few of our favourite photography articles:

Travel Hack
Every time you enter a new destination, take a photo of the country or city sign; this way you know where your new set of photos starts and the previous set ends.

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