20 Tips On Planning Your Traveling Trip!

Posted on October 28, 2014 by hanbobs — Leave a comment

Are you thinking of going traveling but have no idea where to begin? Let me help!

Whether it’s Europe, Asia, America, Australia or even the Moon – you need to know your area firstly. This is what helped me begin my travel plans, and hopefully it can help you…

1. Look At A Map – You can’t plan a trip if you don’t know where it is you’re actually going. Use Google Maps to work out your route and pin point each destination in order of where you’ll visit first. It helps you to get a better understanding of your Geography skills. Before I looked at one, I could never have told you where half of the places I’m visiting were! It sounds so simple but believe me – it’s a massive help so don’t avoid it.

2. Look into Visas – Do you need a Visa for any of the places you’re visiting? How much are they? Is it worth paying a lot of money for a Visa if you’re only going to be staying in that particular country for a few days? We had planned to stay in China for 5 days but bypassed it due to the price of the Visa…

3. Visas (Applying too soon) – in some cases you have to apply for your Visa(s) by filling in forms online and signing a lot of documents, not to mention getting some I.D photos taken (you can do this at your local store in a photo booth). Don’t apply too early – some places that require a Visa will allow you to access their country for a limited amount of time, in some cases three months or even one month… this goes off the date you submitted your application. If you submit 6 month prior to leaving, the chances are your Visa may have expired before you’ve even arrived. BE CAREFUL.

4. Check the Weather – some places have monsoon season, some have snow, some have hot and humid weather at specific times of the year – make sure the weather will be suitable for your trip.

5. Passport – Is it in date? Is it due to expire?

6. Accommodation – Shop around on sites such as Booking.com and Hostel World – don’t book with the first place you find. Read reviews and see what the best rates are.

7. Are there any time differences – some places are behind on the time and others ahead – if you’ve booked your flights and your accommodation are you aware what time you’ll be arriving? Is it the next day? Have you booked and paid for a night in a hotel/hostel that you won’t need? We’re due to arrive in India at 3am (Local Time) and our hostel is an hours drive away… we’ve booked a late check in hotel close by to the airport for one night so we’re not traveling late at night in a foreign country. Think logically about it and be safe.

8. Booking Flights – Shop around. A lot of well known airlines do Multi Trip Tickets – this enables you to fly from one destination to another and then to fly from a completely different destination to another months after – all on the same ticket and at a reasonable price! We’ll be flying from Manchester to Goa in April and then from Hong Kong in June with our ticket.

9. Use Local Airlines – if you’re traveling from one continent to another then book your in between flights with local airlines. They’re cheap and cheerful and you can book these as you plan your trip. We’ve booked to fly with Qatar Airways out of the UK and then back home to the UK but have booked flights with local Asian airlines such as Air Asia and Spice Jet to get from one place to another. We use SKYSCANNER to find cheap flights.

10. Food/Drink – You can view blogs from fellow travellers who live on crazy amounts like £3 per day on 3 square meals, they will also advise you on places to dine and places to avoid – also make sure you have enough funds to feed your appetite. Are you visiting a country where the water isn’t safe to drink? Has that fresh apple you’re about to bite in to been washed with dirty water that will make you ill and cause you to cancel that Elephant Trek in the jungle that you’ve already paid for? Was that bottle of water you just got from the local shop sealed? Or was it just craftily filled with tap water and sold as fresh bottled water? Hm!

11. Luggage – What will you take? Is it enough? Is it too much? Did you pack a First Aid Kit? How about a universal plug adaptor? Is your backpack/suitcase/travel pack suitable for your trip? Will it last? Will it be easy to carry around? Did you remember to buy padlocks for the zippers?

12. Respect – If you’re heading to a religious country have you packed suitable clothes? Some places don’t like women to show certain areas of their body…. thighs/shoulders/stomach – remember you’re a visitor so it’s always nice to do some research to find out about the Do’s and the Don’ts so you’re fully preparcd for when you arrive.

13. Banks/Money – Let your bank know your plans, the last thing you want is for them to block your account because they think someone is using your card abroad! Research the currency, you may have a short 1 hour flight from one place to another but sometimes the currency is not always the same. Spend a little time calculating your own currency to the place(s) you’re heading. That way you’ll know your limits.

14. Travel Insurance – Anything can happen and it’s not always free to receive hospital care. You can get insurance for next to nothing and it’s definitely worth it wherever you go! I think we’ve payed around £40 for ours…

15. Plan an Itinerary – Not everything goes to plan but it’s nice to have some things pre arranged isn’t it? Such as visiting Tiger Temple in Thailand or participating in a 3 day trek in Nepal – not every day will literally be spent traveling and it’s nice to have some relaxing time on the beach, round the pool, or even in your hotel/hostel. However, it’s always best to research things to do in the areas you’re staying in – you never know when a spontaneous trip somewhere will arise, and having some knowledge on wherever you end up prior to leaving will be a bonus – plus you might already know the actual prices instead of arriving and being charged over the odds because you look like you have no idea where you are or what you’re doing… there’s a lot of con artists about and you’re guaranteed to get spanked along the way! Avoiding it at all costs is a precautions you could take when you plan and make notes of your itinerary – even if you don’t stick with it. Hey, this is your trip!

16. Vaccines – Everyones least favourite part about traveling! Do you need Travel Vaccines for the places you’re traveling too? Your doctor will be able to answer that for you! In most cases you can fill in a form online on your doctors website, my nurse got back in touch with me and gave me a list of the injections I will need including the times to book in to have them done. Remember that some are free and others come at a price – I have to have around 4 injections and I think I pay for 1 which is Rabies – it’s around £150 for two shots!

17. Social Media/Blogs/Internet – The Internet makes it so much easier to discover things now – take a look at videos on YouTube, there are a lot of people out there who record their travel experiences and post them online for people to also experience, some are really good – others not so good! But you’ll get a glimpse of the culture, weather, and possibly everything you need to know, plus it’ll provide you with tips and hints on places to go, places to eat, and just the general surroundings of where you could potentially be staying! Blogs will do the same – you’re only ever a Google Search away from discovering more about your trip! It’s that easy.

18. Sim Card – Not all networks will operate in every corner of the world, so you may need to consider buying a sim card that will work while you’re abroad as well as fit into your phone. Some phones aren’t dual banded so this can be a problem. It may be that you don’t plan on taking a phone, but it’s nice to have one in emergencies…

19. Devices – This will be your trip of a life time and one that you won’t get to do often or maybe not ever again! Take lots of photos and videos and capture every experience you have so you have some wonderful memories to cherish forever! Purchase a spare memory card in case you use up too much space on one and are unable to free it… take a USB stick so you can transfer your photos and videos onto your tablet or a computer at the place you’re staying, you can upload them to your blog, Facebook, Twitter or even We Transfer them to your email address for when you get home, or even someone else’s email address for them to look at, I bet your family and friends would be happy to see how much fun you’re having! Don’t forget your chargers!! A camera is no good with a dead battery…