Travel Planning - The Travel Bug Syndrome

Travel is an addiction, a passion; an incurable disease. The only cure for it is travel. I travel for business and We (me & Laks) travel for pleasure. Effectively whatever we earn, We end up funding our personal trips. and we are happy about it. Even though we have been to different countries individually, we are yet to plan an international trip together. Why do we need to do travel planning when a travel website or tour operator does that. At least for me, it doesn't work that way.

What about Travel Planning?

When planning a trip, be it business or pleasure I normally make sure that I am doing some research about the place I am going.

The weather at the destination

The whole trip might be to escape from the current weather and so it matters where we are heading. In summer, I would prefer to go a hill station and enjoy the chilly weather there.

what kind of place do we want to go?

Decide whether it is a beach vacation or mountains or an adventure trip or a trip relax & laze around. Also, it can be a getaway for a day or a long vacation of 4 days or more.

How are you travelling?

If you are planning a road trip there is no need of too much planning as there are no ticket bookings involved in advance, On the other hand, if you are choosing to travel by air or rail do the bookings in advance. If you are planning via air do check the deals in Go Air. Last time we had got a huge discount on our Go Air flight ticket booking to Goa.

What is the budget?

Most of our trips happen on a shoestring budget. We try to go for that option which is moderately priced with the best comfort & we are not brand conscious when it comes to hotels. At times I use my reward points to (for a single day or 2 days stay) Commute, Air tickets, road travel expense, shopping expense, any other activities (Adventure or fun).

Traveling single or with a group

Now, this is a way to reduce the cost. A group is always cheaper than a single. If you have the right group it is gonna be fun as well as cost-effective and easier.

Domestic or International: This is very important as for international trips you may require a visa and it incurs some cost and some visa's need paperwork & prior appointment for interview and stamping. Also, the earlier you plan the cheaper Domestic or International - international flight tickets will be.

Luggage woes

Depending on the place and the weather the luggage weight may increase or decrease. For us, if we are going to a place with the moderate weather we normally wear shorts and t-shirts / sleeveless which means less luggage. Also, the number of gadgets you carry also matters as it increases the baggage. If you are traveling to a cold place, you definitely need to carry some winter clothes and that means more luggage. Always check the airline's website for allowed luggage limit if you are travel planning by the same. Pack some meds while on a domestic trip, for international trips check allowed meds and not the banned ones.

Budget

Whether you are going to a nearby place or far away land, you need to arrangements for the budget. It doesn't just mean money in your account, but in a usable way. In some places in India, you won't see card swipe machines or ATM machines easily. It is better to carry paper currency in these cases. We have faced this at a couple of places and we had kept enough cash to manage. Similarly while going to foreign countries, you need to have some foreign currency as cash and some in a Travel card which makes it more secure.

Also, in group trips, we normally choose (volunteer) one among us as the person handling finance for the entire trip. You can add more money when he needs or pays him at the end of the trip. This makes it more easy to keep the expense and share it.

Do's and Dont's:

Travelers always try to abide by the laws and respect others privacy while some people don't understand this and they are the ones who play loud music at night or drink and make a nuisance. We have seen this during our recent trip to Mcleodganj & it was a sad scene. Also, drinking alcohol until you loose your senses is not mandatory. If you are on a trek or adventure trip you can have a peg or two to stay warm & not more. Also, no need to show your dare devilry & risk yourselves or others by taking those selfies from the cliff. These are something which we do and follow during our travel planning. Share with us your tips or questions and we would be happy to hear those.

This blog was originally published on TheKnotStory.