Creating an itinerary and planning go hand in hand. For example the first questions a travel agent will ask you is where are you going? When? For how long? So before you go rushing to the travel agency's first do the following.
- Grab out your handy dandy not book or open a word document.
- Write down all the places you want to go see
- Then decide what time of year you would like to see those things
- Look into what date maybe certain festivals or the things you want to see are open eg. The Greek Islands are really only accessible May- October. Their summer months
- Decide what type of holiday you want to go on? Relaxing? Adventure? Exploring?
- Than look at how much time you will need to take off from your job? Will you need to quit your job? Will they let you take off the time? Will you have any annual leave to be paid out?
- After you have looked at the above things decided on a rough date you would like to leave and when you would like to be back.
- Then the big one make a realistic budget. How much are you will to spend on the trip? If you are over there for eg. 3months how much will you need a day? Look at your bills that you will need to pay when you are away. How much will you need to cover them? If you quit your job you will need some money when you get back home until you find another job also.
.jpg)
So once you have decided where you are going, your budget, dates you are leaving and coming back you will be able to go to the travel agent. Get the travel agent to do up a rough quotation. Tell them your budget (without your spending or bills) But when you tell them it make sure you tell them a thousand dollars less. This will allow you some flexibility to add on tours or day trips. Tell them the locations you would like to go and roughly how long floor. Ask them to do up a quotation with flights, accommodation and transfers.
This quotation may vary depending on your method of transportation for where you are going. Some quotations may include a bus about tour to get you to where you want to go and then you have to add your accommodation. Or you may want to do a tour where everything is included eg. Top deck or Contiki. These tours can be fantastic because your transfers, accommodation and some food is paid for. But on the other hand depending on how you like to travel you might not like the fact that everything is all ready planned and you can wander off and get lost if you want to.
When you receive your quotation make sure you go and get comparison quotations for other travel agency's and even see if it will be cheaper online for you to book it your self. Travel agency's tend to add commission.
Sites to help you with your planning
Comparison Sites (these site compare prices of flights, accommodation and also have deals)
www.webjet.com
www.flightcentre.com.au
Tour Companies:
www.contiki.com - Contiki runs tours for 18-30 something year olds. Your trip will be fully planned from your accommodations, to your itinerary. Some of your meals are included (UK, USA, Canada, Asia, Australia, NZ)
www.topdeck.travel - Top Deck is also aimed at 18-30 year olds. Your trip will be fully planned from your accommodations, to your itinerary. (UK, Europe USA, Canada, Asia, Australia, NZ)
www.busabout.com - Busabout is a tour company aimed again at 18-30 year olds. The have particular routes around Europe that they follow. This may be a little bit cheaper than Topdeck and contiki because its just based on your transfer from country to country. You then on top of that have to organise your accommodation. But the good thing about this company is that you can stay in one place for as long as you want then ring up and book on the bus that leaves the next day. They are very flexible. (UK, Europe)
www.trafalgar.com - Trafalgar Tours are aimed at someone who wants a more luxurious tour and does not have an age bracket that they target. They are a bit more pricey but you get alot for your dollar. (UK, Europe, USA, South America, Canada)
www.infinityholidays.com.au- Infinity Holidays have destinations all around the world including fiji and they also have cruise deals. They have no age limits or brackets they target.
My Trip to Fiji
Good points about travelling on a tour when you are travelling solo
If you do travel on a tour eg. Contiki or top deck when your travelling the world solo, the good news is that you will meet lots of people. Because on a tour you are never really alone.
Tours can be great because all your accommodation is planned, your itinerary done, your transfers are taken care of from place to place and some of your food is paid for. All you have to do is turn up and jump on a bus. Some tours have free time options. Tours can sometimes be cheaper than doing it alone.
Bad points about traveling solo on a tour
If you see something interesting or want to stop an extra day in eg. Paris you cant. Your booked in to the trip . This can be especially painful if you have booked a longer trip. The people on the tour will be the people you will be hanging out with 24/7 until the end of your tour. Also If you were really looking forward to seeing eg. Alcatraz and its not on your tour you wont get to see it.
.jpg)
Alcatraz- San Fran
Once you have chosen what you would like to do. A tour, a trip exploring by your self and the time frame you can sit down and go through the nitty gritty awesome stuff.
You get to plan your day trips and book in what you are going to see.
Tips: Some attractions are booked out months in advance. Eg. Alcatraz.
Travelling on tours aren't for everyone. If your like me then you enjoy being able to be flexible and do your own thing. If you would like to travel solo and not on a tour there are different types of accommodation you can stay in.
Free: Coach Surfing
Home exchange
Farm stay (Work for accommodation)
Websites:
Stay for Free - http://stay4free.com/ (Home exchange)
You must be thinking: an authentic home at no cost sounds fantastic -- but how is this possible? The answer is home exchange. (Stay for free site a home exchange site)
Home exchange is when two parties agree to exchange their homes for a period of time for vacation. It is easy to list your home and find available homes on Stay4free.com. The advantages are numerous: 1) you stay for free, 2) live like a local in an authentic home, and 3) save thousands on expensive hotels!
Couch surfing- https://www.couchsurfing.org/
Couch surfing.com requires you to log in and it will connect you with people all around the world who put there couches up for guests to stay on for free.
Global Free Loaders- http://www.globalfreeloaders.com/
Global free loaders is an online community that connects travelers with people who will allow others to stay in there homes while they see the world for free.
House sitting:
These below sites are house sitting sites. Peoples put there houses up for house sitting for if they attend to go away on holidays or would like someone to mind there houses or pets.
Mind my house: http://www.mindmyhouse.com/
House carers: http://www.housecarers.com/
Luxury House Sitting: http://www.luxuryhousesitting.com/
Cheapest: Hostels and Camping
Hostel world- http://www.hostelworld.com/
Cheap hostel accommodation online.
Mid range: Hotels
Short term rental
Short term rental sites:
http://www.wimdu.com/
https://www.airbnb.com.au/
Mid range to Expensive: Villas or Apartments
It is honestly up to you what type of accommodation you prefer. Hostels can be safe but I would carry anything you do not want to get pinched on you at all times. House sitting is a good free way to get accommodation. Other wise if you have the cash to spend hotels can sometimes be safer and can offer you a bit more comfort. Such your own toilet, shower and not having to listen to anyone else snoring.
Transportation:
In regards to transportation there is a number of ways to go about going from city to city when you travel. There are a few different tour companies you can go with which included accommodation and transfers or there is companies like busabout tour which are companies that will transport you from city to city and you have to find your own accommodation. Other wise if you are in Europe there are a number of other ways that you can go from city to city.
Trains (Eurorail)
Buses
Taxi's
Planes
Ferries
Boats
Tour companies
Hope this helps
No comments:
Post a Comment