The Ten Travel Commandments (from a pair of secular travellers)
- Brendan Munden
- Mar 30
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 31
We are borrowing from ideas we've come across from other books, articles and ideas with a few twists of our own. Likely nothing ground-breaking, and we hope it is a reminder to be mindful travellers.
Pack in What You Pack Out: don’t be that traveller the locals despise who throws their wrappers, beer cans, and drink cups in the street or on someone’s front steps. If you bought it in a wrapper/can/cup and there is rubbish (or better yet, recycling) to be dealt with – just know you are the one responsible for dealing with it. Not the staff where you are staying, and not the people who live in the destination you are visiting. It’s your responsibility.
Just Think: be mindful of what you are doing on your holiday, and why you are travelling. Whenever possible take time to reflect on the “why”. What brought you to this place, and how are you impacting the place you visit. If your answer to the ‘why’ is to get really drunk and/or wasted, then at least practice harm reduction and try to deal with number one above even when drunk.
Buy Local: these days our greatest political power is in our wallet. Where we choose to spend our money, and how we spend it, sends a message. We always encourage people to not support the big corporations. As mentioned in our blogs and videos – the big corporations do not need our money. The small family/local run businesses do need our patronage to survive. If we want truly unique, cultural experiences on our travels and for our kids/nephews/nieces to have those experiences then we need to do our part to help communities survive. The best way to do this is to shop at stores, cafes, clothing outlets that are independently owned by local people and businesses.
Do Not Take Photos of Locals Without Their Permission: this is something we have witnessed way too many times on our travels. Once we talked with this individual who got in the face of a local and snapped way too many photos. Turns out this person was from North Vancouver near where we live. How embarrassing. Remember, you are a guest in the community you are visiting. You are in someone else’s home/city/town. Treat others and their country as you would treat your own – with respect and dignity. Guaranteed you will have a better response from people than if you are behaving in an entitled manner and disrespecting the privacy and surroundings of others.
This song written by Jack Johnson illustrates number four above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEgBZ2gXS9s
Be Respectful of the Culture and Traditions of Other People: you may not always be aware of the customs in another country, but that is no excuse for not doing your homework before you leave. If you are going to Europe, we recommend picking up Rick Steves book on the country you are visiting. He provides a solid background in the history and culture of the city, region, country and has been researching Europe since the mid-1970s. You can also do an Internet search of where you are going and type in ‘customs to know when visiting (your destination)’. This will give you at least an elementary understanding of things to do, and more importantly, things to avoid. This has the side benefit of showing the locals you took the time to understand their culture and you will be rewarded with a warmer reception than if you just blunder through countries uninformed.
Learn a Few Words of the Culture You are Visiting: nothing lets people know you are trying to understand the place you are visiting than when you learn a few basic phrases. It doesn’t have to be much, but if you can say, “hello”, “how are you?”, “excuse me”, and “thank you” – then you will be rewarded with a warmer response by people who are most likely tired of tourists by the time you visit. I always make sure I know how to say, “may I have a coffee, please”. I use that one several times a day.
Appreciate that Not Everyone Speaks English: connected to number six above – there will be times when you find yourself somewhere – even in larger cities – where the local people do not speak English. It is important to understand that not everyone is going to speak English and to embrace this as an opportunity to try out what you know in the new language. There are many ways to communicate. Last resort is to default to a translation app on your phone.
Service Industry Workers are the Hardest Working and Often Lowest Paid – Be Nice: this is also known as the “Waiter Rule”. This was popularized by a wealthy businessman who wrote, ’33 Unwritten Rules of Management’. The basic tenet is that is if someone is nice to you, but rude to a waiter / waitress / janitor / service worker/ etc., they are not a nice person. We believe there is a lot of truth to this – while not black and white, it does say something about the character of the person if they need to exert ‘power over’ those in positions of servitude. And what it says isn’t pretty.
Travel Like a Local: Europe stands out when it comes to trains and train travel. There are many reasons for this and best explained by this video here. North Americans don’t always have the best perspective on public transit. Some deserved, and much not deserved. The infrastructure in North America is not great - that is by design. However, even the wealthy travel by train in Europe, and this happens because people demand good schedules and good trains, which they have. So, if you can make a train work on your trip you will be reducing traffic on the roads; reducing your carbon footprint and removing yourself from the isolation of the metal box we know as cars. Train travel is an opportunity to meet other travellers and locals alike, and you will have a richer experience when choosing public transportation. As a bonus - in Europe you are likely saving time, or at least breaking even, while not contributing to the carbon footprint of air travel.
Don’t Be An Ass: This one basically sums up the other 9 commandments, and this one is numbers 1 through 10 in the Atheists’ Commandments. Simply put, if you wouldn’t want someone doing this in your home, your yard, or your town then don’t do it in someone else’s home, yard, town, etc. It ain’t rocket science. In Barcelona we saw Americans and British people vomiting on Las Ramblas in the evenings and it was sad to see. That is the kind of tourist that nobody should want to be. So, don’t be an ass.
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