Ditch the Tourist Traps! Here’s Why You’re Probably Doing Travel All Wrong…
We’ve all been there, returning home from a trip feeling more drained than when we left.
We’ve all been there, returning home from a trip feeling more drained than when we left.
You just landed in Tbilisi or Kyiv, fresh off the plane, feeling like a seasoned traveler.
After all, you’ve tackled the Paris Metro, survived a tuk-tuk ride in Bangkok, and even navigated New York City without getting scammed into a $40 hot dog.
What could possibly throw you off here?
I once made a man in Ukraine go from smiling to staring at me like I’d just asked for his bank PIN and his grandmother’s secret borscht recipe in one breath.
I used to think real European travel meant paying triple for an espresso at a café with an English menu screaming Tourists Welcome!
Or elbowing your way through photo-bombing chaos for a shot of a landmark that looks better on a postcard.
The first time I moved abroad, I thought I was just changing my location. I didn’t realize I was about to reprogram my brain.
I used to think I was a pretty savvy traveler.
I’ve navigated post-Soviet Ukraine in the late ’90s, dodged aggressive taxi scams in Tbilisi, Georgia, even survived the on-street survey scams of Phuket, Thailand.
But then I almost booked a hotel that didn’t even exist.
Let’s face it! Europe in 2025 is shaping up to be a bureaucratic, overpriced, overcrowded mess!
I thought I was prepared.
I once met a fellow traveler in Bangkok, Thailand who had been lured in by the Instagram fantasy of digital nomad life in Chiang Mai: cheap rent, endless coconuts, and a laptop lifestyle that looked effortless.
I thought the best travel experiences had price tags.