My beat is Latin America and the Caribbean, and during the past 15 years of living and traveling through these parts, I’ve developed a list of the top 5 tips for traveling in this region. Without further ado:
1) Always carry small bills and change. Many vendors–even in big stores–often lack change for the large bills you’re likely to receive from a bank, ATM, or currency exchange booth. Try to break the big bills as quickly as possible and keep small denominations and coins on hand. Smaller bills also tend to attract less unwanted attention than larger denominations.
2) Don’t flush the TP. The utilities infrastructures in many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean lack the potency and power of your systems at home. This is particularly true in coastal and rural regions. You may wish to ask about local habits, but in many areas, it is customary to dispose of toilet paper in the waste basket instead of the toilet.
3) Lose track of time. Go ahead. Take off your watch. Practice living on “Latin time.” Notions of time are far more relaxed and flexible in Latin America and the Caribbean compared to other places in the world. Don’t fight this fact–you’ll lose. Just accept it and try to go with the flow.
4) View each country as its own entity, as well as part of the whole. Although Cuban independence activist Jose Marti referred, quite accurately, to Latin American and the Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries as all part of “nuestra America” (“our America”), it’s also important to remember that each country has its own identity and history.
5) Prepare yourself for extraordinary generosity. In Latin America and the Caribbean, there’s always room for one more person at the dinner table. You just might be that person. Open yourself to the profound generosity of others and you’ll have incomparable travel experiences, the memories and meaning of which will last a lifetime.
Do you have any tips for traveling to certain places? Share them below in the comments!
Photo: Hernando Villalba
“Always carry small bills and change” is a great tip that can be applied to a lot of destinations even outside of Latin America and the Caribbean. If you’re traveling through France and expect to frequent mom and pop bakeries and cheese shops and the like (which many of the best ones are!), you’ll need the same thing. They just don’t have the cash on hand needed to give you change for an 85 cent baguette when you pay with a 50 euro bill. Or if they do, they won’t be happy about your asking them to do it. Even the big stores will always ask if you have the change. Save your big bills for restaurants/buying museum tickets/department stores if you go shopping, and be sure to keep a bunch of coins handy!
Good write – wish I could go soon!
Nice post with good information. I never knew about the TP part.
I just found out my family and I will be attending a convention in Lima, Peru next November. We are all very excited about it and I’m tuning into your blog to get prepared. As always – your photography choices are great.
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