Wandering around the internet like I do most days, I happened to stumble upon a Reddit entry all about tips that pro travellers would recommend to newbies. I really liked it and agreed with a lot of the tips so I thought why not put together my top 10 conveniently here on TravelDave.co.uk, so here we go:

Here is my Top travel tips which I have picked up on my travels.

1.When looking for food, if you see a line, join it.

It’s difficult to find the best location to eat, especially when it all looks the same. Do as the locals do and join the longest line, it’s normally always worth the wait. Maybe the Britishness in me wants to join a queue, but I’ve never been disappointed once. This happened to be very handy in locations such as Japan, where locals take dining out very seriously and you will often see 10 empty restaurants and one which is packed. In my experience the busiest one has always been incredibly good and totally worth the wait.

2.Pack light.

Not having to worry about a large check in bag can really add wonders to your trip. Travelling light will feel amazing and your over packing will become something of the past when you have the freedom to move around and not worry about storage. Once you arrive at an airport you can head straight to your Hostel, no waiting around its perfect.

3.Travel on your own

Travelling with people can be a pain, if you’re going to a beach resort and plan on getting wasted then it can be a lot of fun in a group, but if you really want to explore the ancient streets of Rome, travelling alone can be very rewarding. If you have never given it ago, I highly recommend it, but I must warn you its very addictive. Of course meet people on the road, arrange to meet for a coffee with a local via CouchSurfing but travelling alone for sure doesn’t have to be lonely. Do what you want and don’t be tied down to do what other people want, that’s the joy of solo travel. Feel free and explore.

4.Back up your Travel documents onto DropBox

Paper documents are perfectly fine, but they easily get lost during transit, store all important documents online to have them easily at hand. Then in case of an emergency, such as theft, you can easily access these documents with one login and a connection to the internet. I like to use Dropbox to store all my documents online, you can even access Dropbox on a smart phone whilst on the go. You can also set up an email address for your DropBox so when an airline emails you your E-ticket you can forward it to your DropBox account very easily.

5.Duct tape expensive cameras

Cover logos and model types with duck tape, this is a tip I picked up from a professional journalist you does this on his travels. Pick pockets target tourists with expensive cameras and one thing they tend to target are brands. Brands are easy to sell and if it looks taped up it looks damages and puts people off, so far no theft of the Camera so all is well!

6.When your flight takes off, set the correct time zone

The moment your flight takes off time becomes useless and the most important one will be the time zone when you arrive. Setting it once you have taken off can help with jet lag and put your mind towards the new time your be embracing. This really helps me personally and puts you in the correct frame when you arrive.

7.Take lots of pictures on your Smartphone to help your memory.

I have a terrible memory and taking pictures really helps me on the road. I like to keep my photos stored in an GTD app called Evernote and come back to them when needed. For example a picture of the street name that my Hostel is located on, a picture of the Airport transfer bus business card to store their number in case I lose it and even Metro timetables to make sure I don’t miss the last departing tram back to my hostel. The pictures act like a reference and if you’re short of Wifi these pics can be very useful at times. Be smart and keep organized.

8.Read Reviews and leave Reviews.

Many trips fail because travellers don’t do a little bit of research into where they are going. Being free and flexible is really fun and an important part of backpacking, but before you hand over any cash being a little frugal and reading into what your booking can save you a lot of time as well as money. Take Hostelworld for example, they have lots of users leave feedback after their stay. Sometimes it’s best to go for the 2nd cheapest option if the first is full of negative reviews. Pay a little extra and get a little better. Sometimes the cheapest might also be the best, but if the cheapest has really bad reviews, sometimes it might be better to sleep on the street outside the Hostel door, be careful. You can also use websites such as Trip advisor to help with your bookings, they mostly cover anything and everything. If you are looking for tips on the go with little insights you could also check in at venues on Foursquare for more personal tips.

9.Always ask the locals for tips.

This is so important if you want to find those wonderful hidden gems, ask a local if they could recommend one, and only one amazing thing you should do on your visit. Normally, if they are outgoing and patient enough, they will happily come up with the ultimate scenario. I always tend to ask for something special to them personally or something off the tourist track and the feedback has never been disappointing. You tend to feel rather excited about the idea of doing something unique and sometimes you want to do something with the locals. I’ve ended up having incredible street food in Malaysia, visiting bamboo parks in Hawaii and even found a secret hidden gem in Harry Potter experience at Universal studios Orlando (of all places) so do give it a try and see where you end up.

10.Make sure friendly girls at the bar are girls.

This can be a problem in South East Asia, be careful or you might be in store for a different kind of adventure. But Mainly you should watch out in Thailand..

Bonus tip: Carry Business cards

I did say 10 but I can’t resist this one extra tip to you, carry Business cards. You don’t even have to have a business, you can just make them for fun with your basic contact details on, such as a Phone number and Facebook/Twitter Link. You meet lots of interesting, fun people on your travels and sometimes you have to shoot off at the spur of the moment and you instantly lose contact with that new friend you made. Whipping out a business card before that train departs can be one easy way of keeping that connection. Make sure you make it fun so you stand out and they remember who to connect that business card to. My Dave the Rave business cards can be found in many peoples wallets all over the world. The best part of all you can actually make them for free here at VistaPrint, just have to pay postage, simple!

Liked the tips? Have any travel advice you would like to give to other fellow readers? Feel free to post below