TripHip - Travel Tips and Advice for Traveling on a Budget

When visiting historic sites, particularly stone monuments and ruins, you should keep your hands to yourself. It's very tempting to touch the ancient stone, but after hundreds of thousands of people touching the same stone, many historic sites are getting damaged.

Even more importantly, don't break off any stone bits to take with you. Having a little fragment of the Parthenon might be a nice idea, but if everyone did it, there would be nothing left.

In some cultures, it's quite rude to take a person's photo without their permission. Especially when it's clearly a photo specifically of them (not just someone in the background).

Ask permission first, and don't be surprised if they expect a small payment after the picture is taken.

Taking photos of just landmarks can get dull after a while. Try to have people in your shots for some interest. And not just your family either. Locals just going about their business can really add a vibrant touch to your photos.

Photographs are without a doubt some of the best souvenirs you can have of any vacation. But you can capture memories by saving other items on your trip, too. Ticket stubs, napkins, matchbooks and receipts are all simple things you can tuck away to bring home. Photos are great, but these extra souvenirs can bring back more memories because they are actually things you used and touched during your trip. They make for great scrapbooking material, too.