I hope you don’t mind this young wizard offering some travel advice. It can always be refined but these have served me well. May they be a guide for you.

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1. Learn how to say Hello, Goodbye, Please and Thank You in the native language you are visiting. There are few universals in the world and basic manners are one of them. It is often the simplest things that can carry immense weight. Even if it isn’t a perfect pronunciation, it is in the effort, in the trying that is important. May not be much, but it is a multinational olive branch suggesting you respect them, their culture and you are eager and excited to be here in their homeland.

2. Sightsee like a tourist, relax like a local. Unless it’s Madam Tussaund’s Wax Museum, see the sights! There is a reason millions flock to The Louvre, The Sydney Opera House (very dope btw), or the Tokyo Imperial Palace. They are incredible wonders where you can share your awe and appreciation with the untold generations of people who have seen them, and those yet to see these great feats of humankind. But relax like a local. After a day of sightseeing, go to the local watering hole where you can get the real food and the real beer. You saw the sights, now feel the fullness of travel. Immerse yourself in how the people actually live and experience their reality. Find the beach or the plaza that isn’t on the tourist checklist, there you will find a different snapshot, one that makes you feel closer to your destination and its culture.

3. Schedule, but have an off day. Always good to have a plan. Rigid but flexible. If you are gassed after three days of non-stop trains, ubers, restaurants, tours, then the fourth may be a good time to take the dial to a soft 6. One of my favorite travel days I’ve ever had was my 4th day in Prague. I cleared what I planned that day, walked around and found a bathhouse where the tub had a beer tap next to the hot water. Or unleash your inner martini, only oysters, no caviar, and just let it rip every single day you are traveling. There are no off days. Move in silence! But an off day can reset the balance. There is harmony in everything, travel is no different.

4. Ask if they are a Liverpool FC fan. For no other reason than Up the Mighty, Offensive Juggernaut Reds!! And if they are, you’re about to have the time of your life.