- Make a checklist before traveling and check weather conditions at your destination to ensure you pack everything needed and are prepared. Forgetting essentials can result in expensive purchases while on vacation. - Interact with locals who can recommend affordable and authentic places to visit, eat, shop and learn about the history and culture. They know the area best. Asking taxi drivers for advice is also a good way to explore cities. - Go for walks and explore on your own rather than taking rushed city tours. This allows for a more personal travel experience and better memory of places visited.

1. Tips to enjoy your trips By Laura Guzmán.

2. Beforeyoutravel

3. Luggage To make sure you won’t leave anything behind make a check-list with everything you you’ll need for your trip. Don’t forget to check the weather conditions you’ll find where ever you’re going.

4. Lucy’s testimony Last year, my family and I went on vacation to San Andres, I have a 1 year old baby and I forgot to pack her bottles, dippers and crib, so I had to buy them all. By the way, they were really expensive. If I had made a check list before packing I wouldn’t have spent a lot of money on things I already had.

5. Whiletraveling

6. Make friends with people from the place Try to meet people where ever you go, they’ll show you the best and cheapest places to go shopping, dancing, eating… Besides no one will know better the history and customs of the place you’re visiting than the natives. If you are in a big city, it is savvy to ask for some advice to taxi drivers, they know a lot of things about the entire city.

7. Natalia’s testimony Natalia made real good friends last month when she was visiting a little town in Nariño, they showed her the most beautiful landscapes she’s ever seen. If Natalia hadn’t made good friends at her trip she wouldn’t have enjoyed that much her trip.

8. walk Buy a map and take long walks in the place you’re having your vacation. If you don’t walk you’ll probably feel, at the end of the trip, that you were never there. Because when you walk you recognize the place, learn routes and you the images you see will stick to your mind, and you’ll never forget them.

9. Don’tpayfor a “city tour” Some times city tours are an option to know a place if you have very little time. This tours tell you what to see, what to eat, what to buy and they prevent you to have a personal experience of the trip. On the other hand they want you to see a whole town in 2 hours. that’s not possible!!! If you have some time to spend relax, enjoy and visit as many places you can but taking it easy, the least thing you should do on vacation is to rush or pay some ones to force you to do as they please.

10. Learn Talk to people when you are traveling, they’ll be very different from you, they’ll have different customs, beliefs and thoughts, they’ll probably eat food you’ve never tried, and of course they’ll know a lot of stuff you don´t. So take advantage of all the knowledge you can get from them, it will be useful in that place you’re new at, and who knows? you could use it for the rest of your life.

11. My experience: Some time ago, some friends and I went to the countryside, I met the most amazing people I've ever known, they where completely generous to me and my friends without expecting anything on reward. If I hadn´t had the chance to talk and meet those people I wouldn’t think the way I do now.

12. When in Rome do as the Romans do. When you go way from home, to a different town or country you’ll find extrange food, clothing, languages. Don’t refuse to try all those new things, that’s how you get the whole experience. What’s the point of traveling all the way from home to an other city if you’ll do the same you’re already doing at home??

13. Don’t you dare working on vacation As I said before the purpose of vacation trips is having fun, so no matter how workaholic you are, please forget all your duties and responsibilities for a while. So don´t bring your laptop, cell phone and others try to relax and fit in the town you’re visiting forget everyone at home and work, think about all the things you’ll get to know.

14. Take a lot of pictures & buy something that brings you good memories If you don’t it’ll seem that you didn´t go anywhere!! Objects such as photographs or handcrafts or whatever you like can be shown to your friends and family when you come back from your trip, this things are a nice way to tell others your trip experience.