Travel Advice : What I wish I knew
I am so grateful to have been able to experience a different country to this capacity. My Nigerian friends call me Omoniola the Ajala – which means Omoniola the Explorer in Yoruba (a Nigerian tribe/language). I love to travel – my youtube channel and Instagram includes a lot of the places I’ve been to this year – the year I decided to take my vlogging and documenting seriously. Being in Europe has allowed me to want to venture out, but the fear of venturing out alone was there. I kept trying to look for people who also enjoyed traveling but I couldn’t find anyone, besides my two cousins who would attend two out of the five trips that I had planned. Nevertheless, this goes to show not to wait for anyone before creating a lasting memory for yourself. Below are some of the tips I have when traveling alone and visiting another country.
Traveling Alone
- When traveling alone you need to be more cautious – especially if you are a female. People can spot foreigners and when you’re alone its more obvious. Turn on your location when you travel in general ( you can do this via iPhone and via Whatsapp). This will help your friends and family know where you are.
- I would suggest taking advantage of things during the day when many people are on the streets and buses of where you are going. Traveling alone at night is riskier – hence why many solo travels tend to stay away from very late outings.
- Make sure you have internet or SIM card from that region! This is so important. I went to Barcelona and when I arrived I had very weak service– so I couldn’t do google searches about transportation or even the route to my hotel from the airport. Luckily, my phone service has an extended internet whereby I paid $5 for 24hours of fast-speed internet. This goes into my next point…
What I wish I knew before…
- DO YOUR RESEARCH of the country you’re going to! I didn’t realize that Barcelona did not have ubers, and when I landed I kept wondering why my UBER app wasn’t working. Doing research on ways to get around in Barcelona, bus fares, currency exchange, etc. will help you in the long run. I basically had to teach myself everything upon getting there. Doing this in advance when planning your trip and the places you want to go can only help you, not harm you.
- Figure out if you’re visiting currency usually runs on cash or card. The buses in Manchester are contactless, meaning I can use my card or my phone to pay. It is the opposite of Barcelona. In Barcelona, they only accept prepaid tickets ( which you get from the train station) or cash. Meaning withdraw money in their currency before going there. Restaurants take cards as well but having enough cash helps.
- Stay close to the city if you can, tourist areas means you’ll also meet other tourists. This can be exciting and you can make new international friends.
- Try to speak the basics of the language. Upon getting to Barcelona I realized people they barely spoke English. This made my Spanish 3 senses from high school begin to kick in. Thank God I remembered some words and how to ask about where I needed to go. Now that I know this, I am researching the main language spoken in any country I visit.
I hope these tips and information help you. I know that they’ve helped me now that I know. I can’t wait to keep you guys updated on my explorations. I am now loving Manchester even more as I discover some beautiful places and even kinder people. Next stop… MADRID.
VLOGS :
Barcelona Vlog : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ayPppxVuvE
Manchester First Week of Class Vlog : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mboAhs3C1Cg&t=126s
Manchester Room Tour: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyCTRr302a0&t=2s