I’m sharing my family’s tips for getting oriented quickly to a new travel destination in this article. Vacations are always exiting, but there is never enough time! People frequently wish that they had more time for vacations. One way is to actually increase your vacation time. However, not everyone has the luxury to do it, so this is not a practical solution. Another way is to get oriented quickly to a new travel destination, so that you will lose less time trying to figure everything out. Instead, you will use your precious time on vacations more effectively and efficiently.
Let’s get started!
Do the homework
Research your travel destination(s) ahead of time, including where to go, things to do, food to eat, and souvenirs to buy: Our family always get all kinds of books about our travel destination(s) from the library. We read not only travel books, but also history, culture, geography, and environment related books about our destination(s). Sometimes, there are also videos to be checked out from the library as well. You can also learn about your destination(s) from many online resources, for example, the Lonely Planet or the Fodor’s.
Read as many travel stories from different travel blogs as you can, to learn more details about your destination(s) and their trip experiences and tips: Every traveler has different stories, experiences, and tips to share. You will learn about your destination(s) from many different perspectives through reading these travel stories and will be well prepared by the time you travel.
Make it a family activity: Researching a travel destination is a fun family activity. I remembered that I created my first travel powerpoint presentation to show my family what we could do in Prague when I was 11. I researched Prague in books and online. I found many interesting things to do, places to visit, food to eat, and events to participate in. My parents did their research and shared their findings too. It is always a lot of fun researching and discussing our travel destination(s) together.
Summarize your research about the destination(s) on a cheat sheet, including where you want to go, what you want to do, what you what to eat, and what you want to buy: Depending on how much detail that you would like to plan ahead of time, this sheet can include several simple phrases to a whole vacation plan.
For example, if visiting Tokyo, a cheat sheet with several simple phrases would include something like:
- Sanrio shop in Ginza
- Akihabara
- Ippudo Ramen
A cheat sheet with a more detailed vacation plan would include something like:
- Breakfast in Tokyo Station underground mall
- Catch train to Ginza
- Sanrio shop (get Hello Kitty key chain and My Melody stickers)
- Lunch at Ippudo
- Catch train to Akihabara
- Find a toy shop (get a plastic model doll of Trunks from Dragon Ball)
Consider hiring a local guide for the first day of your stay
We sometimes hire a local guide for our first day to give us a head start. Some examples of good orientation tours include a walking tour of a city, highlights of a city, a shopping tour, or a food tour. For example, we scheduled a food tour in Old San Juan right after we landed from ToursbyLocals. Since we have to eat anyway, why not figure out where to eat at the very beginning!
Buy or download a map or just get lost purposely
Getting lost can be frustrating when you try to get somewhere at a certain time. We got very lost in Venice and missed our tour once. Although a map probably wouldn’t help us much to find our way in Venice, it would be helpful to have a map in hand so that we knew it was impossible for us to pass through the labyrinth of Venice to get to the meeting point on time by foot. In other words, take a water bus.
However, getting lost is actually a fast way to learn the way around. The other time when we were in Venice, we purposely got lost. Getting lost is a lot of fun when there is nothing scheduled. We found many cute shops, neat buildings, and beautiful views while getting lost. We quickly learned to find our way by identifying landmarks and cardinal directions by drawing a virtual map in our head.
Pack light so that you are mobile
To really know a place you have to be there. In other words, you have to somehow get to the place. Being mobile makes this task easier. Therefore, I suggest packing light so that you are mobile enough to explore places easily. Read my article about how to pack efficiently.
I hope these tips help you to get oriented quickly to a new travel destination. Let me know your thoughts! Happy Hopping!
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