- Quick facts
- Total days on the road: 586
- Currently in: USA
- Miles Driven: 36821
- Countries Visited: 17
- Days Camping: 389
- Days Indoors: 202
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While Traveling
As any experienced traveler knows, you will run into difficulties while you're on the road. How you deal with the hard times will make the difference between a miserable trip and a memorable experience.
Travelers seek to grow themselves personally, and come home with amazing stories to tell. We do this by being prepared for the expected and by dealing with the unexpected with a positive attitude. Here you'll find common advice we've gained through our years spent traveling, and general tips to help you avoid and deal with the tough times.
Haggling 101
{jcomments lock}Haggling is not for everyone and not everyone is good at it.
True hagglers know that it is not about undercutting the seller or over charging the buyer. Haggling is the ancient art of negotiating a mutually beneficial deal over fine and often blurry lines.
10 Simple Rules for Negotiating
- Mutual respect often seals the deal. Don’t be rude or condescending when negotiating
- It’s supposed to be a fun cultural experience, not about pinching pennies.
- Be flexible. Set the high and low price you are willing to pay and negotiate within them.
- Plan for big victories. Give in or pay full price for cheaper items so you can save more on big items.
- Take your time to consider the counter offer, don’t be aggressive or pushy.
- Beware of your body language, open hands and stance means you’re friendly and willing to negotiate. Don’t cross your arms.
- Purchasing multiple items with one vendor will usually get you a better deal.
- Know the estimated market price for the product. Shop around, and don’t assume things are cheaper because you are in a third world country. Some things may be more expensive.
- Sweeten the deal. Be willing to barter for part of the cost.
- Be prepared to walk away.
Doing Laundry while Traveling
{jcomments lock}Cleaning clothes while traveling is pretty easy. Put clothes in container, fill with water, add soap, swish around, rinse, hang to dry. They might not be sparkling, but they’ll be clean enough.
There are, however, a few things you need to know to avoid spending half of your trip fretting over dirty laundry.
How to Survive Long Flights
{jcomments lock}If I could wish for just one piece of technology to be created it would be a teleporter. The one from Star Trek would do just fine. “Beam me up, Scotty”. I think everyone in the world would be a lot happier.
Let’s face it, there is nothing nice about flying. The longer the flight, the more painful it is. As a Seattle native, with a South African spouse, I’ve been on my fair share of long flights. Two back to back 10 hour flights is enough to wilt even the toughest traveler. It has nearly killed me a few times.