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The Newbie Traveler's Top Ten Tips for Other First-Time Travelers

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled internationally? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip abroad and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural foreign journey. Today in the final installment, the Newbie Traveler shares some priceless insights.

For my last post, I thought it would be a good idea to share my top ten tips for other newbie international travelers. These are simply things I learned, observed, or thought would be important enough to share with you. Here we go...

· Get a passport. While I assume that most of Jaunted's loyal readers have valid passports, I did an informal poll amongst several of my friends and came to find that a shocking 80% of them don't have a passport! I'm making this my number one "tip" for newbie travelers because you can't do much without one. Get started.

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The Newbie Traveler Suffers Culture Shock

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled internationally? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip abroad and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural foreign journey. Today, the Newbie Traveler meets the locals and suffers a little culture shock.

"London, thou art the flower of Cities all." - William Dunbar

Here's what I already knew: The British Empire set up Thirteen Colonies along the Eastern Coast of North America. They thought, "Hey, this is really great." The Thirteen Colonies, however, were like, "Wait a minute, you guys. Can you really tax us while still providing us with true representation even all the way across the Atlantic?" The British Empire came back with, "Well, yeah." Then the colonies responded by attempting to make the world's largest cup of tea in Boston Harbor and everyone became great friends and lived happily ever after. The End. Right?

Somewhere in a classroom in Texas, my eighth-grade history teacher is crying. Clearly, I was ready to hop the pond and immerse myself in English culture, heritage, and varieties of deep fried fish.

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The Newbie Traveler Discovers (Vegetarian) Airline Food

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled internationally? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip abroad and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural foreign journey. Today, the Newbie Traveler discovers vegetarian airline food.

Like most kids, I was a picky eater and generally indifferent about food. My sustenance requirements were simple: pizza, candy, and fast food. But airplane food, oh, airplane food was different. Growing up, I would travel from Dallas to NYC to visit family a couple times a year. Back then, it was commonplace to find yourself sitting before a hot meal about an hour or so into the less than four-hour flight. After years of not receiving an actual meal on a plane, I was incredibly excited that I would be receiving not one, not two, but four total airplane meals over the course of my trip.

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The Newbie Traveler Takes on the TSA and US Customs

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled internationally? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip abroad and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural foreign journey. Today, the Newbie Traveler faces airport security and the TSA.

I do not envy anyone working for airport security; especially at such a large and high-traffic airport as San Francisco International Airport, where I begin my trip. This being my first time going through security at an international terminal, I was not exactly sure what to expect. Would me and my fellow, civilized world travelers be treated to a hot cup of tea upon our arrival at the security entry point?

With wide-eyed optimism I assumed that the queues leading to the metal detectors would be lined with red carpets and cordoned off, away from the envious glare of our domestic-traveling counterparts. But as it turns out, the job of an airport security agent is basically to say "I do not trust you" to random, shoeless strangers all day long.

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The Newbie Traveler Preps for a First International Trip

What Andy packed for a week in London

What would your life be like if you hadn't yet traveled internationally? If you'd spent years reading travel novels and fantasizing over guidebooks, but hadn't made the big leap? This is the case for Andy Miles, who in his late twenties is embarking on his first trip abroad and walking us through the emotions and observations of a true Newbie Traveler. Follow along all week as Andy takes us along on his inaugural foreign journey. Today, the Newbie Traveler packs.

"OK, I have located my passport. Now what?" I had no idea that preparing for a simple overseas trip to one of the most frequently visited cities in the world could require so much effort. No, I did not need preventative vaccinations, nor did I have to spend hundreds of dollars on any RosettaStone language learning software. Thanks to my day job, the stars aligned and I was given the opportunity to head east. Way, way east. To London.

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