Your ticket is booked. Your backpack is loaded. Outside, you can hear the honk of a taxi. You take a deep breath, say goodbye to your apartment, locking the door behind you. As the taxi zooms along the freeway toward the airport, your palms are sweating. This is the moment you’ve been waiting for — you’re off on your big adventure.

Truth be told, you’ve never wondered whether or not you should travel, you’ve felt the urge for years and you know that the lessons from international adventures will be as valuable as any college course you’ve taken. Rather, you’re more concerned about how you should travel. Is there a right way to travel? And if so, what is it?

Life doesn’t come with a how-to manual, and neither does travel. But there are some nuggets of wisdom that previous adventures and illuminators have left for us. Here are 13 of them.

Godspeed, adventurous ones.