Travel Tips from 1927

In a book entitled, So You're Going to France!, first published in 1927, the author, Clara E. Laughlin shares the ins and outs of the travel company she owned. Based out of NYC, her company was much like Discover Europe, but instead of arranging flights, she arranged trans-Atlantic steamship accommodations. She also conducted tours, planned itineraries, made reservations, etc. to Europe much as we do. Her tours lasted twelve days and the inclusive cost per day was twelve dollars! Although the prices have changed, much of what she recommends has not. At the end of the book she has "Twenty Rules for Travelers". They apply today just as much as they did in the 1920's. Here they are:

1. Do unto the other fellow in his country as you would like him do unto you in yours.

2. Go abroad to learn how things are done outside America, not to declaim to others how much better everything is done at home.

3. Don't think that the louder you talk the more apt you are to be understood- and appreciated!

4. If you love children, show that you do, even if you can't say it. It is the way to the hearts of most foreigners.

5. A small tip with a smile often goes further than a large tip with a scowl.

6. Remember, when travelling a road, that you are unofficially representing your country, and that by your actions it is being judged.

7. Be careful whose advice you take, when planning your tour. There are few subjects on which so many people give misinformation as on foreign travel.

8. Plan your trip as if you were building a house: so much ground to cover, so much money to spend, such-and-such needs to consider. Don’t think it’s smart to be vague, indefinite, undecided. It’s ‘green’!

9. Proper preparation trebles the value of travel, and certainly doesn’t spoil any of the pleasure.

10. Don’t try to fit yourself to a ready-made itinerary. Get one made to your special order. And pick an ‘architect’ who not only knows Europe, but makes an effort to know YOU.

11. Motor when you can. You get a much more intimate sense of a country and its people than in train travel.

12. Travel light if you can.

13. A thoroughly enjoyable low-brow trip is worth more than a thoroughly miserable high-brow tour; but your travel need not be of either extreme.

14. Don’t suppose that an ardor culture will seize you on European soil. It will develop, if you give it a chance- but it’s no mushroom.

15. Don’t worry. It is astounding how few unpleasant things happen to travelers abroad. It is one of the safest of adventures- unless you’re looking for mischief.

16. Don’t hurry. If you have too little time for a place cut down the number of things you try to see there. One unforgettable impression is far better than a jumble.

17. Don’t try to see everything on the map. It is no more pardonable than trying to eat everything on the bill-of-fare. And the results are similar.

18. Don’t act as if you had mental arthritis, and couldn’t bend. One of the reasons for going abroad is to see how flexible you are.

19. Keep promising yourself as you travel that you’re going to read about the trip when you get home. And when you get home, KEEP THE PROMISE.

20. The best League of Nations is that of travelers seeking to find much in common with their hosts.