Travel is intensified living. Maximum thrills per minute and one of the last great sources of legal adventure. In many ways, the less you spend the more you get. Experiencing the real thing requires candid informality going “Through the Back Door.” Affording travel is a matter of priorities. Many people who “can’t afford a trip” could sell their car and travel for two years. You can travel anywhere in the world for $20 a day plus transportation costs. Money has little to do with enjoying your trip. In fact, spending more money builds a thicker wall between you and what you came to see. A tight budget forces you to travel “close to the ground,” meeting and communicating with the people, not relying on service with a purchased smile. Never sacrifice sleep, nutrition, safety or cleanliness in the name of budget. Simply enjoy the local-style alternatives to expensive hotels and restaurants.
Extroverts have more fun. If your trip is low on magic moments, kick yourself and start making things happen. Dignity and good travel don’t mix. If you don’t enjoy a place it’s often because you don’t know enough about it. Seek out the truth. Recognize tourist traps. A culture is legitimized by its existence. Give a people the benefit of your open mind. Think of things as different but not better or worse. Of course, travel, like the world, is a series of hills and valleys. Be fanatically positive and optimistic. Travel is addicting. it can make you a happier American, as well as a citizen of the world. Our Earth is home to five billion equally important people. That’s wonderfully humbling. The world is a cultural garden. We’re working on the ultimate salad. Won’t you join us?
This assumes you are a well-organized traveler who lays departure groundwork upon arrival in a town, reads a day ahead in the travel book, uses a larger directory-type guidebook and the local tourist info offices and enjoys the hospitality of the British people. Ask questions. Most locals are eager to point you in their idea of the right direction. Use the telephone, bring a bag, use a small pocket notebook to organize your thoughts and make simplicity a virtue. If you insist on being confused, your trip will be a mess. If you expect yourself to travel smart, you will. The goal of a guide & travel book is to free you. Use a guide & travel book to sort Britain’s famous sights.