Just put yourself out there

by rc

In an episode of This American Life, a guy reported success in applying a “good guy discount” on his purchases. It goes “Hey, can you give me a good guy discount on these shoes? I mean, you’re a good guy, I’m a good guy, so can we work something out here?”
I haven’t acquired the linguistic flair to pull this off during my travels, but I’ve been able to get benefits using other playful means.

Show interest
I was thirsty for tea in Hanoi one night and saw that a tour office had hot water going. I went in, inquired about tours and enjoyed a couple cups. I learned more about the country, planned out travel routes, and I gave them hope that they’d sell me a tour. Everyone was happy (OK, maybe they weren’t that thrilled when I didn’t put down any dong, which is their fun currency name, not a euphemism for anything :).

Parlay
I’ve traveled slowly and have been able to eat at restaurants or stay at guest houses for multiple days at a time. By establishing a track record and some rapport, I’ve usually been able to express genuine gratitude for their services and receive great recommendations on additional things. For example, in Hoi An I went to the same lovely restaurant for multiple meals and the owner gave me recommendations on good beach spots and helped ask for discounts at a hotel for me.

Make a sincere effort
It literally pays to invest the energy to learn the language. At a Bangkok street food vendor, I rehearsed and delivered “how much does this cost?” Now having just learned the number system, I excitedly counted aloud on my fingers (nueng, saang, saam,..) trying to figure out what she just demanded. Then when I correctly gave her 80 baht she returned me 5! Effort = 5 baht saving! High five!

In our travels it’s easy to look and feel like walking dollar signs, especially in the tourist-dense areas. Instead of resigning to that status, I’ve found that it pays off to become likeable. Take the effort to make a human connection. You never know what you’ll get.