When you to travel to a destination are you a tourist or a visitor? Do you assimilate into
the culture or do you instantly brand yourself as a tourist. Unfortunately Americans have
the international reputation for not blending into the local culture and sticking out in the
crowd.

If you travel with a fanny back, you can rest assure that you will instantly be branded as a
tourist. I’ve yet to see a non-American tourist sporting the fanny. Get rid of the fanny pack,
it’s aging, cheesy and worse of all just plain ugly. 

I know this sounds obvious but I have no idea why so many people open an oversize
map in the middle of the street. Study the map before leaving the hotel or even better
leaving your home. That way, a quick glance while walking around is all you need to re-
orient yourself. If this is impossible, how about taking a break at a café or even pulling
into a store to regroup. If you must travel with a map, try to get a small discreet one.
Anything is better than pulling out the map with the fanny pack around your waist in the
middle of lots of foot traffic.

When you visit glorious culinary cities such as Rome or Paris, don’t eat at KFC,
McDonalds or any other predictable American chain. Eat the way the locals do, grab the
street food, don’t assume that it’s dangerous it will most likely be delicious.

Leave the flashy jewelry at home. We expensive draped around your neck and the
expensive ring adorning your finger, you are asking for trouble. You will either look naïve
and an easy target for local thieves or a tourist who just doesn’t know any better.

If you are staying in a hotel, utilize concierge service. With their help, you will know
exactly where you are going. If you have opted to rent a vacation apartment, prior to
arrival find out if you can hire a guide to orient you to city so that you don’t have to wander
around aimlessly.

Please make an attempt to learn the basics of the language. Don’t assume that
everyone speaks English. The French especially Parisians appreciate the effort and will
encourage your learning. A few keywords in the local language will open many doors.
No one is expecting you to be fluent but you’ll be surprised at how the service improves
when you memorize a few key phrases in the local language.

For some reason, tourists love to look up so if you want to look like you belong don’t look
up. This simple unconscious act is a dead giveaway that you don’t belong here and are on borrowed time.

How you dress speaks volumes to who you are.  If you witnessed someone dressed in
shorts, a t-shirt with a logo, baseball cap, back pack and athletic shoes, wouldn’t you
think they were an American tourist. The universal color for chic attire is black. The
population of Paris, London, New York and other sophisticated cities tend to wear lots of
black.

I recommend packing few clothes, then immediately shop the local stores, and buy what
you find there, buy the clothes the locals wear. You will instantly blend.

Which is safer a hotel room or a vacation apartment? You want your hotel or vacation
apartment to be your home away from home, but  many of hotel aspects of hotel pricing
and policy are not necessarily homey. So how does a hotel stack up against a vacation
apartment? 

Even in elite hotels, luggage can be stolen right off the luggage carts in the lobby.
And the hotel assumes no legal responsibility for the loss. If your bag is going to sit for
more than a few minutes, ask that it be placed in a secure room.  Yes, that designer
luggage set will definetly impress fellow travelers but it also catches the eye of the local
thieves that prey in hotels.  The cheaper or uglier your luggage looks, the greater the
odds that a thief will target someone else.

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