Folks with an itch to travel tend to explore the nooks and crannies of this grandiose splendor we know, called Earth. An awful lot of nations to stop over, waters to explore, and nature to marvel at; travel planning can get quite daunting.
It asks for copious amounts of grinding through the web, and trusts me when I say this; it wouldn’t take anything less than the forbearance of a kindergarten teacher, and a sharp eye to circumvent generic itinerary bloomers done my most, especially when traveling for the first time.
Here’s a list that you should steer clear of whilst travel planning!
1. Not Planning Your Itinerary
This commonly observed amateur mistake can get you into some serious inconvenience. One of the rudimentary tasks to do before you travel is itinerary planning as it helps you finalize your budget, make the needed bookings and plan out a concrete blueprint for your travel.
Itinerary planning scares most, as things such as Excel sheets and spread-out data of all the destinations can overwhelm you. No need to fret as you have at your hands and feet travel planning tools to curb your burdens.
2 Not Researching the Destination
For the sole reason of the destination being a trend and your peer group is plane hopping to the place doesn’t say that you must do the same. Leaving out on the research leaves you with the cost of potentially being dissatisfied, and wasting your time and money.
A lot depends on whether you’ll enjoy the destination you may have chosen. Research ensures that by answering a few key questions: Is it in your budget range? Is it your idea of a vacation? Does suit your interests or your peers (if traveling with you)? This makes the trip a lot more comfortable and enjoyable.
2. Not Making A Rain Check
You have to do a weather check of wherever you’re headed off to, specifically if you’re visiting a big nation such as the USA where you have varying climates coast-to-coast. This is another common lapse made which may lead you to shack up any place you find to save yourself from rain.
3. Excessive itinerary
It’s quite identifiable that someone would want their every penny’s worth. This shouldn’t make you want to stuff 10 countries in a 15-day holiday! Overloading your itinerary is tiresome and may very well turn you into a whiny traveler.
Time is needed for snoozing between sightseeing, breathing, relaxing, and relishing the moment than rather having to rush all over the place.
4. Not Prioritizing
This shouldn’t be missed as it would allow you to first explore the things you may be interested in the most and this could also be considered as a subset of researching your chosen destination. Prioritizing also depends on the people you’re traveling with, if it’s with children, amusement parks are a priority over going to a museum.
5. Not Making A Budget
You should take out enough time to map out your budget as it’s quite vital. This makes it easier to prioritize and choose areas to visit and activities to do while fitting into your budget. You should have enough backup cash in case of emergencies so that you don’t land in a critical financial situation. What helps you curb your budget is that you can book apartments, kitchenette-included hostels allowing you to cook for yourself, free walking tours, and invest less time on things and more on the experiences that you would have there.
6. Booking The Flight At The Wrong Time
The flight ticket bites a big one off your savings on any trip you take. And not being a recurrent flyer and/or you include multiple air trips to your travel, expenses can shoot up. The right time to book the ticket can give you a decent discount on the price.
Last minute bookings cost a bomb, well before (not too much though, as that could also get expensive) your travel becomes a lot more reasonable.
7. Booking The First Thing You Find
Completing all your bookings before you go on your trip is advisable although this can be mistaken with booking the very first deal you see taking it as the cheapest deal. The truth is that might be the cheapest available at that particular time or just on that particular website.
Various sites present you with price comparisons, some giving cash-back offers; the ‘look before you leap’ idiom fits quite well here.
8. Not Taking A Travel Insurance
You might think it’s not needed or you may find it outside your budget or you just forgot. Contrary to belief, it’s more important than having your luggage. Scenarios beyond imagination exist where you may need that insurance. To name a few delayed luggage, theft, medical emergencies, and abrupt cancellations/plan changes. Not paying that extra cash for travel insurance could cost you.
9. Not Accounting Time For VISA Procedure
The vitality of this procedure can’t be stressed enough as it could decide whether you even enter the country you want to visit or not. And all your planning and mapping would go to waste if you were to leave this one behind. Ensure you take out enough time for VISA as you can only get approved in a particular window.
Final Thoughts
It’s really important to avoid such mistakes while planning a perfect trip to avoid any hassles. Once you avoid making the above-mentioned mistakes, you can easily enjoy your next trip.