Travelling: Planning A Trip Part 1

Trip planning.  Some people love it, some people hate it.  It seems like those who aren't huge fans of planning trips just don't really know where to start.   I could probably write an entire book on this so will be greatly condensing and splitting this into two parts.

The basics:

Figure out where/when you're going

This is probably the most important thing in planning a trip.  If you don't have a place to go, you're not going to be taking a trip.  Do you want to stay in your home country or venture internationally?  Domestic travel is likely going to be easier but I would do international travel over domestic any day.  If you have no ideas but want to go somewhere, ask around! When I made the decision to study abroad, I had no idea where I wanted to go.  After asking some people, I settled on Dublin which turned out to be a perfect fit.

Part of figuring out where you want to go is knowing when you would like to be there.  Take into account local seasons, when other people will likely be travelling, and major holidays.

Get a Visa? (for international travel)

This should be the first thing you look into once you figure out where you want to go.  A visa is basically an approval of the country you're going to allowing you to be there.  Many places require visas and many do not. Some do what's called a "visa on arrival" where, as the name suggests, you get a visa at the airport when you arrive, whereas some countries require you to apply beforehand.  

How do you know if you need a visa?  If you're from the US, the government made this neat website.  Right now the US passport along with the UK passport are the most "powerful" passports in the world, allowing entry to 147 countries without a visa. Some visas take a long time to get whereas others are almost instant so make sure to apply for the visa well in advanced.    

Make sure you don't book flights/accommodation before your visa is approved.  If for some reason it's denied, you will have spent a lot of money for nothing.  It's pretty rare but I've read a few stories of people booking flights and then having their visa denied and being unable to get a refund.

Accommodation

For me, figuring out where I"m staying is step 3.  If you buy plane tickets and then find out every hostel/hotel is booked, you're in for a bad time.  If you're like me and got paid just above US minimum wage, hostels will be your best friend.  There's a bunch of different hostel booking sites but my go to is Hostelworld.

If you aren't so much about the hostel life, I have used Hotwire with good result. While in New York, we were able to stay in Times Square for a very reasonable price using Hotwire.  The only catch is you don't know exactly what/where the hotel is.  They show you once you purchase but this could be a deterrent for some. Although I haven't used it, Airbnb has become popular as another cheaper accommodation option.

Transportation

One of the biggest costs of travelling is likely going to be transportation.  Planes, trains, and automobiles (and boats) are all at your disposal but for purposes of keeping this from turning into a novel, let's assume you're flying.  You're going to want to use a flight comparison site.  A lot of people swear by Kayak but I'm not a huge fan.  I never find the lowest prices.  My go to is Skyscanner.  Keep in mind some airlines don't advertise their flights on comparison sites. For example, Southwest hardly ever appears in results and they often are one of the cheapest US domestic airlines.

Once you find a low fare, check directly on the airline's website and see if it's the same price.  If it is, book it through the airline.  If you go through a third party, making any changes can be a major headache. Sometimes it will be cheaper to go with the third party.  In that case, do it.

In terms of when the best time is to purchase airplane tickets, this page sums it up nicely.

When flying extreme budget airlines, be careful when booking.  These airlines charge for nearly everything. They often will add additional costs in the online booking process and unless you notice, you will be charged more.  Checking a bag, picking a seat, trip insurance, and priority boarding are common things the airline will add for you by default so make sure to deselect anything you don't want.  After all the additional fees, sometimes it's better to book a more expensive ticket with a nicer airline and have all the "extras" included and it will work out to be roughly the same price as the seemingly cheaper ticket.  

Also, be aware of boarding pass requirements.  For example in Europe, if you have a non EU passport and fly Ryanair, you have to go to the ticketing gate and get your boarding pass stamped.  They won't let you on the flight if you forget to do this. Simple solution to avoid any unpleasant experience?  Read everything when booking and when you print your boarding pass.

Thanks generic Wikipedia picture.

Next Steps:

Budgeting

I did an entire post on money so I'll keep this short.  Before you start figuring out exactly what you want to do when you get to your location, you need to know how much you're willing to spend/able to save before the trip.  Even if you're going the more frugal way, know you're still going to need money.  Travelling isn't going to be fun if you only have funds for food/accommodation and nothing set aside for activities.  I saw a quote the other day that said something along the lines of "pack half the amount of clothes and double the amount of money you think you'll need."  Wise words.  One thing I'll mention again that I said in the money post, make sure to take into account expenses from home that can't be stopped (e.g. student loan payments) and work those into the budget.

Activities

Now that you know where/how/when you're travelling, what are you going to do?  No matter how "go with the flow" you are, it's a good idea to at least have a general idea about things you want to do.  I tend to make a list of the big must sees/do and try and tick those off.  From there, I figure my day out when I get to the location. A great resource for finding things to do is TripAdvisor.  The best part about TripAdvisor is the forums.  Whilst travelling in Europe, I read many message boards about activities for the places I was going. The forums are great because it's people who have actually done the thing giving their opinions.  The forums are also insanely helpful in figuring out public transportation which can sometimes get a little confusing depending on the location.  

Another great resource which I didn't utilize until Australia is Reddit.  There is tons of information on Reddit but be warned some people on there are "travel hipsters" which can be annoying.  Also, make sure to use the search bar before asking a question because it has likely already been asked and people hate when you repeat questions.

Figure Out Local Transport

Now that you have all of these fun things planned, how are you going to get to them?  This doesn't have to be figured out in advanced but it can sure relieve some stress as opposed to attempting it day of.  Many cities have tourist attractions in the city center which means walking is a viable option.  However sometimes you'll need to take public transport.  Like I said, TripAdvisor is a good resource but also just do some Googling. Many cities have websites dedicated to public transit information.  Downloading city transit apps is also a good way to be in the know.

If public transit isn't for you, taxis can be very expensive so look for alternatives like Uber or Lyft (in most major cities).  Of course the easiest option is usually to just hire a car.

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That seems like a good stopping point.  Part two is here.

That's all for now.  Bye.