How To Be A Professional Traveller: An Insider’s View On How To Make Travel Work

When in Rome..

During dinner I mentioned that I wanted to soak up some true Brazilian experiences – to watch a football game in the Maracana, for instance, and to go to an authentic samba club. The next day – to my surprise – tickets to both turned up at my hotel. Due to their generosity, and contacts, I was able to witness the most exciting game of football at an otherwise sold-out stadium – the loud rhythmic drumming from the fanatical fans making the whole thing into a party atmosphere – I still remember with joy today.

Later that week, I then found myself dancing to the beat of a leading samba-school band, in a tiny club. After some trouble finding it –   it was well-hidden behind an unmarked door, along a seedy-looking street – it turned into a magical night, with not one tourist in-sight. Glorious!

A hidden corner of Marrakech

More than the insider access the couple gave me – and their constant checking on me to see that I was ok – the experience taught me – somewhat ashamedly – how closed-off I had been. Through meeting locals, I realised, you are able to get under the skin of a place and feel the true heartbeat of any destination. It was an absolute invaluable lesson.

2. Allow bag handlers, door openers, wine sommeliers to do their job – and do it with good grace

Yes, we all know you can manage your own wheelie bag, but the hotel porter has a job to do and clutching on to it fiercely, while insisting you’re fine, will at best cause puzzlement and at worst could insult someone who is just trying to do their job (often in full view of their boss stood in reception). Worse still, you could be perceived as being haughty when you were merely trying to be humble.

Getting into a New York state of mind

Let’s face it, there are all kinds of jobs going on in hotels – especially five-star ones – that most of us would deem unnecessary in ‘real’ life. Let’s apply the thinking to a restaurant setting. Do I need a waiter to top up my water? No. But it would be churlish of me to protest, wouldn’t it? The same principle applies in hotels. There are many different tiers of staff employed for a reason, so use your judgement – and good grace – and accept the help or advice they are offering.

This was bought home to me a few years ago, when I was travelling on a group trip. On arrival at our swanky hotel in the Middle East – a member of the hotel staff started collecting our bags to deposit in our rooms. One lady insisted quite loudly that she could manage just fine, in a tone that suggested she felt the whole exercise was ludicrous, not noticing that the poor porter looked completely taken aback.

Later on, at dinner with a senior member of the hotel staff, word had clearly spread. On the subject of local customs, she politely shoehorned into the conversation that in that particular country, people took pride in even the smallest, most menial jobs, and that to not allow someone to do theirs was regarded as an insult.

Since then, I’ve always allowed people to carry out their jobs as they are employed to do, putting aside any embarrassment I might feel. Of course, using sensible judgement is necessary – it’s fine to take your tiny hold-all yourself, for instance, but silly to struggle with a larger case if someone is offering to help. As a luxury hotel reviewer, I have come to realise that the ‘art’ of a five-star experience is exactly this level of attention that has been purposely planned to elevate a guest’s experience. And, after all, it’s not hard to succumb to it!

Rome’s Trevi Fountain – not to be missed

3. Seek out the underground, but don’t dismiss the obvious

Yes, it’s interesting to find the latest hidden gem in a city, and I always check out a series of websites and blogs to research where’s new before touching down. But if, say, you haven’t been to Paris before, then don’t be embarrassed to tick off the most popular places either. Make sure you take in the big attractions – even if you’ve seen the Eiffel Tower in dozens of films and myriad photos, there’s nothing like seeing it in real life. Go, immerse yourself. After all, they are ‘big-hitters’ for a reason and you’ll just simply miss out by thinking something is ‘too touristy’ or ‘too uncool’ to see yourself. Enjoy being a tourist.

4. Pre-prep to save time

I have to be well-prepared in advance of any trip in order for the whole ‘jigsaw’ of life to work. In other words, I don’t have the time for ‘haring around’ the day/night before departure and, with a family to look after, and regular work commitments to fulfil, I need any travel I take on to be as seamless as possible.

For a road less travelled: preparation is key

So here’s how I ‘work’ my travel: I keep a box stocked with travel cosmetics, which I’ll check a few days before departure to see what I need to purchase (and I’ll add these to my weekly shop). I have a basic toiletry bag already partially filled so I just need to top it up. I also have a drawer where I keep all my travel paraphernalia, so it’s easy to access. Adapters, spare currency, suitcase locks, and the like, are immediately returned to this on arrival.

A day before departure, I call my bank to let them know I’ll be out of the country and where I am heading. This will minimise your cards being stopped when abroad. They can also advise on the best way to ‘use’ money in your given location, to avoid any additional costs, such as on a credit card.

Prague: keeping on top of things

Saved on my desktop is a copy of my passport and itinerary with any contact numbers I may need to access in case of emergency. A copy of these I always send to my husband, so he can help in an emergency.

I have a travel hold-all also partially packed for a long-haul flight. This way, I don’t have to keep packing the same things each time and it’s easy to grab and top up with other essentials. In this are thick socks, a pashmina, on-board toiletries in a clear case, eye mask and sliders (to use on the plane after removal of shoes. Note: do NOT walk around in socks. I’m amazed at the amount of people who do this: just think of the wet airplane bathroom floor, which should be enough to put you off).

7. To tip or not to tip

The issue of tipping is a tricky thing. Tricky, that is, for many UK travellers, who seem perpetually perplexed as to who to tip and how much. Let’s put aside American travellers, for this topic – who have a finely-tuned service-charge culture. Let’s also avoid talking about dining  – which is more straightforward and often obvious from the bill.

For everything else, I always make sure I have some cash in the given currency ready for arrival and departure. My general rule of thumb is to give something to the member of staff who brings your bags to the room, and who helps you with them at the airport.

Coming into land in the Seychelles

Note: don’t be afraid to ask local airport porters how much they charge before you a) dismiss them out of hand or b) allow them to start wheeling your bags. You’ll be surprised to find that many actually charge just a small fee (most porters at airports are government monitored) and, if that’s the case, it’s often worth paying it, especially if you are unfamiliar with the airport you are trying to negotiate. They will often know short-cuts to where you need to get to, whisk you through customs and deposit you at your given point without you having to walk aimlessly around a confusing airport.

Speaking of porters, I’d always give a tip to them, as well as tour guides and taxi drivers, too – and the latter goes for my home-town (London) as well as abroad – generally rounding the price up a few pounds.

8. You can’t beat a good book

In this age of constant bombardment from online news and magazines, inflight TV, not to mention social media, it’s easy to forget the joy of reading a good blockbuster as a route to switching off completely. Even as a natural bookworm, sometimes it takes me a day or two to really focus on a given book when I am travelling, and not be distracted by the other ‘stuff’ that we carry (literally and metaphorically) with us.

Travel: the ultimate page-tuner

Some of the best works of fiction are wonderful windows into a new place, and I’ve lately started revisiting something I used to do on every trip: reading an author who has portrayed a given destination in their work. You can’t beat reading Gabriel García Marquez in Columbia, for instance, or Isabel Allende in Chile (OK, OK, yes, I have a penchant for Magical Realism). There are so many ‘Trip Fictions’ to choose from, but some of my favourite gems include Gerald Durrell’s My Family and Other Animals for Corfu, EM Forster’s Room With A View for Florence, VS Naipaul’s A House for Mr Biswas for Trinidad and F Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is The Night for the French Riviera.

The thrill of a new landscape never gets old

I try and search out a new title for every new destination, so it places me, the reader, in the location in my imagination, as well as physically being there.

Of course, you get so much from reading a good book, not least some good dinner conversation, if all else fails. Last year, when I was in the Seychelles, for example, I ended up sitting next to a much-respected hotel GM in his early 60s. Through his career, he had overseen some of the finest hotels in the world, and when talk turned to fantasy dinner parties, he inadvertently stopped the conversation short when he revealed his best dinner party – in real life – had been when he was sat between Obama and Mandela, with Angelina Jolie opposite. Nobody could compete.

Read all about it… the Maldives

To halt the ensuing open-mouthed silence, I began talking about the book I was then reading. Karen Fowler’s We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. Not only was it a fascinating book to talk about, but I was pleased to see the experienced GM write the title down as one that he wanted to read and the table’s conversation quickly turned into a lively debate about best reads.

When it comes to travel, there’s nothing like the power of words to inspire you.

 

This feature also appears on Forbes.com