Independent Travel: How?

I get this question all the time - more in the form of an incredulous "How on earth do you know where to stay?", and "How the heck do you get around?" or just "How do you know what to do?!?!?". One important thing to keep in mind is that you will never be the first foreign or local tourist in an area. Whatever track you choose to beat has almost certainly been beaten before you - and many times! Facilities for travel, whether geared specifically for the foreigner or not, exist the world over. Why not use them?

Travelling independently means travelling without a travel agent booking your transportation or accommodations and without joining tours that employ people to arrange your schedule and activities. Travelling independently means deciding what you want to do on a minute-to-minute basis, making your own arrangements for accommodation, transportation and activities, meeting and talking to people to help you accomplish this and basically just fending for yourself. Independent travel allows for the freedom of choice and usually a lower budget.

A single and simple answer to the question of how to travel independently is "Read your guidebook!" Budget-minded guidebooks (like Lonely Planet, Rough Guide and Let's Go) can be invaluable tools for the independent traveller. They are useful right from the get-go. Just knowing that a guidebook exists is your first clue to being confident that, yes, you CAN in fact travel to this destination in an independent fashion! In the early stages, spend some time in the travel section of your local library or bookstore reading guidebooks to form an idea of where in the world you want to go and what you want to see and do. When you have chosen a destination, invest in the book that focuses most specifically on where you are going or where you are starting. Use the book to plan your trip to whatever extent you wish, then take it on the road with you to use as a reference. A good guidebook gives you information on how to get around, where to stay and eat, and what to do and see in each town you go to. In the least, it will provide you with the platform and confidence to discover this information on your own. For advice on choosing your guidebook, see Get a Guidebook.

Having plugged the good guidebook, I must admit I have encountered people on my travels who prefer not to use one. A guidebook may point you in the direction of the beaten track that you may prefer to avoid, and it may be limiting if you get accustomed to relying on the book. It is certainly possible for the confident traveller to see the world without a written resource. Once you get use to hopping on and off buses and trains, checking in to and out of hostels, guesthouses and hotels and wandering around to find your kibble, the equation becomes much simpler. Some people just prefer to find out on their own what the world holds. For others, guidebooks are simply a source of little tips, tricks and best bets.

Guidebook or no, there are other sources of information out there and you are most likely to find them without even trying. In some countries the attraction of the tourist dollar to the locals means that information actually finds you. Tourist information offices, touts and locals can be useful sources of info, but your best bet is the generally trustworthy words of other travellers who have come from wherever it is you are going or could go. They have first hand knowledge of what it is like to travel in that given area and may be able to recommend where to stay, eat, hang out and avoid. The mighty word of the fellow traveller garnered in a typical traveller's exchange might even prompt you to change your itinerary to take in a destination that sounds too good to be true.

Overall, independent travel is easy if you are so inclined to make that little extra effort in planning. Being able to read a guidebook and ask the right questions is all it might take. A phrasebook of the local language just might help too!

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