◆ 35 tips ◆

What you learn
by travelling.

Practical rules, not impressions. Where a tip depends on the country or the airline, it says so.

Budget

Book medium-haul flights six to eight weeks ahead: that is the window where fares sit lowest.
Fly on a Tuesday or a Wednesday — consistently the cheapest days.
Booking direct with the hotel often unlocks a gesture: an upgrade, breakfast, a softer cancellation. The headline rate itself barely moves.
Street food and markets cost five to ten times less than a restaurant in a tourist quarter.
An ATM withdrawal almost always beats a bureau de change — check your own bank’s fees first.
A filter bottle pays for itself in three days in South-East Asia.

Register with your embassy or foreign ministry before travelling to a sensitive region.
Keep a digital copy of every document in a password manager. Paper alone is not enough.
Travel insurance is not negotiable: a medical repatriation from South-East Asia runs into tens of thousands of euros.
Leave your itinerary with someone, and check in every 48 hours.
Passport in the hotel safe, a colour photocopy in your wallet.
Learn the local emergency number: 112 works across the European Union, elsewhere it changes.

A local eSIM usually costs a fraction of your carrier’s roaming.
Airport Wi-Fi is not encrypted: never bank on it without a VPN.
Download the city’s offline map before you land.
A power bank never travels in the hold, whatever its capacity. In the cabin, above 100 Wh it needs the airline’s approval.
In-flight Wi-Fi is increasingly common on long-haul, but far from systematic: check your flight, not the airline.

Google Flights’ price calendar shows the cheapest days across a whole month.
Two one-way tickets on two bookings often beat a return — especially across different carriers.
Exit rows give legroom, but no storage under the seat.
On low-cost carriers, check in the moment it opens to avoid seat-selection fees.
When things go wrong, social media teams often answer faster than the phone line.
Missed a connection? If it is all on one ticket, the airline must rebook you at no cost.

Take the first flight of the day: delays accumulate across rotations, not at dawn.
Major sites are far quieter in the first ninety minutes after opening.
Jet lag: hold out until 22:00 local time on the first night, no exceptions.
Allow two hours of slack per day. Something always takes longer than planned.
Book a timed slot for the two or three major sites — the queue is the real cost.
A night train removes a hotel night and gives back six to eight hours of daylight.

The good tables are on the streets parallel to the tourist artery — one street back is enough.
Tip-based walking tours give the best first reading of a city.
End-of-day light is the most beautiful, and the crowd has already thinned from mid-afternoon. For real quiet, it is opening time.
Ask the housekeeping staff for addresses rather than the concierge: they live in the city.
Local ride apps often come to half the price of a taxi taken at the airport.
Shoulder season — two to three weeks either side — offers almost the same weather for far less.