You always hear the same general travel advice in every travel blog out there. Here are 3 specific and very simple travel advices for what to when travelling, that I have learned and applied personally, that has enriched my travel experience significantly. So without further ado, here you have 3 advices you won’t hear from anyone else:

1. Visit universities
   Have you ever been in a city a little longer than it took to do all the sightseeing you could find in your travel handbook? I can most certainly tell you, that there is always more to see in every city. Even the most detailed travel blog or handbook won’t capture it all. But how would you know coming as a foreigner, not knowing much about the ins and outs of the city?What I often do, when I find myself in such situation, is to visit a university. Universities are the most underrated tourist attractions at all. I have personally visited several universities in more than 10 countries, from Sudan to Uzbekistan to Hong Kong.

   Here are reasons why it is always worth visiting a university in the country you are in:

   1. You will get a better understanding of the future of the country, watching the youth interact with each other, studying hard or even partying. Ear drop on conversations, specially if you find the campus of the political sciences. Or walk around inside the buildings reading the scientific posters that the students have hung up. If you have a scientific background yourself, you might understand the level of education, the level of innovation and what kind of ideas will shape the future.
   2. There is always someone who speaks English there. Specially if you are in a country where you understand almost nothing because of the language barrier, the chances of meeting someone who speaks your language here is much higher. If not local students, then foreign students or exchange students. You will also find people from all faiths and continents in most universities. Maybe even someone from your own country, who lives there.
   3. There is ALWAYS a very affordable cafeteria there, that you might benefit from.
   4. You can always blend in. It doesn’t matter your age. You can be a undergrad student, you could be doing a PhD or even be a professor. You just walk around in confidence there,  and merge in the atmosphere as were you a local.

      

2. Read local memes
   This is a funny way to way to learn the deep and complex structures of a country and it’s relation to their neighbors. Or even their view on other countries. You can read all the news articles and essays about a country as you want, but the true mechanisms of the local’s mentality is more apparent in something as simple as a meme, rather than a 5 page analysis of the cultural aspects of a country.It is also a much more fun and quick way to learn some things, that you won’t be able to find in analysis reports or news, because of the political correctness that those have to adhere to. Good memes are rarely politically correct. Sometimes they even can be insulting or completely racists, but they will tell you the true mentality of some of the people there.

   So go online, on Facebook or Instagram and search for a country specific meme page. It might take you a bit long to find. Prepare yourself to even opening google translate, to translate some of the memes. You will get more insight by those memes that are not translated to English.

   Finally, if you know a local from the area, you might ask him or her to explain the memes that you do not understand or do not find funny. Yes – it might develop into a proper scientific research about memes, but believe me you will laugh most of the time. I can specially recommend memes from the Balkan region, those are clearly the most hilarious.

   

3. Book a room for 2 people, even if you travel alone
   I often travel alone, and I have found out that hotels lately uses environmental concerns as an excuse to give a worse service regarding cleaning. Today, many hotels do not change the towels every day, even if you throw them on the floor.When you travel alone and book a room, you are often left with the option to book a room for 2 people anyway, as hotels rarely have a single room. The price is the same – you do not pay more if you were 2 people travelling together for the same room. So when I book such a room, I put down 2 guests to ensure that they prepare the room with twice as many towels.

   There is a problem with this approach, as some cities will impose taxes that has to be paid per person. So when you show up, you have to tell the hotel, that you are only 1 person coming to stay there to avoid paying double taxes.

So that was all for now, I hope you can use and benefit from those advice as I do! Remember, travelling is all about learning and understanding the world. Not just what fits into your own world view, so dig deep into it and get fascinated by it, even if it is far from your own believe system or values. But always, keep your integrity while travelling!