Travel - Where do I begin?
April 25th 2009 05:40
Where do you want to go? How long for? How you going? Why you going? Are all questions that you have to think off when planning to travel. Once this is decided don’t just jump into the first package or airfare you see. I suggest stay away from travel agents. Travel agents are dead. They will charge you their commission firstly, and then most travel agents are just going to book your airfare and hotels from the web anyway. I have seen it in China, once you go through a travel agent in person or on the web they up the price or for example in China they say prices in U.S dollars which is the same numeral value as in Chinese Yuan, so you are actually paying 6 or 7 times the value what you will pay if you bought in China at the tourist attraction/ hotel or train etc. So, I suggest plan and book yourself through websites, booking direct. It will save you so much time. This way if you do have any special requirements ie disabilities or eating for example you can speak to the company direct. Travel agents will never pass on 100% of the information. Again, when booking do not take the first price you see, start searching 6 to 12 months before you go. These websites will start with cheap airfares or accommodation from 6 to 12 months before departure; this will save you hundreds or maybe thousands of dollars. A lot of these websites have happy hours each day, and then have special periods each month. Once you know, you have found an airfare or accommodation at a price that you can not beat, and then take it. But, you got to do your research. Booking over the web will again save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars than going to a travel agent. Once your flight is booked, and your accommodation is booked around the days that you want to spend in a place, you can then concentrate on the smaller things like the trip checklist below. With tours, again you need to do research, ask around to people who have traveled there, for example buying a tour in the U.K for the U.K will be more expensive than buying in Australia for the U.K, but then buying a tour in Australia or U.S.A for China is way way way more expensive than buying in China for China. You also need to find out if the tour goes to where you want to go, it may also only make a short quick stop there, sometimes it is better to plan a tour yourself and go by your self or friends/ family and just do one day tours. One more thing to add on accommodation, if traveling by yourself or with just a partner or friend, I suggest do not stay in hotel, it is a waste of money. How much time really are you going to be in that hotel, you are not going to spend all day in it and at night time you are sleep, so you do not care. If you are spending the days inside of your hotel room, then you may as well stay at home. Hostels are the next big thing. Most hostels these days are becoming like hotels at quarter the price for a double room with an ensuite and TV, and also you are able to meet other tourist quite easily. To me, Hostels are a better option than Hotels. One thing you do have to think off as well, when overseas your travel plans change, you hear or see things that you did not know off before you left. Me personally, when I travel overseas or to a destination, I just buy by airfare or transport there and the first stops accommodation, so at least you have accommodation for the first night or two, and take it from there after you speak to people who are in that country or region, but everyone is different.
Trip Checklist
• Make sure your passport is valid for 6 months past your return date (many countries require this).
• Make two photocopies of all your credit cards and your driving license and passport. Keep a copy at home. Take a copy with you and carry separate from the originals.
• If you will be driving overseas, get an International Driving Permit. Check with your Automobile Association for more information.
• Get all your booking documents organized for the trip. I make a file folder with all my documents for each booking and keep them in the order you will need them.
• Have the information from your home country handy on what to do if your passport is lost or stolen for example, for Australia is - www.smartraveller.gov.au: Australian Government Travel Advisory as well as a reverse charge telephone number from your bank, just incase your cards are lost or stolen. Also carry any other relevant details ie phone numbers/ web addresses or account numbers for those accounts you may need to pay on a ongoing basis if away for a while.
• Make a very detailed complete itinerary with all the addresses, directions and contact numbers that you will need for every place you are going. Include contact information for people you are planning to meet on the trip. This way you will always have all the important information you need in one place. Be sure to carry this with you at all times. Do not put in checked luggage.
• Give a copy of the itinerary to a person who will be looking after things for you at home ie a parent.
• Make Sure Your Money Works! You do not need traveler’s checks. People stopped using traveler’s checks a few years ago and now rely on ATM cards for cash on our trips.
• Contact the bank that issued your ATM cards and tell them you will be traveling.
• Be sure your ATM cards will work in another country. Check with your or at the overseas bank to see if your ATM card and PIN will work.
• Use each ATM card once before you leave to be sure they are working and you have your PIN. Contact your credit card companies to tell them you will be traveling.
• Order foreign currency from your bank so you don't arrive with no cash, if you want to arrive with some local currency, but most airports, train and bus stations have ATM facilities on site.
• From one to two weeks before you leave, start to pack, think of what you want to pack, then come a week, pack it, when you have packed that, you will find that you have packed too much, so take out half out. Maybe then half it again. Then it should be perfect. You never wear everything that you pack anyway. You will buy clothes on your travels, you will wear them. Only three quarters pack your bag, so you have room for new clothes and unbreakable souvenirs in your checked baggage.
• Warning! When you pack things like shampoos and conditioners and lotions etc they will probably expand in flight and will leak. Pack in plastic or leave at home and buy overseas.
• Have everything done before the day before you leave, so the day before you do one final check to make sure you have EVERYTHING that you need. It is too late once you are on the plane, even so at the airport.
• AND FINALLY! HAPPY TRAVELS! HAVE FUN!
At the Airport. No turning back. Your luggage is on the plane. You are about to go on a adventure or dream holiday of a lifetime.
Trip Checklist
• Make sure your passport is valid for 6 months past your return date (many countries require this).
• Make two photocopies of all your credit cards and your driving license and passport. Keep a copy at home. Take a copy with you and carry separate from the originals.
• If you will be driving overseas, get an International Driving Permit. Check with your Automobile Association for more information.
• Get all your booking documents organized for the trip. I make a file folder with all my documents for each booking and keep them in the order you will need them.
• Have the information from your home country handy on what to do if your passport is lost or stolen for example, for Australia is - www.smartraveller.gov.au: Australian Government Travel Advisory as well as a reverse charge telephone number from your bank, just incase your cards are lost or stolen. Also carry any other relevant details ie phone numbers/ web addresses or account numbers for those accounts you may need to pay on a ongoing basis if away for a while.
• Make a very detailed complete itinerary with all the addresses, directions and contact numbers that you will need for every place you are going. Include contact information for people you are planning to meet on the trip. This way you will always have all the important information you need in one place. Be sure to carry this with you at all times. Do not put in checked luggage.
• Give a copy of the itinerary to a person who will be looking after things for you at home ie a parent.
• Make Sure Your Money Works! You do not need traveler’s checks. People stopped using traveler’s checks a few years ago and now rely on ATM cards for cash on our trips.
• Contact the bank that issued your ATM cards and tell them you will be traveling.
• Be sure your ATM cards will work in another country. Check with your or at the overseas bank to see if your ATM card and PIN will work.
• Use each ATM card once before you leave to be sure they are working and you have your PIN. Contact your credit card companies to tell them you will be traveling.
• Order foreign currency from your bank so you don't arrive with no cash, if you want to arrive with some local currency, but most airports, train and bus stations have ATM facilities on site.
• From one to two weeks before you leave, start to pack, think of what you want to pack, then come a week, pack it, when you have packed that, you will find that you have packed too much, so take out half out. Maybe then half it again. Then it should be perfect. You never wear everything that you pack anyway. You will buy clothes on your travels, you will wear them. Only three quarters pack your bag, so you have room for new clothes and unbreakable souvenirs in your checked baggage.
• Warning! When you pack things like shampoos and conditioners and lotions etc they will probably expand in flight and will leak. Pack in plastic or leave at home and buy overseas.
• Have everything done before the day before you leave, so the day before you do one final check to make sure you have EVERYTHING that you need. It is too late once you are on the plane, even so at the airport.
• AND FINALLY! HAPPY TRAVELS! HAVE FUN!
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