A SIT traveler is completely responsible for research.

Research

Research is like a telescope, the more powerful, the bigger the universe becomes. Curiosity is my telescope; the more my research deep-dives I do,  the more I discover.  It is the source material, the foundation, of FIT travel, composed of Travel Buds research and travel logistics research.

Travel Buds are travel sites & experiences that excite your Renaissance Man's (woman's) intellectual curiosity, compelling you to find & explore them.  Who doesn’t want to see :China’s Great Wall, the Coliseum, or Japan's cherry blossoms?

Travel Logistics are the transportation, lodging, dining details in a well crafted itinerary that make your FIT travel itinerary stress free, time & cost efficient.

A. Travel Buds:

1. Definition: Foreign travel sites & experiences are like tiny rose buds poking thru Spring’s fresh snow. I call all these travel nuggets ---   “Travel Buds.”  

These ‘Travel Buds’ may be travel ideas, sites & experiences lying asleep in your mind OR in guide books OR online waiting for you to turn them into your successful FIT adventures. 

2. My ‘4 Part” ‘Travel Bud’ Research method:

FIT solo travelers like me attack their travel research like an old Dawson Creek gold miner pans for gold in his sluice box …letting fast-flowing creek water wash away the unwanted dirt …leaving ONLY the precious travel nuggets — my Travel Buds.

 I want to know ALL the sites & experiences a country has, winnow those down to my favorite 'Travel Buds’  and then organize them logically into my Personal Itinerary so I can visit them all efficiently while still having lots of flexible ‘free time' for the unexpected.            

’Travel Buds’. Throughout our lives we are bombarded with  Travel Buds. 
Your mind is filled with your own Travel Buds, if you look for them.

Please SEE: 3. FIT Country/City/Sites: (full)         Please SEE: Tier 1, 2 & 3 Tourist Sites

    a. Your mind:
         1) Start a Future Travel List of countries, cities, sites & experiences in outline format, in a computer or cell phone document (Pages, Word, etc.),  so you can easily add new Travel Buds you encounter.   If using a cloud service (Apple's iCloud), your Travel Buds quickly sync & update on both devices.  

My Future Travel List was divided into 7 Continent sections, which in turn were divided into countries, regions and/or cities, which in turn, listed all my Travel Bud site & activities. Modify to suit your needs. 

        2) Adding to your Future Travel Buds List:
            a) Accumulated Past Travel Bud’s: First, I filled in my Future Travel Buds list with every travel bud site & activity I could remember. Thereafter, whenever I remembered another, I quickly added it, so I would not forget it. Overtime my travel buds list grew. 

            b) Newly Researched Travel Bud’s:  When my curiosity focused on additional cities, sites & experiences, I researched, and quickly added those so I would not lose them.

            c) Inevitably, a country or city’s Travel Bud’s grew in my Future Travel Buds list, & I would target it for a next trip, WHICH prompting an even deeper quest for Travel Buds.

Below is a partial screen shot of my Travel List, FYI.

                

        2) Guidebooks:
             a) buy Rick Steves guidebooks for European countries & Lonely Planet for 'the rest
                 of the world and sometimes DK Guidebooks for all their great illustrations.
             b) quickly skim for countries, their geographical areas & cities that have sites &
                 experiences that may interest you. 
             c) whatever does NOT interest you enough, literally remove that entire section with
                 a sharp razor knife & set aside so it doesn’t distract you. 
                   Anecdote: I don't drink alcohol, so I sliced out France’s wine area.
             d) finally, closely scour each remaining section for what REALLY interests you
                 splashing a big ‘X’ across any chunks that don’t interest, so you can ignore them (e.g: for
                 me, high end lodgings, restaurants.)

      3) Online Internet:  
You can ‘deep-dive’ with Grok, Perplexity, etc online almost any travel site or experience that tickles your curiosity. Typical travel sites often are clogged with seemingly endless travel agencies “Sponsored” advertisements.

    Anecdote: Ken Hammond’s China History: Dictatorial communist China was always more frightening to me than even India’s filth, BUT it seemed an inevitable FIT destination to be conquered, so I began my research.  Quickly, I was dumbstruck by the size & complexity of China’s culture & 5000 year history.                  

        Query: Did you know there’s not 1, but 19 Chinese Great Walls? 

Please SEE my Youtube China videos for several Greate Wall sites I visited. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTvpNBPIcKk&list=PLRDTLYh_1p7aCkpJlntN270LVg4QKSjlf.  

                   
                       China Highlights: https://www.chinahighlights.com/greatwall/map.htm

    Researching my China trip, I somehow discovered Professor Ken Hammond’s “From Yao to Mao: 5000 years of Chinese History“ video series  (Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aWVlOaO8gr0&list=PL-zm2mrr9onY5hrGya2DhgBn_-xUk51p3)

    I watched & outlined all 36 tapes, then condensed those outlines for my iPad    Yes I am obsessive, but ……. China is so vast?  I have since read several Chinese historical novels out of continuing curiosity.

                         Online Travel Bud sources: Google Maps,.Google:    https://theromanguy.com/italy-travel-blog/florence/8-unique-things-to-do-in-florence/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwidSWBhDdARIsAIoTVb23snoo1TfxljOVjEXn-q1Y8l3PNZwp3w9dM5xlY493CoICSribj1saAs9UEALw_wcB

        4) A Culture’s Classic Historical Novels: 
Finally, I often read 1 or 2 of a nation’s classical novels taking me deeper into the ‘spirit’ of its history & culture.

    Anecdote: Japan: Shimazaki Toson’s Before the Dawn  including the Nakasendo Road.

   

    Anecdote:  Australia:  Hell West and Crooked (A&R Classics) by Tom Cole 

The more you know about a country’s history & culture as well, the richer your travel experiences & lifetime memories.

 

 

My Research Investment: 

I spend at least a month of 6 hr days at a minimum researching for every month I actually travel.

I am looking for every Travel Bud; every place & activity that arouses my curiosity because I know I'm never going back. Too many other countries.

The more you know about a country’s history & culture as well as its travel infrastructure (transportation, foods, lodging),
….  the richer your travel experiences & lifetime memories.  

 

B. Travel Logistics: transportation & hostels

Travel logistics – transportation, lodging, etc. –  are the foundation &  skelatal framework of your FIT travels like a beautiful, elegant home's solid foundation, framing, plumbing & electrical systems finished with beautiful exterior siding, interiors plus carpeting and beautiful cabinetry. 

In much the same way travel logistics of shelter, clothing, & food provide the skeletal framework & finish of your detailed travel itinerary.

Knowing how you will get from airport to city, from city to site to site, city to city, where you will safely & comfortably sleep each night restored for thenext day's adventures is the great benefit of a well prepared Personal Itinerary.

Lack of the navigation knowledge & each night's lodging simply wastes valuable travel time & necessarily increases travel generating unnecessary anxiety & drowning your enthusiasm.      

Logistics are vital.

The Internet can dramatically simplifies your travel Logistics research:
     1) Transportation:  rome2rio.com simply & fully discloses your transportation options including:
         a) mix of trans modes: plane, train, bus, taxi or mix between 2 locatiions for almost
             ‘everywhere.’ 
         b) time & distance between locations
         c) schedules & prices
         d) car & lodging booking
         e) even deeper detail for trains & buses 
         f) accompanying map

30 >40 years ago travel agencies guarded this info like some arcane priesthood. No more — all info readily available, instantly for free anywhere on your cell phone. https://www.rome2rio.com/

                                                    Please SEE: 10. FIT Transportation: (full)

    2) Hostels: hostelworld.com & several other sites/apps list hostels everywhere including location maps, amenities, photos, rates, room booking, and most important, ... reviews.     

30>40 years ago we relied on terribly outdated guidebooks.(exception: Rick Steves guidebooks) Rick Steves Guidebooks.            Please SEE: 11. FIT Lodging: (full)

The more complete your logisitical foundation the more hassel-free, time efficient will be your site visits & activities.

 Sometime during my research stage (above), I begin roughing out my
actual Travel Itinerary FORMAT structure— described in the next section. 

                                   Please SEE:   8. FIT Itinerary: (full)
                                   Please SEE:   Foreign Travel Itineraries.    My Itinerary TUTORIAL & Itineraries