by The Chameleon

Created on: December 27, 2007

Traveling has always been a passion of mine and I have promised myself in the next five years traveling will be one of my highest priorities. I have been quite fortunate to have traveled to many destinations overseas as well as my home country Australia. I find traveling is a wonderful adventure and no matter how experienced you are, you will always learn another important tip for future trips.

Here are some of my top tips for those who wish to travel, note the list is by no means exhaustive and you will continually expand your list as you travel.

Planning
Planning your trip is vital and thankfully the Internet makes this so much easier. Of course the amount and type of planning you do depends on what sort of person you are and who you are traveling with. For example if you are taking young children than you should ensure you always have a place to stay organized in advance, alternatively, if you are backpacking this is not such a problem. Planning your trip can save you money and the more money you save on flights and accommodation means the more money you have to tour, buy souvenirs or travel further. The Lonely Planet books are loaded with tips for travelers and an excellent place to start.

When planning your trip, work out how much money you have to spend and how long you wish to go for. Talk to friends, colleagues, travel agents and use the Internet to talk to people living in that country. Find out the must see places of that destination, how long it takes to get there and the cost of things. Remember that often you will suffer from jet lag so don't book a tour or organize trips in the first 2 hours of getting there. A holiday is also a time to relax, so ensure you allocate time for tours and resting.

Once you have worked out where you are going and what you are doing, try paying for the trip well in advance - enabling you to save for extra expenses. If you can pay for your accommodation up front then this can also alleviate the stress of how much spending money you have. However, if you decide to pay ahead remember that often cheaper deals can be done directly with the hotel at your destination, or through on line services. Shop around and read reviews of hotels, often the picture you see in the brochure looks great but a quick search on the Internet may show really bad reviews.

Up to a month before departing, start writing a list of things to do. I tend to work out everything from my wardrobe, to household chores prior to leaving, ensuring my immunizations

• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next Page >>