Four ways to travel:
1 Research and Checklist
Research your destination - all the literature and websites. Make a list of must do sites and see one per trip or one per day or one per half day.
2 Friends
Stay with a friend or write to somebody who lives in the area and follow their recommendation. Just enjoy being with them.
3 Intro Tour
Take a bus tour of the city to be sure you see something of the major sites, despite your jet lag or inertia. Go back to any favourites. On a first visit to a city, especially if you are travelling alone.
4 Go With The Flow
Depending on your budget pick the cheapest or dearest hotel. Visit whatever is nearest.
Hong Kong
How did this work out for me on a return visit to Hong Kong?
My one must do was Sun Yat-Sen museum, which turned out to be free. Going there took me to a new area of town, and to an outdoor escalator.
I managed to visit two Toastmasters International speakers' meetings. One was a club meeting where I was language evaluator. I used the word Oxymoron. Afterwards the group went to a restaurant. The following day I went to a speech contest.
2 Friends
I opted for option two, staying with friends, not having any choice and being on a budget and travelling with family.
This big surprise for me was the size of accommodation in Hong Kong. Both my budget friend and my luxury friend had tiny flats. Both had filled their tiny spaces with enormous numbers of possessions.
3 Tour
Tours are not cheap. I'd seen so many places previously, the Peninsula Hotel, the synagogue and its restaurant and shop, a theme park. I regret not doing a tour. The many things I'd seen on previous trips would have changed or improved. A tour would have offered countless photo opportunities.
A trip to Stanley Market had not interested me but I loved the bus trip across the island to the seaside. We also found the most exquisite and extravagant restaurant, Majas, overlooking the bay. What a contrast to the skyscraper city.
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.
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