Who to Tip When Travelling

I have been travelling the world for many years with my family. I have come across many tipping scenarios. I learned when to tip, who to tip, and when not to tip. Hopefully my suggestions will help you on your next trip aboard.

Keep in mind; you don’t have to tip every customer service person you run into abroad. There only a few people that require a tip: Waiters, Taxi drivers, Hair Dressers, and Bartenders.

Waiters- Tipping rule: no matter what country you are in, you should always leave a tip for your server. This way you will not offend him/her and leave a good impression, who knows you might decide to go back to that same restaurant. However, if your servers are just plain rude, which in some cases this can happen, it has to me. I would suggest for you not to leave a tip. As it is there job to serve you, and keep you happy.

Taxi Drivers- This depends on case to case. I mean most cases; yes, you tip the taxi driver, but in some countries, when you know the taxi driver is ripping you off and you are nearly paying double. Don’t tip. They are already pocketing that extra cash, and just taken advantage of you.

Hair Dressers- I believe you should always tip the hair dresser. In most country this is their only income they survive on, and will bring home to their family. It depends on you, on how much you should tip, I typically leave 20% and the hair dresser is happy.

Bartenders- In the United States yes you should tip the bartender. If you know you are going to be spending the whole night at one bar, I would suggest laying down $20.00 on the bar after the first drink order. Usually the bartender will serve you stronger drinks through out the night, which you end up spending less money and you will never have to wait.

Hotel Staff- When it comes to tipping at the hotel. I would leave this to your discretion. Commonly I would tip after the maids have cleaned our room. I noticed when ever I do so, they always make a nice design out of our towels, like a heart or snake. It’s very cool to see, and it is like them saying Thank you. I love it.    

Hostess- I would never tip the hostess, even if the restaurant is full; it is always his/her job to be able to find you a seat. It doesn’t matter if you give them money; it is their job to seat you in a particular spot to whatever server is next inline. 

Travel with Kids

If you have kids, you understand me. It might be very hard to travel with them. So this entry is dedicated to the little secrets you may use to make your trip easier. All of them are from my own experience, and I have three kids, so you can imagine how desperately I need them :)

So, if you  are going to travel with your kids, I recommend you to:

Bring a movie

If you don’t have a portable DVD player I would say it’s definitely a great investment. If you do have a portable DVD player, its best to get your children together the night before your trip and have them pick out a movie they all will agree on. Yes this may take some time, but that’s why you have them pick out the movie the night before to avoid any arguments in the car. A movie is great way to keep your kids quite and entertained for a few hours.

Bring their favourite healthy snack

Of course your kids will be hungry during the car ride. They more than likely will be asking you to stop to grab a snack or a drink. Make sure you pack a good variety of healthy snacks that you know your kids will love. Better yet, sit them down the night before and put there snack choices in front of them and have them create their own snack bag, this will help them individualise their bags and avoid any possible stealing of others’ snacks.

Comfortable clothes

Your kids may be riding in the car for hours. Its best to make sure your kids wear comfortable clothes. Depending on the time of year, keep the air conditioning or heating to a relatively normal room temperature. Make sure your kids are wearing the appropriate clothes based on the temperature you set, along with comfortable clothes and provide and blankets just in case if one or all get cold.   

Their favourite toy

I recommend grabbing 3 toys for each child, that is car friendly, again the night before have each child pick out one toy or stuff animal to bring with him/her. This will help keep your child entertained after the movie and if he/she picked a stuff animal, it will help comfort him/her from being away from home.

Get your kids to be sleepy.

Lastly, you should try to tire out your kids before you leave for your trip. If this means the night before or mid day take you them to the park have them run around for an hour or so, this will help your kids burn the energy they have and hopefully help them to fall asleep for a part of the trip. If your trip is in the summer have them go swimming. If your trip is in the winter have them go sledding. Any physical activity will wipe them out.