My Top 10 Rules For Traveling

Once you start traveling  a lot, you come up with a set of rules you swear by every time you book a flight or a hotel room. Here's a list of 10 essential things I believe you must do every time you travel. 

1. Make friends with the people who serve you.

• Flight attendants and your waiters/waitresses are the people you want to be friends with. They're usually from different parts of the world, and since they meet people all over the world, they have excellent insight on things including but not limited to: how to not be a Boat Hoe, and if you're lucky enough, sometimes they'll sneak you free wine from your flight.

2.  If you're traveling with friends, put all of your names on the reservations you make.

• This isn't thought of when booking a room or flights, but if you and your friends are arriving in a city at different times, it can be extremely helpful. You don't want to wander around Miami at night with a bottle of sangria for 2 hours while you're waiting for a friend's flight to land. 

3. Rent bikes in a bike friendly town.

• This is a great way to get to know a city a  bit more personally while getting some great exercise. It may be a little daunting to get on a bike if you haven't rode one in years, but muscle memory is a wonderful thing. If you can't rent a bike, I suggest looking up a city bike tour.

4.  Ask bartenders to make you drinks the locals enjoy.

• This is especially  true out of the country. Just don't drink enough where your night becomes a blur, or do. 

5. Try new styles and looks.

• I always say that traveling is the best time to try things you've been to scared to do while at home. Have a dress you want to wear but don't have an occasion? Wear it to dinner in Los Angeles. Want to try that new lip color but are scared to wear it at work? Wear it with a smokey eye in a club in Istanbul. Whatever you want to wear, don't hold yourself back from it.

6.  Look  at the stars.

• We don't look at the sky often, but it is a sight to behold. Not only are you able to see new constellations from different parts of the world, but realizing your smallness in the universe in another country is a humbling experience.

7. If you know another language, talk to native speakers.

• ​Don't be afraid if you only know "hi" and "bye" in German. Often if you tell someone who speaks another language that you speak their language they'll help you. It might be difficult considering the language barrier, but it's fun finding that common ground with someone. We take speaking English for granted, so seeing how to handle it from the other side is a fun challenge to come across.

8. Appreciate those who go out of their way to travel with you.

• I like to find cute stationary so I can write my friends thank you letters if they've traveled with me. We may go through arguments, but at the end of the day, they didn't have to spend money to go on trips with you, and the fact that they did shows they care.

9. If there's nothing on tv, watch the news or ESPN.

• One of my favorite memories is when my friends and I stayed in the Dominican Republic and all of the channels except for ESPN were in Spanish so we kept the tv on that channel the entire time. In addition, if you're not into sports, BBC is always good to watch. It's important to keep up with current events and scores around the world because everyone watches them.

10. Rep your clique.

• If you're proud of where you're from, wear stuff to show it off! I love wearing hoodies and t-shirts from my alma mater, VCU. Everywhere I've been, I've met someone from there and it's fun to connect with VCU alumnae around the world. No matter the city, or university, bring something related to it and see how many people you know from there.

These are the rules I follow no matter where I go, what are some things you have to do when you travel?