Tips from travel reporter on how to travel smart

Cover image of Shut Up and Go (Season 2: Overseas travel tips), by Shin Ick-soo

By Yun Suh-young

At first glance, the book can look a bit boring because there is no single image, photo, graph or whatever element that visually attracts the reader despite being a travel book.

But, as the title of the book “Shut Up and Go” states, if you “shut up” and read you’ll realize that the book has a lot of information to benefit from.

The book has 56 cream of the crop tips that can save you money and time and travel smart. At the end of each chapter, the author introduces interesting travel destinations he has visited for a fun read.

The author, Shin Ick-soo, is a longtime travel reporter who has a knack for making money and saving money. His brilliance as a thrifty consumer applies as a smart traveler too. Making use of the extensive information he has, Shin manages to spend the least amount of money on purchases and spend the least amount of time waiting in lines. Now he shares his know-how with the readers in his second book of the “shut up” series on overseas travel tips.

The book offers information ranging from how to book a flight ticket most cheaply, how to save money from currency exchange, how to check-in quickly at the airport, and how to shop efficiently at duty free stores.

For instance, he advises not to book a flight on Thursdays because it happens to be the day that offers the highest ticket price. Because most people travel using their weekends, they often extend their vacation and leave starting from Thursdays. The next expensive day is Friday and the cheapest flight tickets are offered between Sunday and Tuesday.

Another way to get cheap tickets, according to Shin, is to look for last-minute or leftover tickets. These tickets are up to 80 to 90 percent cheap from two to three days before departure. There are websites such as www.skyscanner.co.kr where you can keep track of these tickets. Also, look for destinations that multiple airlines fly to. There is higher probability of cancellation for theses destinations as there are too many options.

When traveling overseas, making use of coupons can save money, Shin says. Tourism boards of countries such as Taiwan, Switzerland, or Singapore offer useful discount coupons on their websites for markets, transportation, and admission tickets for attractions that can be downloaded for free.

Shut Up and Go (Season 2: Overseas travel tips)

Published Nov.25, 2014

Written by Shin Ick-soo

352pg; 13,000 won

Maekyung Publishing