Whether it is for pleasure or business, traveling can be a lot of fun. It can also be more than a little bothersome. Planning for transportation, packing and finding a place to stay can add up and become incredibly stressful. Here are a few helpful tips to ease the burden a bit.
If your travel budget is somewhat elastic, consider splurging in ways you normally wouldn’t. Pamper yourself a little. An uncharacteristically lavish expenditure can form the memorable core of your vacation. It is simply a fact that some of the finest services, most exciting experiences and most memorable sights cost a good bit of money. On a vacation, indulge yourself by taking advantage of some of them.
If you’re purchasing souvenirs as gifts while traveling, be creative. You can use a local newspaper as gift wrap to give it a special touch. This works especially well if the newspaper is in a foreign language or has photographs. Other low-cost souvenir gifts, include matchbooks, coasters and clean napkins.
When traveling to a different area, make sure that you’re open to different local customs. Some ideas might be strange, but be respectful of other cultures. Not showing respect and not paying attention to local customs can be a real downer for your trip causing you to not feel welcomed in a city.
For added security, bring a doorstop with you to your hotel room. Some hotel locks are flimsy and not exactly secure, but if you jam a doorstop under the door before you go to bed, you will feel safer. This also works for shower rooms and bathroom doors, where the locks may not be secure enough.
Take your own travel items on the flight. This includes a pillow, blanket, entertainment device and headphones. Bringing these items allows you to be self-sufficient rather than being forced to rely on the airline for your needs. Also consider taking your own food. Airline food prices can be reasonable, but they don’t have a very good selection.
Traveling with children is very different than traveling alone or with adults. Young children in general do not have the social skills to always behave as they should. Be patient with children, bring along a lot of healthy snacks and even a few unhealthy ones to help their temperament. Be sure to have lots of easily accessible activities handy as well. Try to avoid travel when your child is extremely sick if at all possible.
If possible travel during off-peak hours. The price of flights changes depending on the hour, the day and the month of travel. You can save a lot of money by booking flights during off peak hours. For example, flights on Thursdays are usually cheaper than those of Fridays. This is because the demand for seats is lower on a Thursday as people who work away from home during the week normally want to fly home on a Friday.
If you are visiting a country in a different time zone, you may experience fatigue. While it is impossible to avoid it altogether, you can minimize the effects by sleeping a bit more during the days leading up to the flight. You should also try to sleep during the flight if possible.
If you will be driving when you travel to another country, take the time to contact your insurance carrier. They can give you any needed documentation that pertains to your insurance coverage, any additional insurance you may need and much needed advice or information about regulations for driving at your destination.
Consider swapping souvenirs when you are traveling. Many people in other countries are interested in hats, shirts and a lot of other items that come from this country. If something catches your eye in a vendor’s stall, see if they would like to make a trade with you. You will also have the opportunity to talk to local people and create interesting stories for your friends and family back home.
If you enjoy wine, the corks from the bottles that you’ve ordered throughout your travels can make a great souvenir. Consider writing the date and any other interesting information on it to mark the occasion. When you get home, put the corks in an empty vase or similar container and use it as a decoration in your living room.
Pack duct tape to use during your trip for any kind of breaking or splitting emergencies that can occur with your items. These rolls come in great for various items that may get damaged before or during your trip. Things that it can mend include sandal straps, purse straps, holes in your items, etc.
If you are traveling to a beach location, bring home a little bit of sand with you. This makes a great souvenir; put the sand in a small bottle and write the name of the beach on it. You can also write something special that you did while you were on your vacation. If you are able to collect sand from several different places, you will probably be surprised to see how different they are from each other.
Make sure that you take enough prescription medication to last for the entire trip anytime you travel. You should always take some extra meds with you, just in case you are delayed or get stranded somewhere, for a long period of time. Bring your medication information along with you, as well, in case you need to get more from a pharmacy.
A great travel tip, if you’re interested in doing something spontaneous, is to randomly pick a place on the map to go. Another way of doing this is to simply take an exit you’ve never taken before just to see where it takes you. Spontaneous road trips can be really fun.
Hopefully, these tips have given you something of value – or at the very least – something useful to mull over. Above all else, it is important to stay safe while traveling. Aside from that, try to just push the stress aside and have fun. Enjoy!
