By: Asma Ayyaz
Most people aren’t born savvy travelers. It’s something that only comes with on-the-road experience. Travel savviness is a process born of missed buses, foolish behavior, cultural unawareness, and countless tiny errors.
Then, one day, you begin to seamlessly move through airports and integrate yourself into new cultures like a fish to water.
In the beginning, you just make a lot of travel mistakes.
But I want to help speed up the process and help you avoid my mistakes (and I often make a lot of them), so I put together this giant list of my best travel tips that cover everything under the sun to help you reach your full travel ninja potential.
I’ve learned these tips over the last sixteen years being a nomad.
These tips for traveling will have you saving money, sleeping better, getting off the beaten path more, meeting locals, and just being a better traveler.
So, without further ado, here are the best 61 travel tips in the world:
1. Always pack a towel.
It’s the key to successful galactic hitchhiking – and plain common sense. You never know when you will need it, whether it’s at the beach, on a picnic, or just to dry off after a shower. While many hostels offer towels, you never know if they will or not, and carrying a small towel won’t add that much weight to your bag.
Make sure it’s a lightweight, quick-drying towel since regular towels are too bulky and heavy (and they take a long time to dry). Dry Fox travel towels are my favorite (use the code “nomadic Matt” for 15% off your purchase)!
2. Use a small backpack/suitcase.
Nomadic Matt posing for a photo in Hawaii while traveling by purchasing a small backpack (I like something around 35/45 liters), you will be forced to pack light and avoid carrying too much stuff. Humans have a natural tendency to want to fill space. Even if you pack light initially but have lots of extra room in your bag, you’ll end up going “well, I guess I can take more” and fill that space. You’ll regret it later as you’ll be carrying around a bunch of stuff you don’t need as well as more weight on your shoulders.
I also recommend packing cubes, which are essential if you’re going to be living out of a backpack for a few weeks (or months), or you just want to keep your suitcase better organized. They come in a variety of sizes, allowing you to store items big and small. They’re great for making it easy to find everything in your backpack or suitcase.
3. Pack light.
Write down a list of essentials, cut it in half, and then only pack that! Plus, since you bought a small backpack like I said above, you won’t have much room for extra stuff anyways! Take half the clothes you think you will need…you won’t need as much as you think. It’s OK to wear the same t-shirt a few days in a row.
4. But take extra socks.
You’ll lose a bunch to laundry gremlins, wear and tear, and hiking so packing extra will come in handy. Take a few more than you need. Trust me on this. Nothing beats a fresh pair of socks!.. To be continued in next edition Email: asmashums@gmail.com
Sunday, April 26, 2026
