Many times I've stressed the importance of doing an in depth research on your travel planning and do not just rely on travel agencies. They'll rip your pockets, I tell ya! Here's a few pointers from me.

DISCOVER
Influences on places you might want to visit will come from many sources like TV, magazines, internet and friend's recommendation. But that is not enough. They might like it but you don't. Mass media portrays good elements of the place but it may be a hassle to you. Things you must consider includes...

1. Are you on a tight budget?
2. What do you intend to do there?
   
3. Are you prepared to live on the edge?
4. How troublesome will it be for you to get there?
5. Who are you going with?

LEARN
Once you've identify your needs, now is the time to evaluate from the many countries shortlisted earlier. Use the internet where you can find many online trip planner that will offer you good reliable tips to aid your planning. But the best method of all is to join their communities and interact with many experienced traveler like yourself to exchange information and experiences.

PLAN
The moment you've roughly firm up the first 2 parts, its time to lay it down. Plan your itinerary in detail but give yourself some flexibility to be fickle, cos it WILL happen!

1. Places you wanna go to/visit/see
2. Transportation - how can you get to those destinations and how much time will it consume
3. Food - proper sit-in dining or street stalls will do
4. Photography - what kind of pictures you wanna capture to show you're actually there
5. Always set aside time to rest. Nothing spoils a vacation when you end up being fatigue, cranky
   

SAVE
Here's a few way to pinch the pennies...

1. Make your booking purchase (accommodation, flights etc) to enjoy their early bird deals
2. You can take advantage of off-peak season to travel. Not only you save $$ but you will avoid excessive crowds too
3. The bigger the group, the more money you'll save! Trust me on this
4. Don't bother staying in expensive hotels... think about it.
5. If that place is not big on food, live on food like sandwiches etc... you'll live, don't worry
6. Travel light if you're planning to shop a lot in case it might be heavier than the baggage limit
7. If possible, avoid taking cabs... try their public transportation frequently used by the locals
8. Get to know the locals and they'll be of use to introduce non-touristy area that charges you touristy prices
   

SHARE
This is not compulsory but it'll be nice to setup a nice website online and show the world what you've learned and discovered and help your fellow travelers too in this way! Have an awesome vacation!

Labels: travel