How to plan a foreign vacation: 10 top tips for a hassle-free outing abroad
From picking the right place to travel duration to travel card, there are many things that one needs to keep in mind while planning a foreign vacation, say experts. Manheer Singh Sethi, co-founder, Travkart, and Anand Kandadai, Executive Vice President, Cleartrip, have listed some tips:
Choose what you wish to do: One of the biggest challenges for planning vacation is what you really want to see and do at the chosen place. You should create your bucket list of things that you would want to do in life so that when you get the opportunity you are ready with the place and not juggling in choosing the right place for your vacation.
Choosing the travel duration: Are you going on a short trip of a few days or a few weeks or traveling long term for more than six months? The longer you travel the less you will spend on average per day. Short trips will always be more expensive.
Choosing pocket-friendly travel package: When you ask friends or trust other websites or blogs, don`t trust when they say it is cheap or expensive. These two terms can be very misleading, as when it comes to money everybody have different feelings. Therefore, try to figure out the exact costs of some key products and services at the destination. Once things are moving according to your budget you can proceed with further process.
Start saving: Money is the most important element of any travel plans. Whether you are being sponsored by your family or spending your own hard earned money, it is essential to start the saving from the day your tickets are booked.
Taking the right credit card: Getting money abroad can be costly. If you don`t feel comfortable running around with big amounts of cash, you will probably get money from an ATM many times during your trips. Every time you pay a fee, sometimes it is a fix fee sometimes a percentage.
A proper check on visa and passport: If you are going to a country where you need a visa, check it early and plan accordingly. Also check that your passport is valid for at least six months by the time you enter the country.
Medication: Many countries require that you have certain vaccinations before you enter the country. They can be very costly and often have to be covered by you and will not be paid by your health insurance. But, if you are traveling in Europe, North America or Australia you probably won`t need any vaccinations.
Right flight at right time: Every time an airline launches a new route they will probably offer it with crazy prices as a teaser. Check out all the offers around the destination. Sometimes you are lucky and will find a cheap flight.
Plan the accommodation: Are you more a hotel person, a hostel person or like to stay in local apartments? To stay in a place which is unknown for you, it is important that you choose the right accommodation for yourself. If you are a person who likes to socialise more hostel is the best option as here you get lot of travellers sharing their experiences. Also, if you like to feel the local culture of the place then you can go for homestays.
Plan the activities: As mentioned earlier also budget is the key aspect of your trip, so according to it try to find out the cost of the activities which you want to do. Activities can be costly and you should calculate them into your budget.