But how do you behave with poor people that are lovely as sugar but you don't have much to give back?
I’m yet to motorcycle Africa but I certainly will be! I do have experience of travel in developing countries though which might be useful for you.
Most long distance motorcyclists carry things like sweets, biro’s or stickers (often with their travelling logo printed on them) to give away to people, these things always go down very well.
Some carry miniatures of alcohol for situations that are up a notch like a meal offered by locals that don’t have much.
One guy I know actually carries a miniature photo printer, takes a pic of them together and hands a physical pic over, that by all accounts is the largest bringer of joy. He’s not the only one doing that.
I’ve always gone for toffees as they last in the heat but next time I go to a developing country I’d also consider a mini photo printer!
Giving money is sometimes viewed as an insult so it’s something I avoid. Although kids love money and I don’t like carrying much change so that works.
Below are some slightly negative sounding things that I would feel remiss not mentioning but also please don’t focus greatly on this stuff, it’s mostly just prep for rare occurrences.
Health and Welfare bits n bobs
Sometimes you’re in a place where people are not as lovely as sugar.
It’s important if you’re in an area where you feel swarmed (that tends to happen if you’re on a motorbike) or perhaps in a touristy place with forceful fixer uppers (who are well versed in getting people to hand over money) that you’re able to be a bit forceful. Not horrible, just firm.
Say you’re not enjoying an interaction or you were but it’s becoming a bit much it’s fine to say something like -
“Ok, that’s enough, you go on now, leave me in peace”
and make a shoo motion with your hand.
I doubt you’re going to any bad areas but sometimes carrying a muggers wallet is useful.
This is a second purse containing nothing of real value, a supermarket loyalty card, seeded with low value dollars and a few coins for you to hand over without a fight.
Dollars are king but sterling and euros are also wanted in most developing countries. Someone I know has a second fake drivers licence which they actually ended up using when a fake policeman demanded ID and wouldn’t return it until she paid a fine! She smiled and rode off
Split your resources ie don’t keep all your valuables in one bag and when paying don’t open your wallet to reveal a lot of money.
If you sit down at a café and your bag/rucksack etc has to go on the floor make sure your leg or chair leg is going through a strap and if a kerfuffle unfolds in front of you that would draw you in (I’m told someone choking on some food is the usual bait) pick your bag up and take it with you to investigate ie never leave it unattended, not even for a moment.
This above is mostly city stuff.
Water-
Even in countries were the water is deemed safe to drink it isn’t always especially if it’s come from boreholes so don’t assume the water is safe, check.
A physical filtering bottle will give you protection from most of the real nasties, remember to use that to clean your teeth too. Link to the sort of thing I’m talking about below.
If you go down the bottled water route only purchase this from legitimate sources and check the seal is intact. Same with sunscreen and any container which can be collected from bins and refilled with something else.
If going to an area that suffers drought avoid salads and uncooked foods. Wash fruit in water you know to be clean.
The ‘water’ used to grow crops in places where there are water shortages is not clean water and is unlikely to even be washed in potable water, less said about that the better.
In good hotels the salads often have chlorine taste which is good for avoiding somethings
but can be terrible from a taste point of view!
Vaccines, absolutely lifesavingly essential. The anti-vaxers can do one this topic, get them.
Travel insurance, make sure it covers repatriation not just treatment in the country you’re visiting. Medical treatment in the EU is superior to developing countries, if you are unfortunate and for example need a broken leg fixed, get yourself home, German medicine is a much better bet.
Dig out the actually phone number you’d call from the insurance and store this in your phone AND write it down. Carry a copy of your insurance. Most developing countries will give treatment without any quibble but some won’t without seeing you’re insured and their payment is guaranteed. That’s a worldwide phenomenon!
A VPN.
Not essential but suddenly very desirable when you want to access your bank account. Hotel WiFi and other free WiFi sometimes comes at a very high cost!
Get a local SIM card. This depends how long you’re staying for and what your current contract will cost you to use outside the EU. Generally it is MUCH MUCH cheaper to purchase a SIM card locally.
Get the hotel staff to help with this, they always know the best place to go and will help you navigate to the safest spots for purchasing.
I always carry a second phone which may seem excessive but I rely on it for navigation when walking, banking and need to keep my home number working for business. A back up phone is a luxury but a useful one. At a pinch if your normal EU SIM card is stored somewhere safe the worse that could happen is you simply buy another phone and insert your usual sim.
Carry tissues on you. Toilet paper is often missing from loos and remember to breath through your mouth
The toilets vary from what we understand as a toilet to a hole in the ground but even if it is a Western style loo they may not be connected to water so won’t flush.
Alcohol hand sanitiser is very useful. I use a spray bottle with isopropyl alcohol.
Electricity. I don’t know where you’re staying, I suspect somewhere set up for westerners but some remote areas don’t have electricity or if they do because it’s a precious commodity will have it on for very short periods and switch it off at night so a good quality battery pack is very useful, as is a solar charger.
Solar lamps are good too. Using your phone as a torch because everything is unlit is another drain on the battery.
Mostly I’ve had nothing but a delightful time with lovely friendly people but going away prepared is sensible.
The way life works knowing and sorting these things beforehand ensures you’ll not need them and will have a beautiful time. To me travelling is worth prepping for because you get so much from it and are able to relax when certain things are in place.
People who have travelled enough to realise we’re all fundamentally the same regardless of whatever crazy political ideologies are dominating at the time are a delight to be around.
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