Setting a course for savvy travelers seems to be one of the hardest things that most first time travelers face due to their failure to make research before embarking on any trip. One does not need a lot of money to travel well.
Too much money can actually make your trip less interesting, especially when you are travelling in places like Mexico and Asia. Nor do you need to be young and carefree – some of the happiest travelers to be seen were members of the ‘Gadabouts’, whom one can actually meet on a ferry going up the British Columbia coast to Alaska.
It is believed that the single most important ingredient of successful travel is a positive attitude and energy – the confidence to handle any situation that comes up and a cheerful self-reliance that helps you turn disappointments into benefits.
Travel is one of the best educations that one can actually get, especially when you try to learn or speak the language of the people, master the currency, eat the food, and support the local art of the people.
Not only will you learn about the place you are visiting but you will also understand your country better by seeing it from another point of view. If you can embrace the foreignness of a place with enthusiasm, many things will come into perspective: your life, your work, and your place in the world.
Some people find their best side comes out under the particular condition of travel. You may love being in charge of your own destiny and having all the essentials of life in one suitcase. Or you may be apprehensive – about the security of your home, your health, or possible loneliness en route.
We hope this blog article will help your travel preparations by freeing you of problems and full of discovery. While it was being written, certain ideas kept surfacing, and we thought it wise to gather these in this article with hope that it helps all savvy travelers achieve a successful travel.
16 Tips for setting a course for savvy travelers
1. Start making plans early. The earlier you can commit yourself to travel plans, the more option you will have, and the better the deals be. be firm and decide early on the transportation arrangement for your trip.
2. Read as much as possible about the place you are visiting. Browse in your public libraries, take to your internets and make research. Read all available guide books and explore background information.
3. Travel light
4. Ask for a discount or you will not get it.
5. Stay alert – read the fine print, listen to announcements and hang onto your possessions.
6. Do not try to do everything. Slow down and build into your schedule some time to relax, to play, to be spontaneous (especially if you are travelling with kids). Flexibility and a reasonable pace will let you respond when something terrific turns up – a new friend invites you visit his country home in France, for example, or there is room for you on a chartered sailboat cruising the Hawaiian Islands.
7. Focus on just a few places instead of many. Even in Europe, where things are relatively close together, travel time eats up your precious vacation. Instead stay in one area and discover its many dimensions – people, places, views, walks, various historical eras, museums, music, food, ancient monuments and so on.
8. Be discreet – do not flaunt your money. Carry your valuables on your person and keep them in the hotel safe.
9. Get a map of your destination and become familiar with it both for safety and for information.
10. Walk, there is nothing to be compared with it as it is the best way to see the world.
11. Bring sturdy, comfortable walking shoes, well broken in.
12. Get up and go out early to see how the day begins no matter where you are.
13. Try to speak the language.
14. Beware of deals that seem too good to be true, they probably are.
15. Visit people that live there.
16. Once you are on your way, get your nose out of the guidebook or Google map
17. Follow through after your trip. If a service was particularly good or bad, let the supplier know. Communicate with the new friends you made.
How to locate a travel agent when setting a course for savvy travelers
Finding a good travel agent is the best thing that can happen when setting a course for savvy travelers. Firstly, look around until you find a good travel agent.
A professional can be a valuable resource, sharing experiences and expertise, helping you plan and book a vacation, finding big discounts and special deals, and giving you the latest information on everything from new resorts to possible airport hang-ups – all at no cost to you.
Travel agents are paid a commission by all the various suppliers by which they do business – airlines, hotels, cruise lines, rail roads and vacation resorts.
The only time travel agents may charge the consumer directly is if they plan a very complicated itinerary or if they arrange a large tour groups: in the latter case part of the total expense will be a modest travel agent surcharge that will be paid equally by all members of the group. Some travel agents do not promote discount flights, because they do not receive a commission on them.
If you keep trying, however, you will find one of those very special travel agents who are real artists, who love their work and are good at it – canny, patient and imaginative, with a good memory and good computer skills.
You will be able to tell if you have found a competent travel agent by the degree of interest and care taken with you as a customer.
Travel agents deal with its kinds of customers, and will most often be glad just to sit and give you some vacation ideas and prices. You should never feel pressured by a travel agent – if you do, you are with the wrong person.
Make sure you tell your travel agent you want the best deal possible. He or she should take into account special low fares, unusual deals that will get you to your destination more cheaply.
Travel Tip: Finding a traveling partner
Finding a traveling partner is one of the ideal things when setting a course for savvy travelers. If you do not enjoy traveling on your own, you may choose to travel as a partnership to avail yourself of better travel deals.
When you travel with someone else, you may want to find answers to certain questions. Most importantly is to agree that you are financially independent of one another. Be sure that your partner is reliable and responsible with money, and would not turn to you for help.
Next most important is that each respects what the other wants to do. Try also to get a sense of their personal habits – are they compatible with yours? – and how do you react in a crisis. The answer to these questions may not be the reasons not to travel with a person; they are simply useful to know in advance.
8 things to know about a travel partner
1. How do they handle finances – are they extravagant or irresponsible, or do they spend a little money as possible?
2. Does one aspect of the trip interest them particularly – shopping, mountain climbing, going to discos, going to the museums, eating well, getting a tan, having a love affair – and does that coincide with your expectations?
3. How do they react in crisis?
4. Are their personal habits compatible with yours? Are they neat or messy? Are they night owls or early risers? Are they punctual?
5. How will you resolve problems? Will one of you assume leadership and make decision or will you decide things together?
6. Are they timid, adventurous, daring or fool-hardy?
7. Do they meet people easily?
8. Is one of you good at particular task (navigating, speaking the language, bargaining) and do you want to divide up such responsibilities?
Being a savvy traveler is not just a matter of practicality and organization. What we wish for every person who packs his or her bag to head off on a trip is a passion for travel.
There is not much to compare with travel – it will give you more than you can possibly take from it. It will take you out of the comfort and complacency of all that is familiar; it will feed your senses and your intellect.
Even the unfortunate travel episodes are not without their value – you are usually wiser for having gone through them.
