6 things to consider BEFORE you start planning

So, you fancy a holiday travelling. But where do even begin to get started?

The VERY FIRST thing to do…is to decide what KIND of holiday you are looking for.

Are you looking to visit just one or two cities? Or are you looking to travel around a bit more, travelling between cities, maybe even a bit of island hopping?

Here are 6 things to take into consideration which will help you to get started.

Obviously, this also includes the length of time you need to include to travel home again. If this is a relatively short amount of time – a couple of hours, or so – then your decisions on what you immediately do will be different to what you do if it is a long-haul flight, when you may want to put a bit of recovery time into your plans before you do anything else.

And include your ‘getting home’ time. Not just your flight to your home city, but ALSO your trip home from the airport. Does your flight get in late at night, when you may have difficulty getting public transport? Should you spend a night in an airport hotel before the final journey home?

One more question you should ask is, “Are you giving yourself plenty of preparation time?”. If you are planning a complex multi-destination trip, with connecting flights, trains, and busses, perhaps don’t wait until the week before you go to get everything done. Some fares use dynamic pricing, and often (but not always) buying tickets early will give you the best deals.

Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to break costs up into four different blocks – travel costs, accommodation costs, essential extras, and spending money. Remember, this is just to get an idea of costs, so you can adjust the length of time or locations to suit your budget.

Travel Costs – this is the cost of getting to your first destination, which will probably be flights, but may be train fares or ferries. If you are travelling to multiple destinations, this is also how much it costs to get between them.

Accommodation Costs – how much it costs to sleep in each place you are visiting. This should also include overnight stays in airport hotels.

Essential Extras – these are the additional but essential things that will cost you money; travel insurance, airport car parking, new passports, new bags, vaccinations etc.

Spending Money – a realistic amount of money you will need each day for food and drink, excursions, activities, and entry fees to museums, galleries, theatres etc. And get an idea of how expensive your destination is, in particular, compared to costs at home.

But, as well as remembering to book enough tickets for travelling, you should take into consideration their wishes on destinations and activities while away. There is nothing that will end a friendship faster than a tense and unhappy holiday together.

Travelling with children and teenagers brings its own challenges and for a (close to) friction free time away with your family, their interests and requirements, particularly around resting, should influence your decisions in planning your trip.

For those you are travelling with with specific requirements, such as those who have a disability, or dietary requirements, or allergies – do some extra research on destinations and travel opportunities, and take a bit of care around booking, with advice and input from those who you are travelling with. This will make all the difference to everyone’s holiday.

But if you are planning on travelling around while on your vacation, this will determine the shape of your travels. If it is the same airport then your travels will be circular, whereas, if you can travel home from a different city, you can have a more linear journey.

AND FINALLY – is armed conflict about to break out in your destination of choice? Are you travelling at a time when there are monsoons or typhoons or floods or deadly heat waves? Or just that the country or city closes down that week/fortnight/month. Please check.

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