Take Public Transportation

INTERNATIONAL DESTINATIONS, Travel & Outdoor Tips

It’s difficult to give general travel advice. A lot of advice is dependent on the type and location of a trip. But there’s at least one recommendation that I have for any location and trip type…

TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Taking public transportation allows you to see a different side of the place you are visiting. You get a less polished view, a view more indicative of what daily life in the city you’re in is like. You get to interact with people you might not otherwise encounter.

This is true in all destinations, including and maybe even particularly so in “touristy” or “vacation” destinations. Last Christmas, in Cancun, Mexico, the epitome of a touristy destination, my family and I took the city bus to get around town including to mass on Christmas (in Spanish), a museum, and to and from the port for a day trip excursion to Isla Mujeres. As you’d expect, there were some fellow tourists, but mostly, the people on the buses were locals going about their day.

The insight from taking public transportation is also true in your own city. When the times work, I take train and bus to get to and from San Diego airport. The train is a mixed bag of workers, a few tourists, and the occasional homeless person. The bus is usually predominantly airport workers and foreign travelers who in many cases seem more accustomed to public transportation. On one occasion, I had the unique experience of watching someone practice their recorder (yes, recorder) on the bus while I tried not to crack a smile or laugh.

Taking public transportation can be a challenge that allows you to see a different side of yourself and if you’re not traveling solo, of your travel partner(s). Reading maps, figuring out how often transportation runs, and determining how, where, and how much to pay all become humbling tasks when you’re in a foreign city, particularly one where the majority of inhabitants do not speak the same language as you. Heck, it can be a challenge even when you’re in your home country. I’m talking about you, New York City!

BTS Station, Bangkok, Thailand.

When you’re traveling alone, the challenge of navigating public transportation develops self-sufficiency, self-confidence, and self-awareness. It’s not that it works out perfectly every time. It doesn’t. I’ve gone in the wrong direction on more than occasion. (See Bangkok 2017.) But it’s the experience that shapes you. And, you get better at it. In confusing situations, I’ve learned to watch other people first for clues – “Aha! They just gave this guy money, that’s what I’ll do. Hope this is right and I’m not just handing some random person money.”)

One of my favorite transportation travel adventures was my experience taking a local river taxi during my first visit to Bangkok, Thailand. I had planned to take the BTS, the city’s sky train, somewhere. As I was walking to the BTS station, a friend who had previously lived in Bangkok for years drove by on a motorbike, stopped, and asked about my plans for the day. I told him. He told me, “you’re going the wrong way.” Woops.

Bangkok River Taxi – Hold On!

My friend suggested that instead, I try out the river taxi. I believe in listening to insiders and it sounded fun so I hopped on his motorbike, he dropped me off on the side of some road and pointed me towards where to catch the river taxi. I walked under the road and found the river taxi “station” (it’s a dock), pretended like I could understand the map, and hopped on a boat packed shoulder-to-shoulder with locals with no destination and no idea how I’d even get off the boat with so many people around me. The whole experience was simultaneously overwhelming and a blast.

When you’re with someone else, you learn a lot about each other and your ability to work together by taking public transportation together. Does your travel partner frustrated and cranky? Do you? Does your travel partner throw in the towel easily and say “let’s just take a cab?” Do you? Is your travel partner able to laugh off mistakes? Are you? Are you able to work as a team to get to your destination and still like each other when you do? You learn all these things about each other and you learn them fast.

Taking public transportation forces interaction with (gasp) other people. As technology expands our ability to connect anyone anywhere anytime, we seem to become less connected in real life. We sometimes get annoyed when a human being interrupts us from our phone, tablet, or computers. Talking to someone on a plane who has their headphones in has become a well-known social faux pas. Yet, it is well-documented that real-life human interaction is crucial to our health. And anyone who has ever had a wonderful time hanging out with friends or family knows this intuitively by the feelings you get during and after the experience.

Public transportation helps foster this essential human connection by creating an environment where it is almost impossible not to interact with other people, at least in some small way. Sometimes you can’t figure out the train, bus, subway, trolley, or other system on your own and you have to ask a stranger for directions. Other times, particularly in foreign countries, you’ve figured it out and the look of self-assurance on your face encourages someone to ask you for directions. I got to help someone on my return trip on the Bangkok river taxi. Even in the absence of navigation discussions, the exposure to more people that comes with taking public transportation increases the likelihood that you’ll strike up a conversation with someone along the way, whether by your initiation or theirs.

Public transportation is cost-effective. I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out that public transportation is typically much (MUCH) cheaper than individual alternatives like cabs. And in my opinion, much safer than some of the alternatives like Thai motorbike taxis. The experience can also be like a low-cost excursion. The “local experience” people pay lots of money for can often be found right under your nose by exploring public transportation options within and between cities. No promises on comfort, though!

You don’t have to take public transportation everywhere to get the experience. In fact, there are good reasons not to take public transportation every single time you need to go somewhere. Sometimes the times suck. Sometimes it’s not safe. Sometimes being able to sit down and have some space to yourself in a cab or Uber is worth the cost premium.

In Hanoi, Vietnam last year, I was proud of myself for making my way from the airport to the city center (about 25-30km/15-19miles) by bus. But on the way back to the airport, I not only took a cab, I had the hostel book the cab the night before. I was traveling in the dark, early morning hours and for purposes of safety and ensuring an on-time arrival, the far more expensive cab was the right choice for me.