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Welcome to the Traveling Fool , the

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show that talks about travel destinations , the

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history , culture and people of

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those destinations , and travel

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tips and news . I'm Bob

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Bales , and today we're talking

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about how to make memorable moments on

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your trip without spending a lot of money

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. A lot of people think that if they

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go on a vacation , it's going to cost a bunch

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of money in order to have fun and make the trip

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something to remember . But here's the thing I've

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been to a lot of big tourist sites in Europe , asia

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and the US places like

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the Eiffel Tower , prague Castle

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, the Tower of London and

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I've stayed in some really nice and

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expensive hotels and resorts . All

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were fun to visit , but the things I

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remember the most when I look back at some of

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my travels is it

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didn't always cost a lot of money to

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have some of my most memorable experience

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and it had nothing to do with

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expensive hotels or restaurants or

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the major tourist sites . And today

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we're going to talk about how to make your trip memorable

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without breaking the bank . Now

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, before we start , I want to let you know there are some links

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in the show notes for products that I use

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and helpful sites . A

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couple of them do pay me a small commission that

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if you use them . But

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, like I said , I'm not going to ever promote anything

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that I don't personally use or haven't used in

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the past . So let's

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get started . Everything

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starts with planning for your trip . Planning

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ahead allows you to take advantage of discounts

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and promotions , booking flights

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and accommodations during the off-peak season

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, and it gives you time to do some research

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about the place you're traveling to . Now

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. First of all , you should use a fair comparison

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site when looking at flights and accommodations

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. I like Kayak a lot

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and I've used them for a long time

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. Hotelscom

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is another great site for looking at

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accommodations . I also

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like the site Agodacom

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for accommodations in Asia . They

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always seem better finding places in Asia versus

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a lot of the other sites , not

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so much in Europe or North America , but in Asia

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. They're great . Also

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, look at flying into a nearby airport . That

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sometimes saves a lot of time and

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a lot of money on the airfare . If

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you're looking for a trip where you can

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lounge by the pool or just relax

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, then look for an all-inclusive or a nice resort

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. If you're looking to visit

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a place and discover things to see

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and do , then the hotel really

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isn't that important . Find

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a place that's clean , in a good location

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and offers easy access to

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transportation or , with them

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, walking distance of places you want to explore

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. When I travel , I spend

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very little time at the hotel

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. I sleep there , and that's about it Now

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. Second thing is connect

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with the locals . Some of

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my fondest memories of my travels have

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occurred when I've interacted with the locals

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. Now , when I say connect with

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the locals , it doesn't have to be a big deal . I'll

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give you a couple examples . While

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spending a few days at a beach hotel on

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a little out of the way island in the Philippines

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, I would wake up early in the morning

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to get photos of the sun coming up and other

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things . When there's no one around , early

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mornings are the best time for photos . I

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notice one morning that the fishermen would

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be coming into the beach after

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they'd been out all during the night fishing . They

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were unloading their fish and giving them to a group

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of women on the beach who were cleaning them and

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getting them ready to take to the market , and

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I asked the clerk at the hotel if I could give

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them a fish to cook for my dinner and

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she said yeah , sure , no problem . So

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I went down to the beach and talked with the fisherman for

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a while , chatted with the women that

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were cleaning the fish , took a few photos

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and then I asked one of the women

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if I could buy a fish . She picked out a good

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one , wrapped it up for me and I took

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it back to the little hotel I was staying at and

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that night the hotel clerk grilled my

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fish at one of the next

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to one of the little outdoor tables and served it

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up with some fruit and rice and everything

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. I think I paid about two dollars

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for the meal and a dollar

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for the fish and it was one of the best

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meals I had on that entire island

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and out of all

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the things I did there and I think I spent four or five

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days there that was one of my fondest memories . Now

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, another time I was staying at a bed and breakfast in

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a town called Georgetown , texas , and

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I was chatting with the owner and he'd asked me

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if I'd been to a place called Wahlberg

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. And no

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, it's not the Wahlberg's burger place that's been

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on TV . This is a little

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town in Texas and he told

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me it was a small town a few miles away and they

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had a really nice German restaurant . I

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decided to take a drive and found

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Wahlberg , which consists of a very

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small town with a lot of old buildings and

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houses . I think it had one stoplight

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or maybe a stop sign

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, and that was it . One

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place was Meakin

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Motors Gas Station . It looked

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like something from the 50s or 60s , so

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I decided to stop and go inside and I was met with

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this old country gas

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station slash store , and

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sitting in a rocking chair was a fellow by the name of

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Ray . I found out that Ray owned

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the place . His son ran

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it and Ray's father had

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started it in 1927 . So

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Ray started talking to me more than me talking

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to him , and he told me all about the history

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of the town , the people that live there , and

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I had a fascinating visit with him . I

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actually wrote an article about Ray and you

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can read about it on the blog . In fact , I'll put a

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link in the show notes if you want to go back

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and look at it . I found

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that some of the best memories are not the time

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that I visited the Tower of London , but

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the time I visited the Tower of London and spoke

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with one of the beef eaters , or , as they

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call them , the yeoman

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warden yeoman . Now

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. He told me all about what it was like to be a

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beef eater and the requirements to

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become one . He

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was a retired British Army Sergeant Major

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. He told me what it was like

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to live at the Tower of London and

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we talked about our past military

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service experiences , because I'm retired

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military and so was he . I think

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we wound up talking for 10 or 15 minutes . I

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had the opportunity to visit Nepal and

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the country is beautiful . It's got a lot of historic

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sites , of course , mount

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Everest and just birthplace

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of Buddha . I mean it's a fabulous country

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. But the best memory

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I have in Nepal is staying

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the night with a local family on

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a home stay , which

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is a program that puts you

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up with a local family and you can spend the night

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with them . I

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made dinner with them , sit

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there and talked about our families . They

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brought out their family photo album and told

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me all about their family and the history of their family

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. So here's

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the key Just talk to the locals . Ask

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them what something interesting is

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that they might take someone to that

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was visiting them from out of town . Where

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are some of the good places to eat ? Not necessarily

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the tourist places . When I travel

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, I talk to everybody

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. I talk to the people at the hotel , the

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security guards at hotels in Asia

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, the doorman in Europe . I ask them where

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the best beaches are located , at what

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restaurant has the best barbecue in town

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? Or a locally owned hamburger place , or anything

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else I might be interested in . And

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as a result , I wound

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up having beer with a bunch of witches

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and Prague . I had a

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drink at a local's home in the Philippines

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after stopping them on the

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street and marrying this pet monkey

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. I visited a president in the Philippines

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and spoke with the inmates . I've had

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beers with a boxer in London

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at the Lily Langtree Pub

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, and I smoked cigars with a local

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cigar group in the US Virgin Island

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. I had homemade wine with the owner

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of a guest house at Lake Orid

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and what's now North Macedonia

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. At the time it was called

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something else . I mean , he

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told me what life was like living

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in Yugoslavia under Tito's regime

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, and none

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of these memorable moments cost me a lot

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of money , but each one and many

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more are things that I remember

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most about my trips

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. Okay , when it comes

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to eating out , now , you can eat

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breakfast at the hotel or you can

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ask you can ask the hotel

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maid or

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the cleaning lady or the crew there

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where a good breakfast spot might be that

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they eat at . In

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Asia , europe and in some

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places in the US , they're famous for their

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street food . I love

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stopping at food stalls and grabbing

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some local food . Plus

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, it gives you a chance to talk to someone and engage in

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a little conversation . If

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you're in Europe , you might ask

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if there's a cool castle nearby to

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visit or a museum . Europe

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has a lot of places that aren't necessarily in the

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big guidebooks , and

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almost every little town , big

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or small town , has something

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interesting just around the corner that's

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not you're not going to find in the guidebook

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. I always like to eat at

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locally owned places that have been around for

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a while . They usually have the regulars

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that eat there . The food is always good because

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they've been in business forever , and

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it usually results in the short conversation

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with either the owner or

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another patron that sometimes results

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in those magical , memorable moments that

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you remember for years . Here's

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another tip Plan

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meaningful itineraries Now

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. Planning your itinerary is important when

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it comes to creating memorable moments . Before

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you leave on your trip , do a little research and

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prioritize the activities that align

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with your interests and passions , whether it's exploring

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historic sites or checking

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out nice

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restaurants or engaging

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in outdoor activities , or hiking

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or kayaking , or

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focus on what excites you . You'll

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enhance your overall travel experience

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without necessarily spending a ton of money . Now , this

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doesn't mean you have to plan out every single

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minute of your trip . Some of my most memorable

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experience came

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just because I left myself open to being

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spontaneous . Sometimes

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the most memorable moments

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happen when you least expect

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them . Explore

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that little side street in Frankfurt or visit

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that nearby fishing village in Thailand

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. The point is , allow yourself

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to enjoy your surroundings

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and not be on such a strict schedule

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all the time . So there you have

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it Just a couple of ways

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that you can make memorable moments on your trip

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without having to break the bank . Now

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, before I go , I want to leave you with this thought Travel just isn't

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about Instagram photos of

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pretty girls lounging by the pool or couples

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holding hands on some beach or the big beach

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or the big tourist sites that have throngs

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to tourist jockeying for the perfect photo

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. Travel is about

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the people you meet , the stories you

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collect and the memories that stay

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with you for years . So

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make your next trip and every trip

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afterwards a memorable

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one . Now there's going to be

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a few links to some resources and blog posts

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that I mentioned in this episode in the show

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notes . Thanks

12:02

for tuning in to the Traveling Fool podcast

12:05

. I hope you enjoyed it and

12:07

got something out of it that you can use . Please

12:09

take a moment to subscribe , leave a

12:11

review and share it with your friends , and

12:14

stay tuned for more tips , destinations

12:16

and travel news in our future episodes

12:18

. Thanks again .