1. Avoid museums.
This advice may seem absurd, but let's just think a bit. If you are in a foreign city, isn't it more interesting to go in search of the present rather than the past? People simply feel obliged to visit museums because they were taught as children that cultural enrichment consists of that. Of course, museums are important, but visiting them requires time and objectivity. You must clearly understand what exactly you want to see there, rather than wandering aimlessly while wasting time. Visiting a museum just for the sake of it – you simply won't remember what interesting and important things you saw there.
2. Go into bars.
It is bars, cafes – places where the life of the city reveals itself, not museums. I don't mean nightclubs, but those places where ordinary people drop in after work for a drink or two, talk about the weather, and are always open to conversation. Buy a newspaper, make yourself comfortable, and enjoy watching people come and go. If someone strikes up a conversation, join in. You cannot judge the beauty of the path just by looking at the gate.
3. Be open.
The best guide is someone who lives in that place, is proud of their city, and knows everything about it. Go out into the street, choose a person you would like to talk to, and ask them something (where is the cathedral? where is the post office?). If nothing works, try again – I guarantee that in the end you will find yourself an excellent companion.
4. Try traveling alone,
if you have a partner – travel with your companion.
It will be hard, no one will look after you, but only in this way will you truly leave your country behind. Traveling in a foreign country with a group, constantly speaking your native language, doing what the guide tells you, you will not be able to feel the full charm of the journey, and you will pay more attention to the gossip in the group than to the place you sought to visit.
5. Don't compare.
Don't compare anything – prices, hygiene standards, quality and standard of living, means of transportation – nothing! You are not traveling to prove that you are better than other people – your goal is to find out how other people live, what they can teach you, how they behave in real and unpredictable situations. Cultivate a sense of respect for people, because every person can teach us something.
6. Realize – everyone understands you.
Even if you don't speak a foreign language, don't be afraid. I have been to many places where I didn't know a word of the local language, and I always found support, recommendations, useful advice, and even girlfriends. Many people fear that if they travel alone, they might get lost or wander the streets of an unfamiliar city. Put the hotel business card in your pocket, buy a city map, a pen or pencil. People will always be able to explain how to get back, just by drawing a line on the map. As a last resort, grab a taxi and show the hotel card to the driver.
7. Don't buy too much.
Spend your money on things you won't have to carry on your back: tickets to a good play, excursions, restaurants. Nowadays you can buy anything you want via the Internet, and you won't have to overpay for luggage.
8. Don't try to see the world in a month.
It is much better to stay in a city for four or five days than to visit five cities in a week. A city, like a capricious woman, takes time to seduce and fully reveal herself.
9. Travel is an adventure.
Henry Miller said that it is much more important to find a church that no one has ever heard of than to go to Rome and feel obliged to visit the Sistine Chapel with two hundred thousand other tourists standing on top of each other. By all means, visit the Sistine Chapel, but do not forget to also wander the streets, explore the alleys, feel the freedom in search of something – something you do not know – but if you find it…