Though most of what you see on the news is negative, no matter where you are in the world people are pretty normal (and that means nice). Think of them as your neighbors on your street, most people probably wouldn't hesitate to ask a neighbor for advice on getting somewhere or where the closest convenience store is. Furthermore, you never know when someone is going the same direction and will offer a ride.

In Turkey, my friend Grant and I rented a car and drove cross country to Cappadocia. En route we dropped into a tiny town for dinner and asked around for a cell phone store. We bought a SIM card but had no clue how to activate it and noone around knew more than a few words in english. We ended up getting two guys to Skype call their niece who was studying English in Ukraine. She translated for us and an hour later we had it working with the help of the two guys, their wives and kids who joined in on the translating, hand waving fun.

Get a SIM card

Most places it is super cheap to buy phone service locally and worth its weight in cliches. I have a SIM card for numbers in Thailand, India, Turkey. Spain, Panama, Argentina and Dubai. All of these have cost less than $20, usually $10. This usually gives you a month of calling/texting and sometimes a small data plan which is perfect for maps and email. I don't know how many times this has come in handy and made the trip flexible. Unlock your phone before leaving. I used these guys for my AT&T iPhone 5 and was happy with the service (unlockriver.com).

Use your phone for navigating without service #superdupersecret

Even if you don't get a SIM card, your phone can still receive the GPS signal from satellites to tell you where you are. You can download full map apps onto your phone and navigate around cities without having service. This one bit has helped tremendously. Take some screenshots of your destinations throughout the day when you have wifi. Also, this keeps sketchy taxi drivers honest when you show them where you want to go and that you know can see where you are on the map. To make it work on the iPhone you have to have WiFi turned on.

Don't plan much / Be Spontaneous

Plans will find you, just get there and be social. Trust me, it'll work out and your lack of expectations will turn into surprise. When you don't have serious plans, you have the freedom to do anything.

Some of the best experiences I've had have happened spontaneously. Stumbling across the best beer in my life in De Garre alley in Brugges, Belgium, sneaking into an abandoned jobsite in Dubai with a Tunisian guy to eat a McArabia sandwich looking out over the Arabian gulf, trading an incredible meal in a French castle and spending the night sleeping in the car in the Pyranese mountains on the side of the road to make up for the lost money.