The best travel tip I have ever received is KNOW before you GO. I always research wherever I am traveling to so that we are prepared when we get there on the basic necessities like transportation and food. We love to fly by the seat of our pants when it comes to booking our stays or even flights for that matter because we are flexible being flight attendants, but for other matters like transportation and food I like to be ahead of the game.
There is nothing worse than landing in a foreign country and thinking, “um.. now what..” I can’t stress enough to download and set up your apps before you leave the states. Once you get to wherever you are going you never know if you will have enough signal to download an app (especially the larger apps like GoJek that are multifunctional). Some apps require payment confirmation when entering in your preferred banking method so you should set it up before you leave the states to avoid any complications especially with transportation apps. This will also remind you to let your bank know you will be traveling abroad so that there are no disruptions with your transactions.
Anyone who knows me knows I like to eat! It sounds like a no-brainer, but as a traveler Yelp! is one of your best friends. Yelp is used worldwide and is a really easy way to narrow down where you are going to eat and what to expect with reviews. Yelp! was especially helpful in Singapore. We just wanted to get some quick ramen – we were hungry so we wanted it to be good, but we were also in a hurry so we needed it to be quick. We were able to search Yelp! and within a matter of minutes found a ramen joint just down the block that checked all of the boxes we needed. And BONUS it was walkable which brings me to our next two favorite transportation apps for traveling through Asia.
In the states Uber and Lyft are widely known and used for our transportation needs, but when traveling abroad you need to research and see if those companies are available or used wherever you are traveling. I am so happy we did this before we headed to Asia because it turns out Uber and Lyft were basically useless! In Asia we used Grab for the majority of our transportation needs. The app is very similar to Uber and Lyft and very easy to navigate and work. We also used GoJek on a couple of occasions. Where we traveled in Asia there were also options to ride along on a scooter through Grab & GoJek. So if you are a solo traveler this is a great option! Scooters are very popular and plentiful in Asia, you just have to be brave enough to hop on one. The traffic in Asia was quite a culture shock for us so we ended up getting a grab car the majority of the time. But don’t count us out as wussies we did gather up some courage and rented a scooter in Siquior, Philippines! You can read about our our story about running out of gas here!
Keep in mind there are smaller villages in Asia where the people work hard to provide transportation and have a local based taxi companies. Always take that in to account and try to help their economy when you can! There are tricycles available in most places and actually very affordable. A tricycle is a motorcycle with a colorful sidecar basically built in to the side of it. It is really loud and really a fun experience. Totes instastory-worthy.
My favorite travel app that I constantly use is My Currency Converter & Rates. This app is so simple and straight forward. Tap to reveal a list of currencies to select. You can scroll through or type in the currency or place you are looking for. Then select what you would like the ending currency to be and voila! This app converts any currency quickly and without annoying pop ups or adds getting in your way. I am no math wiz at all so this app was a life saver especially at markets where you haggle down prices or if you run in to a situation where someone is trying to price gouge you. We don’t like to be bamboozled! So use this simple and effective tool wherever you are traveling and unfamiliar with the currency.
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