Travel diaries 8: Tips for a hassle-free holiday
It's that time of the year again to get away from life! (and go on a relaxing holiday with loved ones)
I planned my own 2.5 week long grad trip. It was a stressful affair, and while I did have fun, I probably would never go on a DIY holiday of such a duration again. I am very appreciative of my best friend and my parents for putting up with the planning loopholes, mistakes and overall rushed pacing of the holiday, but going on a free-and-easy holiday isn't as free and easy as most might think.
Based on my personal experience, here are my recommendations for all you people out there who would like to plan a holiday.
1. Pace yourself.
I know it's extremely tempting for people to go on month-long trips (in fact, I actually know people who go on holidays around the world for MONTHS). Now, I personally don't think there is anything wrong with blocking out weeks on end to tour a continent like say, Europe. Plane tickets are very expensive, after all.
But logistically, going on a two week long, or longer, holiday by yourself can be quite a nightmare. Rushing around to catch flights and trains, especially, ESPECIALLY if they are in the wee hours of the night, can be very tiring. I don't know about other places, but in Europe, we were caught in many train delays and plane delays (that resulted in a lot of whining and complaining from me, oops).
Trust me, you WILL get cranky and stressed out when you feel that everything is going wrong and the holiday is not as enjoyable for your friends and family as you've wanted it to be, in turn stressing out your travel companions, and a vicious cycle starts.
If I were travelling free-and-easy for the first time, I would make it as stress-free as possible by spacing out my holiday. For example, I think exploring a single city (such as Prague or Vienna) in about 4 or 5 days is a pretty good pace. For larger areas like the UK, I would say taking about 2 weeks to explore about 4 cities is a pretty good pace.
If you want to explore as much as possible, then I shall simply suggest you book your holiday with a tour group where pretty much everything is catered for. Sure, there is less freedom when the entire holiday is planned out for you, but the benefits are that you don't have to put up with the frustration.
2. For first time budget travellers, I recommend Airbnb.
I know a lot of friends who book hostels while they are on holiday, some even going to the extent of booking mixed dorms. I cannot vouch for the soundness of such a decision because I've never stayed in a dorm while on holiday, but may I simply suggest you book an Airbnb apartment if you're trying to save costs and are relatively new to this travelling thing*.
Why do I recommend Airbnb? For two reasons:
a. Airbnb provides a good balance between price and reliability. Of course there are going to be options that look dodgy, but hosts have to have their apartments approved by airbnb in order to place their listing on the site. Besides, I haven't had any bad experiences staying at an Airbnb so far (inconvenient yes, sometimes noisy yes, but not unsafe or even unpleasant).
b. You have the option of choosing between a shared apartment or an entire apartment. A shared apartment gives you the benefit of staying with a host who can introduce you to the best around town, and help you with any administration or transport issues. I do not like strangers, but for those who want to make new friends around the world, this is the option for you. Getting an entire house gives you more privacy, but it is slightly pricier.
3. Taxis are not your enemy.
I made a terrible mistake while booking my trip- we were supposed to take a flight to London for a stopover of 1 night before heading to Helsinki, so I chose a (rather inaccessible) apartment that was £39 per night for two (we had to take the DLR line to get there. If you stay in London and have never heard of it, that is how obscure our apartments were). Then my parents decided to tag along and I booked a similar apartment near-ish the one at our area. It was a horrible mistake as my parents had to walk a long distance and carry their heavy luggage up three storeys (my dad has a back problem). We also had to share our apartments with other guests.
Obviously, when you pay £39 per night, don't expect to be treated like a VIP. But sometimes it is important to know when things have reached a point where trying to save money will only make you more miserable. I was travelling with my aged parents and carrying luggage up buses and trains simply wasn't an option anymore so I called Uber to get from the city to the airport for all subsequent locations.
Uber is not very expensive (and if you book a cab with a hotel, it is even cheaper! We managed to get a 12-seater bus/cab for just 4 of us when we booked with the hotel lobby in Helsinki. It only costed around 30 euros), but take note to avoid the peak periods as there are massive-ass surcharges. Especially for places where the airport is a distance from the main city, you will realise that cabs really are your friend.
4. Travel light.
Everybody has different methods of packing, but personally I like to:
a. Bring depleting toiletries so I can throw them away after the trip
b. Bring a bit of laundry detergent so I can handwash things like socks, cotton shirts. Just hang it in your room and ventilate the area. I only brought 1 pair of socks + the ones I was wearing already on a 5 day trip in UK
c. Squeeze everything into ziploc bags. The socks, light clothes and toiletries are the easiest to squeeze.
d. Put travel documents in a ziploc bag rather than a file
e. Bring a backpack to contain all other miscellaneous (but light) stuff. I carry my bath towel and slippers in my backpack when going to the airport/train stations since they do not fit in my luggage. Then you can always empty it and bring just the essentials when you head out to explore.
5. Do all your research before hand and avoid impromptu plans.
If you're travelling in a group, make clear what you want to eat or see beforehand as much as possible. When you reach the location, you may get recommendations from the locals on what to do. I suggest completing your pre-planned itinerary (or not) and then saving perhaps one or two days for a free and easy. This way, there won't be a clash of needs (i.e. friend 1 wants to eat everything within a 200km radius, you want to see museums, friend 2 just wants to sleep in everyday) and everyone winds up happy at the end of the trip :)
Impromptu plans will freak you out, trust me. You will find yourself rushing to get everything done and you will most likely have to sacrifice something else for it (i.e, you cannot eat at the famous cafe because it is now out of your way), unless your entire holiday was planned to be this way.
6. Be appropriately dressed for the weather!
In Europe, for example, temperatures may stay as low as 24 degrees Celsius in summer, but the sun is scorching and there is no wind. In winter, a 10 degree night may feel like 0 because of the wind. It is always good to read online forums or check travel websites on the best way to pack for a holiday to maximise comfort.
Till the next time I can be bothered to blog HAHHAHAHAHAHA
I planned my own 2.5 week long grad trip. It was a stressful affair, and while I did have fun, I probably would never go on a DIY holiday of such a duration again. I am very appreciative of my best friend and my parents for putting up with the planning loopholes, mistakes and overall rushed pacing of the holiday, but going on a free-and-easy holiday isn't as free and easy as most might think.
Based on my personal experience, here are my recommendations for all you people out there who would like to plan a holiday.
1. Pace yourself.
I know it's extremely tempting for people to go on month-long trips (in fact, I actually know people who go on holidays around the world for MONTHS). Now, I personally don't think there is anything wrong with blocking out weeks on end to tour a continent like say, Europe. Plane tickets are very expensive, after all.
But logistically, going on a two week long, or longer, holiday by yourself can be quite a nightmare. Rushing around to catch flights and trains, especially, ESPECIALLY if they are in the wee hours of the night, can be very tiring. I don't know about other places, but in Europe, we were caught in many train delays and plane delays (that resulted in a lot of whining and complaining from me, oops).
Trust me, you WILL get cranky and stressed out when you feel that everything is going wrong and the holiday is not as enjoyable for your friends and family as you've wanted it to be, in turn stressing out your travel companions, and a vicious cycle starts.
If I were travelling free-and-easy for the first time, I would make it as stress-free as possible by spacing out my holiday. For example, I think exploring a single city (such as Prague or Vienna) in about 4 or 5 days is a pretty good pace. For larger areas like the UK, I would say taking about 2 weeks to explore about 4 cities is a pretty good pace.
If you want to explore as much as possible, then I shall simply suggest you book your holiday with a tour group where pretty much everything is catered for. Sure, there is less freedom when the entire holiday is planned out for you, but the benefits are that you don't have to put up with the frustration.
2. For first time budget travellers, I recommend Airbnb.
I know a lot of friends who book hostels while they are on holiday, some even going to the extent of booking mixed dorms. I cannot vouch for the soundness of such a decision because I've never stayed in a dorm while on holiday, but may I simply suggest you book an Airbnb apartment if you're trying to save costs and are relatively new to this travelling thing*.
Why do I recommend Airbnb? For two reasons:
a. Airbnb provides a good balance between price and reliability. Of course there are going to be options that look dodgy, but hosts have to have their apartments approved by airbnb in order to place their listing on the site. Besides, I haven't had any bad experiences staying at an Airbnb so far (inconvenient yes, sometimes noisy yes, but not unsafe or even unpleasant).
b. You have the option of choosing between a shared apartment or an entire apartment. A shared apartment gives you the benefit of staying with a host who can introduce you to the best around town, and help you with any administration or transport issues. I do not like strangers, but for those who want to make new friends around the world, this is the option for you. Getting an entire house gives you more privacy, but it is slightly pricier.
3. Taxis are not your enemy.
I made a terrible mistake while booking my trip- we were supposed to take a flight to London for a stopover of 1 night before heading to Helsinki, so I chose a (rather inaccessible) apartment that was £39 per night for two (we had to take the DLR line to get there. If you stay in London and have never heard of it, that is how obscure our apartments were). Then my parents decided to tag along and I booked a similar apartment near-ish the one at our area. It was a horrible mistake as my parents had to walk a long distance and carry their heavy luggage up three storeys (my dad has a back problem). We also had to share our apartments with other guests.
Obviously, when you pay £39 per night, don't expect to be treated like a VIP. But sometimes it is important to know when things have reached a point where trying to save money will only make you more miserable. I was travelling with my aged parents and carrying luggage up buses and trains simply wasn't an option anymore so I called Uber to get from the city to the airport for all subsequent locations.
Uber is not very expensive (and if you book a cab with a hotel, it is even cheaper! We managed to get a 12-seater bus/cab for just 4 of us when we booked with the hotel lobby in Helsinki. It only costed around 30 euros), but take note to avoid the peak periods as there are massive-ass surcharges. Especially for places where the airport is a distance from the main city, you will realise that cabs really are your friend.
4. Travel light.
Everybody has different methods of packing, but personally I like to:
a. Bring depleting toiletries so I can throw them away after the trip
b. Bring a bit of laundry detergent so I can handwash things like socks, cotton shirts. Just hang it in your room and ventilate the area. I only brought 1 pair of socks + the ones I was wearing already on a 5 day trip in UK
c. Squeeze everything into ziploc bags. The socks, light clothes and toiletries are the easiest to squeeze.
d. Put travel documents in a ziploc bag rather than a file
e. Bring a backpack to contain all other miscellaneous (but light) stuff. I carry my bath towel and slippers in my backpack when going to the airport/train stations since they do not fit in my luggage. Then you can always empty it and bring just the essentials when you head out to explore.
5. Do all your research before hand and avoid impromptu plans.
If you're travelling in a group, make clear what you want to eat or see beforehand as much as possible. When you reach the location, you may get recommendations from the locals on what to do. I suggest completing your pre-planned itinerary (or not) and then saving perhaps one or two days for a free and easy. This way, there won't be a clash of needs (i.e. friend 1 wants to eat everything within a 200km radius, you want to see museums, friend 2 just wants to sleep in everyday) and everyone winds up happy at the end of the trip :)
Impromptu plans will freak you out, trust me. You will find yourself rushing to get everything done and you will most likely have to sacrifice something else for it (i.e, you cannot eat at the famous cafe because it is now out of your way), unless your entire holiday was planned to be this way.
6. Be appropriately dressed for the weather!
In Europe, for example, temperatures may stay as low as 24 degrees Celsius in summer, but the sun is scorching and there is no wind. In winter, a 10 degree night may feel like 0 because of the wind. It is always good to read online forums or check travel websites on the best way to pack for a holiday to maximise comfort.
Till the next time I can be bothered to blog HAHHAHAHAHAHA
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ReplyDeleteDon’t be too hard on yourself! Although I note this was written in 2016 so am sure you’ve gotten holidays down pat now. Planning for family is tough and I’ve never been able to satisfy anyone. If you only needed to plan for yourself am sure it would be heaps easier
ReplyDelete