Shyam's 20 Rules for Indian Travellers

 

Paul Theroux’s 10 Rules of Travel listed in his book “Tao of Travel” are well known among 

travellers. Though he is my favourite travel writer, I don’t agree with some of them. 

Some of the rules are dated and they don’t take care of the idiosyncrasies of Indian 

travellers. So, I have come up with my own 20 rules. While they are targetted at Indian

 travellers, a lot of them are applicable to travellers from other countries too. Here they are.

 

1. Never go on a package tour.

2. Travel to a place where you don't get Indian food.

3. Visit the tougher places when you are younger.

4. Always cross using a land border.

5. Stay longer than required in each place.

6. Buy a good guide book.

7. Download offline Google Maps.

8. Read a book by a renowned author of the country you are visiting.

9. Write travel notes everyday while having your evening drink.

10. It's OK to take pictures without you in it.

11. Travel light.

12. Never travel without overseas medical insurance.

13. Have a friend in the US (or in the Western world) who can Western Union money to you in emergencies.

14. Buy one unique souvenir which is available only in that country.

15. Turn on Location Sharing in Google Maps if you are travelling to dodgy places.

16. Set your watch to the arrival time, before departure.

17. Sleep on the flight, irrespective of what time it is.

18. Don't drink alcohol on the flight.

19. Don’t spend the smallest denomination banknotes and coins. Collect them.

20. Mail a postcard to your friends and loved ones.


Comments please! Thou shalt get a reply!

Comments

  1. SamitAugust 26, 2020 at 11:22 AM

    Nice Shyam! So very true. Especially number 10!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Siddhartha GAugust 26, 2020 at 7:09 PM

    Good one! I like the first one. But I love the concept of hop on hop off in a city.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shyam KodavarthiAugust 26, 2020 at 7:14 PM

      Yes, I like hop on hop off too. You can spend as much time as you want in each place or skip a place you don't like. It's package tours that I don't like.

      Delete
  3. UnknownAugust 26, 2020 at 8:02 PM

    Hello Sir,It's very useful . Congratulations for the blog

    ReplyDelete
  4. Helen RangerAugust 29, 2020 at 8:52 PM

    Thanks for these tips! Always interesting to see as I get quite a few Indian clients, though these relate to everyone, really.
    I hope you enjoy Equatorial Guinea. I went 4 years ago for Lonely Planet.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Shyam KodavarthiAugust 30, 2020 at 10:02 AM

      Thanks. Glad that you liked them. I am looking forward to Eq. Guinea!

      Delete
  5. rajeevSeptember 29, 2020 at 10:06 AM

    Very useful tips
    Thanks a lot

    ReplyDelete

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