Order room service, save money.
The best advice I got was from a 10-year old at the Ritz Carlton, who told me: ‘Listen, order off the children’s menu, because they give you the exact same portions of spaghetti Bolognese with meatballs [as on the adult menu], but you’re paying half the cost.’
Why the supermarket is best place for souvenirs.
I love supermarkets when I travel, because they have products we don’t. In a supermarket in Greece, I saw that Hellman’s actually makes mustard; they package it in a little goblet, so when you’re done with the mustard, you’ve got a nice little wine glass. That’s brilliant. Supermarkets are also a great place to people-watch, and all the products are like language flash cards. Go down the canned goods aisle, and there are peas, but in France, they’re les pois. You’ll see all these foods you’re probably going to see on a menu, and now you’ll know what they are.
Avoid caffeine entirely, until ...
A few days before I’m about to leave for a big time zone jump, it’s no caffeine, so it completely exits my body. Then, when I arrive at my destination, especially in Europe, the airport coffee smells wonderful. But I don’t take a coffee then. I check into my hotel—coffee in the lobby, too—but not then, either. When I’m walking around? No coffee. I wait until my body feels like cement, and I could just fall asleep on the sidewalk and then, and only then, do I allow myself a double espresso or the biggest coffee I can find. The caffeine hits my system so strongly, I’m good for the rest of the day. It’s caffeine brinkmanship.
Staying safe is a two-step process.
I’m not totally persnickety about hotel rooms, as long as they’re clean and in a nice area. But whenever I’m going for a walk, I will go up to the desk and say “I’m going in this direction. Is that OK?” That does two things. One, it gives me information from a local. Two, there’s a time stamp of when I’ve left; someone has seen me walk out. For women, if you’re travelling alone: Touch in with the front desk. I’m very conversant, and I start conversations really easily. It’s important to talk to strangers [when you travel]. But the other tip I give women is to keep a healthy skepticism when someone starts a conversation with me. In the back of my head, I search for any questions that might be too revealing, like “Oh, where are you staying?” or “Are you here with someone?” It’s just good to keep a healthy awareness of who came up to you and what they’re asking you: Is there something else going on that I don’t know about?
How to strike up conversation, anywhere.
As travellers, we’re consumers and always in need of something, so the most important phrase to know [in a foreign language] is “May I please have …” And I never go up to somebody [overseas] and say “Do you speak English?,” because that can be seen as challenging or even a put down. It’s so much better to say—in France, for example—“No Français, Anglais?” You’re basically saying “I’m in your country, but I’m sorry I don’t know your language—do you speak mine?” It immediately changes the dynamic.