Often when Im travelling and I get stuck in a creative rut or may simply just happen to be in an area where the background is not particularly interesting I reach into my arsenal of techniques, by which I mean styles of photography. One of my favorite is the Panning shot, you do need the right conditions to be able to pull off a good panning shot, for starters the light cant be too bright otherwise you wont be able to shoot with a slow shutter speed also the subject needs to be moving reasonably fast compared to their surroundings so its not for every occasions but when conditions are right it makes for truly spectacular image.

The objective of the panning shot is to create motion blur in the background whilst keeping the subject sharp, this allows you to give the image a scene of velocity, generally in the direction they are travelling. We actually see the world with motion blur anyway which is why we find these images so appealing, in fact modern TV's have an incredibly fast refresh rate which makes the picture seem weird to us so TV companies need to add motion blur for a more realistic viewer experience, the effect also adds a whole dimension and enhances the story telling aspect.

Gear - You need a camera that allows you to use manual mode so as to slow down the shutter speed to around 1/15th of a second or so, a filter can help if its too bright out but camera is pretty much all you need.

Right light - an overcast day or late in the evening are probably the best times as the light levels are low enough for slow shutter speeds, to get a decent panning shot on a sunny day would require a neutral density filter (ND) I dont travel with ND Filters so need to improvise.

Subject - Ive found people on bikes are the best as they travel at a moderate pace that allows you to track them easily but cars, buses, Tuk Tuks, boats, people or animals running work well, basically if its moving and can be tracked its all good.

Technique - basically to get the shot you need to:

Set your camera to shutter priority between 1/10 and 1/15th of a sec, the slower you set the speed to blurrier the background.
Use a low F stop, you may need to use the lowest your camera can go to achieve slow shutter anyway.
I would suggest manually focusing on a point directly in front of you where you think the subject will cross, also point your feet in that direction and don't move them.
Turn at your hip to face the oncoming subject pan with them as they cross the point in front of you take the shot, then repeat and repeat and repeat for every subject that passes.

Try not to concentrate too much on on sharpness at first, its more important to get your form right. On average I normally take 10-20 shots at one site depending on how much time I have and how often they come, below is an average snapshot of my attempts to get a NYC Cab, Im at a street corner shooting them as the street lights change so they travel in both directions.

Tips: Ive found that standing at street corners or where a street bends around you is good as the subject remains at an equal distance as it arcs around, if they are coming toward you manually focusing at a point you expect they will be when you take the shot works well, I also try setting my camera to continuous focus then lock them in as they approach and track them but this only works if you have a good lens that tracks focus well. Regardless of the gear sharpness of the subject will depend on how well to pan with them so practice makes perfect, you really need to practice matching the your tracking to the subjects speed. Also Tuk Tuk drivers are always looking for a fair so will look in your direction when you take the photo.