Traveling continues to be the biggest item on everyones bucket list. Why? Because it gives us a chance to see the world from a different lens; not to mention the massive amount of learning we can obtain  from other cultures. It’s refreshing 🙂

Have you ever wondered what essentials you should bring along when going to a different country?  I sat down with  my brother, International Travel Advocate Anthony “Sav”  Savage on his tips and tricks to having an amazing trip.

Traveling Q & A

1. How many countries have you been to?

“I have been to 31 countries. Hopefully, by the end of the year, it’s 33-35. I want to explore at least 4 new countries a year, I met two women on a trip.  One has been to 87 countries and the other 93.  So I need to catch up.”

2. Where is your next trip?

“My next trip will either be to South Africa or back to Thailand with a stop in South Korea in Seoul. It really depends on timing.”

3. Can you break down your travel essentials?

• Most important travel essential is a passport.  You must have one of those to do some damage.
• The second most important travel essential I have is my universal adapters, because I have to be able to charge everything. I use to the adapter and my USB charging port because it’ll charge multiple devices.
• I have backpacks that are a few different colors depending on my mood lol.
• A Samsung camera with wifi capabilities that connect to FaceBook or email.
• A drone
• MacBook Pro
• Ipad Pro
• Selfie stick
• GorillaPod Tripod
• Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch
• Fitbit Charge 2
• Beats Studio
• wireless in earbuds
• Note 5 which takes great pics
• My other Samsung which holds all my music
• iPhone

4. What is your favorite travel essential?

“My favorite travel essential is my GorrilaPod Tripod, because it gives me the ability to take amazing pictures with no ones help lol. I can twist it around tree’s, polls or just stand it up on the ground. What most people don’t know is 80% of the time I’m by myself and I take my own pictures with a timer on my camera or phone.”

5. Is it anything you are trying to add to your travel essentials?

“I really want a professional camera and I am starting to do research on it.  This will be my next investment. I think I take great photos and see such amazing things.  These moments will come out so much better with a professional camera.   I have to figure out what works best for me like what kind of lenses are compatible, etc. So if anyone has any recommendations let me know.”

6. What’s your favorite country to visit?

“This is theeee most difficult question.  It depends on what you want. Overall, I would say Thailand was the best, because there is so much to see. It’s so inexpensive. You can see and do so much and it feels like it’s costing you nothing.

Bangkok is like New York City.  It’s heavily populated with a lot of culture. Then you can take a cheap $45, 1 1/2 hour flight to some of the most beautiful beaches in Phuket.

While there you can take a ferry to the most beautiful place on earth in the Phi Phi Islands. You can also visit the Elephant/Monkey Parks and the Tiger Kingdom. It’s so relaxing and then the food is AMAZING. If you want to party you can do it anywhere, but Pattaya is the best place. Chiang Mai is amazing. It’s so much to see and do there.

“My greatest travel experience came in Jerusalem.  The Old City to be exact. To be able to go back to the Holy land to where Jesus really walked, lived and died for us was an amazing experience. This is a day I knew I was truly blessed.”

7. What life lessons have you learned from your travel experiences?

“My greatest life lesson I’ve learned is to appreciate what you have because so much of the world doesn’t have. Literally. I’ve seen so much poverty, that it had me speechless at times, but yet it seems like the people with the least, are sooooooo happy. I’ve seen the world’s greatest hustlers, and they were 4 and 5 years old. They were working and selling stuff to feed their families. Think about what I just said. This little girl that took our pictures in Egypt, she was 10 years old, and she was hustling to help support her family. The guy (Mohamed) who took us around the entire city, showed us all that he could in Cairo from 6 am to 1 am and only asked for $40 US dollars. Imagine that happening in the states, that would be hundreds of dollars each. They appreciate the little things, that we forget about a lot of times.”

 

 

Also, you’ll learn why people are the way they are through their cultures. I’ve also learned not to judge a book by its cover or by what it’s perceived to be. You hear so many times not to go to this place or that place, but yet when you get there, it’s nothing like what the “media” depicts it to be and that can be translated to people.  You hear things about people which turns out to be completely false.

We are overall the same.  There may be  some differences in cultures but at the end of the day when you sit down with people from different countries, different walks of life, overall we are all the same.  In general we  want the same things in life.  Just took different paths due to circumstance.”

8. When it comes to your clothing do you pack light??

“I always make the mistake of over packing, but I’ve learned it’s better to under pack then it is to over pack. You’ll see so many things that you want to buy but won’t have any room for it. So pack to a minimum especially pants or shorts.  You don’t need a different pair for every day of the trip.  Consider a few casual pairs and that’s it. Having a lot will make your bag heavier and takes up to much space. Save some space for the unexpected. I guarantee you that you’ll see something to buy somewhere you ‘MUST HAVE”….. have some space for it.”

Thanks so much Sav for not only providing us with a great list of travel essentials, but also giving some insightful reasons to always want to travel.

To keep up with Anthony’s travels be sure to follow him on instagram 

Got questions?  Email us at info (at) thenaturalhighblog (dot) com

Talk Soon 🙂