I don’t mean the actual roads. I mean those nice, shiny, paved streets with flocks of tourists looking in the shop windows, photographing anything in site, seemingly interested in every trinket a shop keeper could attach a half decent story to. Avoid those. You’ll find nothing interesting.Unless you like overpriced “I heart (insert city here)” T-shirts when visiting another country, try venturing into the unknown.Sure, it’s scarier, but the tourist center of each city does nothing but cater to the tourist.The real beauty begins where your comfort zone ends.

Don’t go to the restaurant chains you already go to while you’re home. You can do that at any time! Try something new. This isn’t too easy with local restaurants wanting to cater to tourists and therefore altering their menus to fit the criteria. So, make it interesting! If you feel going somewhere with a menu you can’t read is excessive, then find a place that serves food with a sign you can’t read. The food there is more likely to be authentic than some place in Rome conveniently named “La Roma’s Best Pizzeria”.

As if that needed to be said! But, for those of you that don’t it doesn’t hurt, you save and if you do it right, you get a kick out of it. That said, be sensible when you do so. Traveling equals expensive and there’s no way to avoid that truth.However, ditching the fear of being a tad assertive won’t do you harm.It’s not like you’ll see these people again.Of course, don’t evolve into the obnoxious western tourist that everyone loves to hate.Just remember, there’s a polite way to negotiate.

It’s a little scary and you might just feel a tad embarrassed but, nine times out of ten, natives are ecstatic to see you try.Of course, you’ll encounter some “gems” that roll their eyes and respond condescendingly in English.Just remember that feeling when you're back at home and someone from abroad tries to speak Sinhala to you.A little encouragement can transform an out-of-country experience.

I admit that I don’t take many pictures.What inevitably happens is that I dump them on my computer and never see them again.I don’t regret taking them, and they will pave my memory lane one day. However, try to stay in the moment, too.You want to look at an old photograph and have it trigger a vignette from your past, not a fuzzy image of your Canon’s backside.The great thing about traveling is that every trip is unique. You’ll remember the moments you enjoyed even better when you have one picture that captures its essence instead of a whole album of one location. More importantly, you’ll actually enjoy the moment more if you’re not worrying about your camera. Now that you know what you need to do when you’re away from our humble homeland, you’ll need a safe, secure and convenient way to handle your money and what you spend. Luckily, we’ve got just the thing for you! Get yourself a Seylan Multi-Currency Travel Card. You can find out how right here on our site or at your nearest Seylan Bank branch. Happy touring! If we missed any tips, let us know on our social media pages what you do when visiting another country!