Unless you have a first-hand account of the place from someone with whom you have a lot in common and so you’d suggestively be able to take their word on how you might experience it yourself, for the most part we never truly know what to expect from visiting a specific destination until we actually arrive there. At best we can read up about the experiences of many people who’ve been there and have taken the time to share their stories via their blogs, by leaving reviews, or even uploading videos, but then again you always tend to get vastly conflicting reports.
A super-fussy traveler from certain parts of Asia where they are known to be fussy may leave a horrible review about a budget hotel they stayed in for example, when they should have in actual fact not had such high expectations in the first place, given the price they paid. Either way, it goes without saying that you have to do your research about any destination you plan to travel to, but that’s only the beginning of what it means to be sensible while traveling abroad.
Remember, things probably work differently
At the end of it all, no matter where in the world we are, we are all humans and we all have the same basic instincts. Additionally, we pretty much all want the same basic things in life, which is to be as healthy and happy as we can be, so on that front we are all the same. However, things start to differ when you think about the different cultures that develop around certain geographic locations, so you should definitely keep in mind that things probably work differently where you’re going.
I mean you would think that something like the typically Aussie culture should be pretty much exactly the same British culture, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Now when you consider that you might even be visiting a country which is very far from your home and has a totally different people, climate, etc, it’s only sensible to expect that things work differently, some of which of these differences could be vast.
Exercise a little patience if for example you don’t get serviced as quickly as you would back home and remember that in some places expressing political opinions publically might land you in serious trouble. Take the time to learn about how things are done locally – it won’t take too long.
Maintain responsibility for yourself
Sure, this sounds like some very obvious advice, but it must be addressed because in practice people seem to lose sight of the responsibility they have for themselves. Things can get really serious when you realize that you’re not back home in the state of Washington, so you can’t get a Kent car accident attorney to help you get out of the trouble you might find yourself in with regards to your involvement in a car accident, for instance. So make sure to maintain control of the factors which could make you liable or culpable in any way, like limiting your alcohol intake if you know things can get out of hand as far as that goes, etc.
Make sure nobody can place directly blame on you in any way.