Whether you’re going on a short holiday, a business trip, a honeymoon or your ultimate trip of a lifetime, a stint abroad is a big investment in time and money. Make sure it’s worth your while – and the best it can possibly be – by following these planning and travel tips.

Be a Scout – Be Prepared

The bare minimum of preparation is what I call the administrative work. This means you’ve checked your passport, tickets and bookings are all in order. Be certain your passport is valid for at least six months, check that your name is correctly shown on your ticket, and make sure your accommodation or tour bookings are all locked in for the right dates.

And then there’s the fun side of preparing for a trip, which can be at least as fun as the holiday itself: do some research! These days it’s so easy to pick up a guidebook or two, or surf the net for a couple of hours, to learn all kinds of interesting facts about your destination. You don’t need to read so many pages that there are no surprises left when you arrive, but getting some background knowledge can really enhance your experience. Useful information can include a bit of history, some climate facts, details on popular sports and hobbies or topical news issues. Knowing about Slovakia’s national obsession with ice hockey, for instance, helped me start up plenty of conversations with Bratislavans in bars.

Flexibility is the Key

You can’t control the weather (but if for some reason you can, let me know!). Nor can you control national holidays, museum opening hours, bus schedules or the taste of your lunch. Plan ahead, know what you’d like to do – but stay cheery if you need to switch to Plan B, or even if circumstances render a move to Plan C necessary. Often the most memorable travel experiences arise from an unexpected detour or a last-minute activity.

Remember, too, that things could be unusual. The reason most people travel is to be somewhere different to home. It’s surprising, then, that so many tourists are disappointed when they can’t get their usual brand of chewing gum or when the shops close earlier than their accustomed to. When you’re not at home, enjoy the things that make it clear you’re not at home, because it won’t be long until you’re back in your own four walls wishing you were still on holiday. My experience taught me that the annoyance of always being served a strange-tasting fig jam for breakfast in Tunisia turned into a craving for a repeat experience once I was back home.

Learn a Little Lingo

If you’re traveling somewhere you can’t speak the language, don’t be scared – just be prepared! A mere few words can make a big difference. It’s true that English is becoming a really international language, and particularly people living in popular tourist areas often speak great English – but in this situation it’s often more the thought that counts. Picture going into a shop – you can say good morning or hello in the local language, and the shop assistant immediately realises you want to make an effort to learn about local ways. Add a few more words like “please” and “thank you,” be able to count from one to five and of course, learn to say “goodbye,” and you’ll really start to feel like you’re fitting in. Plus, when you come across someone who doesn’t speak English, you’ll be amazed at how much communication can occur with just a few phrases, and a lot of gestures. Many guidebooks today include a page or two of basic phrases – plus helpful hints on how to pronounce them – or surf the web for a handy page that might even have some sound files for you to listen to. After feeling a little bewildered the first few times I traveled in non-English speaking countries, I have now taken it as my personal challenge to learn how to thank someone in as many languages as possible!

Meet the Locals

It’s sad but true: it’s surprisingly easy to spend an entire week or longer in a foreign country and never really speak to someone who actually lives there. If you’re traveling independently, it’s a lot easier to find yourself in situations where you can chat with a local, but the same rules about making an effort apply. Try to start up a conversation on a simple, safe subject – a comment on the weather or a question about when the bus leaves. If you find someone who’s happy to chat with you, you can find out all kinds of things about everyday life in a different country. Surprisingly, many locals are even happy to talk about what you might think are somewhat controversial topics – in the Baltic countries, for example, I kept coming across Latvians or Estonians who wanted to tell me all about the differences between life under communist rule and in post-Soviet Russia. But of course, be culturally sensitive, and watch for body language or other signals which suggest a change of topic is advisable.

Travel Independently

Some people prefer the safety and simplicity of an organized tour, but do consider the alternative of independent travel carefully, or even a combination of the two. You’ll usually get a lot more out of a trip where you mix with the locals on a bus or train than if you sit on a comfortable air-conditioned bus with only fellow tourists for company. Sometimes such an option takes more time, but on the other hand, it is almost always cheaper. Nowadays the Internet makes it possible to find train timetables or book a hotel in almost every far-flung corner of the globe, and you can also find information and advice from people just like you who’ve already visited your desired destination.

There are certainly some cases where a degree of help from a tour company can make life easier; for example, travel to a country like Russia with its complex visa system can be made much simpler with the help of some pre-booked accommodation or even a tour. If you’re unsure about traveling independently, try arranging part of your trip as a tour and a relatively simple part – for example, three or four days in a well-touristed capital city – where you’ll do your own thing.