3 Ways to Travel In Style

The average traveller knows that for every great experience had on the journey, there is an equally not-so-great experience to go along with it. Of course, in the grand scheme of things the benefits of travel outweigh the small annoyances that come along with it, but it still must be acknowledged that it’s not all cocktails and sunsets and fine dining. Sometimes it’s delayed flights, getting lost, cramped seats and food poisoning from that dodgy market stall you should have steered clear of! Some travel annoyances can’t be helped, but it is possible to avoid the most common ones. Whether you’re taking a day tour, finding the best bars or checking into your flight online, here are three ways to travel in style.

1. Choose Your Seats

Don’t you love it when you manage to get a whole row to yourself and you can stretch out in luxury? There are ways to make this more probable, especially if you’re travelling with a partner. When you check into your flight online, choose your seats towards the back of the plane in a row of three. Choose your seat on the window, and your partner’s on the aisle, leaving the centre seat free. When airlines are allocating seats they generally fill the plane from the front first. Furthermore, people choosing their own seats who are travelling solo are less likely to choose a seat in between two people unless there is no other option, so this gives you the best chance of the seat remaining empty and your partner and yourself having three seats for the price of two! If someone is assigned to the middle seat, however, you can simply offer up the aisle or the window so that you can sit with your partner. Win win!

2. Do Your Research

A lot of common travel annoyances come from unexpected or unplanned-for events. Things like arriving in town and discovering that there’s a huge festival on and all the hotels are booked, or failing to realise that a certain hand gesture is offensive in the local culture. Doing a bit of research into your destination can cut out many of these issues, and make for a much smoother travelling experience. Look into things like special events, high/low seasons, cultural traditions and common annoyances. The more educated you are about a certain location the more easily you’ll be able to navigate it—not only physically, but culturally as well.

3. Get Your Bearings.

Doing a day tour as soon as you arrive is an excellent way to get your bearings. It also shows you the highlights of a new city and allows you to figure out which places you want to return to and which you’d rather give a miss. Most major cities have day tour operators that take you around the various attractions, and you’re less likely to get lost (or ripped off) at a later date if you get a sense of where things are before exploring on your own.