What’s the worst travel advice you’ve ever been given?
I have been given advice both good and bad before my travels, and am happy to announce the titles of twenty stories of travel advice I am glad I ignored, travel lesson I had to learn along the way as I explored more than a dozen countries over the last decade or so.
Without further ado, here are the twenty bits of travel advice that I learned to ignore, leading to twenty entertaining stories that make up my new travel memoir, Make Sure You Have a Map, out summer 2016.
- Be Careful What You Eat (Costa Rica – Tanzania, 2008).
- Don’t Get Delayed (Australia – Scotland, 2007)
- If It Sounds Too Good to Be True, It Probably Is (Germany, 2007)
- Make Sure You Have a Map (Antarctica, 2010)
- Don’t Accept Gifts from People You Don’t Know (United States – Tanzania, 2008)
- Head South for the Winter (Norway, 2007)
- Always Have a Travel Buddy (United States – Colombia, 2013)
- Know What’s In Your Drink (Tanzania, 2008)
- Stick to the Trail (United States, 2014)
- Avoid Tourist Traps (Argentina, 2010)
- Drink Colombian Coffee (Colombia, 2011/2013)
- Never Just Go For the Weekend (Canada, 2009)
- Don’t Talk to Strangers (Tanzania, 2008)
- Never Catch Wild Animals (Colombia, 2011)
- You Have to Go to Venice (Italy, 2015)
- Get Out and Explore (United States, 2014)
- Know What Country You’re In (Peru – Colombia – Brazil, 2013)
- Avoid Public Transportation (United States – Tanzania, 2008/2010)
- Take as Many Pictures as You Can (Peru, 2013)
- Never Hitchhike (United States, 2009)
If you think some of these do sound like good advice (which I myself thought at some time too), I invite you to check back in this summer, read through a copy of Make Sure You Have a Map and learn how your next trip might just be more fun—and more meaningful—if you decide to ignore these twenty pieces of travel advice.
Bryanna Plog 