All right got it got it hi guys this is I guess part three of this little home studio wanted to take a quick moment, and address another ones of really popular questions that I get across the blog, and draw comments on posts, and also social media along with how I make money the other one I get frequently is how does this happen how logistically can I travel abroad although I am a notorious non planner. But for those that have maybe a week or a month to experience the place you got to do things a little bit faster, and for that I want to give some tips actually there are five quintessential steps to planning a trip things that I’ve learned over the last few years of doing this, and I wanted to jump in, and show you guys how to do it logistically. So the first of the five steps that that I figured out on how to plan the best trip it’s the first thing you have to do is pick a location, and I know this sounds super easy.
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But it can be a very overwhelming task especially when the world is is a big place, and there are a lot of things to see, and do okay well don’t you agree big enough for you, and me, I’m a big old maybe slow. But P, and when picking a place I think it comes down to four things number one is how much time you have for example if you only have a week, and you live in New York you’re not going to fly to Australia number two what’s your cost restraint there are many places in this world to travel on a very tight budget for example Bolivia is a lot cheaper than Brazil Albania is a lot cheaper than Italy, and Portugal is a lot cheaper than Germany. So you just have to be smart about how much money you have allocated for this trip the third thing is the fun part, and that is the inspiration when picking a place you got to think about where you’ve always wanted to go what places have intrigued you, and how you can turn that dream into a plan, and the last thing to consider when choosing a destination is the visa requirements how easy is it to get into the country can you get a tourist 90 day visa just to do extra paperwork at your local consulate to get permission or can you just get it on arrival these are things to consider when planning your trip step number two is to book a ticket, and I know that sounds like, I’m jumping the gun here. But there’s never a perfect time to travel there’s never a perfect time to quit your job there’s never a perfect time to take a break you can always find an excuse. But for me especially what I do is I figure out that place from step one, and then I booked a ticket without much information without a big idea on what’s going to happen. But I figure out the place, and then I booked a ticket. Because that gives you your deadline that gives you your culmination point no matter what all the things that I can do, and make excuses I can make that date is when I leave, and with this second step of buying that ticket right off the bat comes the frequent question of how do I find cheap tickets, and there’s a lot of things that are out there on the internet and, I’ll leave some information some links actually in the description of this post of my favorite tools that you can utilize, and there’s a lot that you can other with this one the idea that an incognito window is best on your browser.
So that the airline companies, and comparison sites can’t search your cookies the second thing a lot of people say is that you want to book on a specific day I’ve said that 3 p.m. on a Tuesday is best when other people say Wednesday early in the morning is best. But I think overall the consensus is you want to book middle of the week Tuesdays, and Wednesdays are often the lowest prices that’s when the airlines change their prices, and also you want to fly in the middle of the week. So Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, and Thursdays that is. Because most business travelers, and a lot of other travelers won’t fly during the week. So with limited demand the better the supply another thing a lot of people say is that six weeks before your trip is the best time to book a ticket six weeks another tip is if you’re doing a long-haul flight let’s say from New York to Australia which I did last year I actually booked one ticket to LA from New York to LA, and then a completely separate ticket from LA to Sydney, and that saves me about $400.
So if you’re doing these long-haul flights break them up, and look separately as well, and those are things that frequent travelers often associate with price deals. But the biggest way to save money on a flight is to be flexible with your destination Airport, and also your days of flying for example if you switch your return day from a Sunday to a Monday, and potentially could save you a couple hundred dollars another tips of finding cheap tickets is to do your research across multiple sites both comparison sites, and directly through Airlines. But you want to be testing all of these. Because they’re not all the same, and often one comparison site won’t have the same prices or even Airlines as another one one tool that I really like now is google.com slash flights, and that gives you a whole mass if you put in your home destination, and the dates that you want to fly it gives you a bunch of different locations, and pricing this might not be completely accurate. But it gives you an idea of of cheaper locations versus expensive ones a great tool, and I believe kayak.com also has that with their Explorer feature, and a few other sites as well, and another really important thing to note when finding cheap flights is the evaluation of these discounted Airlines, and discounted prices with the overall cost both cost as, and money, and cost is in your time, and your energy discounted airlines like spirit Allegiant Ryanair, and Norwegian will offer low rate prices.
But that’s just. So they can move up on a comparison side list once you go in, and actually go through the process of buying a ticket you’re paying money for your baggage you’re paying money for food you’re paying extra money just. So they can land safely it adds up very very quickly. So make sure you look at all of the fine print on those tickets are you doing okay good seven glass of water please just a minute small please yeah, and along those same lines if it takes you 48 hours to get to a destination versus 24 hours. But it’s going to save you 200 bucks that might not be worth it for you in one regards with time that you’re losing, and to how much money you’re going to spend in the airports when you’re waiting around for your next slide to last things to note with finding a good cheap ticket online number one if you’re a student there are many sites that give you student discounts unsliced like to sta travel for example or a flight center. So those are really good things to look at you’re under I believe 26 years old, and the second thing is utilizing travel credit cards, and there are a lot of travel hacking websites that you can look at for these I use the Chase Sapphire Preferred card myself. So it’s a really good idea to leverage the money that you’re already spending towards travel.
So that information all falls into number two the second most important thing you can do after you figure out your destination is to book a ticket just book it then you have this this goal you have this carrot in front of you that you can work towards all the way up to that date okay. So the third step, and planning a trip abroad is to find a place to stay I usually book about two or three days at the location that, I’m going to first especially the fact that if, I’m staying in a place for a long period of time which I usually do I try to get an apartment with roommates in those first few days. But for most people this is in the case, and finding a place to stay throughout the trip is a really good thing to do in advance, and now this all comes into the fact of what type of traveler are you don’t break things down into four basic types of travelers the first is that nomadic, and vagabond group who rent the RVs the sailboat go camping go all out, and those people probably don’t need to be reading this post the second type of traveler is your backpacker the people that are going to stay in your hostels or your cause surfing on a tight budget these people are always looking for a deal, and while you’re always hunting for the cheapest, and most basic accommodations this is definitely one of the best ways to meet people abroad the third set of travelers are those that are staying in more socially sourced accommodation for that I mean home stays Airbnb is house-sitting even woofing projects these are the type of people that want to jump into the culture, and live amongst the people, and this is my favorite way of traveling a great way to learn about the place for those that are travelling with friends or a significant other this is a great alternative option to those hotels, and resorts, and that brings us the last set of travelers the hotel, and resort crew, and while I don’t do much of this type of travel it’s a really good way to just relax, and unwind if that’s the type of vacation that you’re looking for, and very very easy to plan for for example when I was in Ireland doing that road trip around the country I would call hotels calm about an hour before I reached the village that I was going to stay in for the night, and I would ask what types of bookings that they have available it’s a great service, and very very easy to use, and they have a really good rewards program as well I believe it’s every ten accommodations you get the 11th for free. So when you’re traveling a lot it’s a great way to add up a couple of free nights okay. So the fourth step in planning your trip abroad once your flight is booked your dates are set, and your accommodations are all tied up it is time to start making contact with people in the destination that you’re going to now if you’re in a couple or if you’re going with a group of friends this isn’t as important to you. But for someone like me who travels alone finding people to interact with once you hit the ground is very crucial good morning, and welcome to Hamburg Germany on alongside adventurer author, and German laughter Steve, and this is 48 hours in Hamburg I just took a train up from Berlin last night, and we’re going to go explore the best of the city has to offer, and that includes eating hamburgers. So let me give you an example of how I would do this how I would find contact before I would get to a destination first thing I would do is I would look on my Facebook page, and see if I have any friends there the second thing I would do is go to Instagram, and check the people that I follow see if there’s anyone I could possibly contact I then go onto , and check different posts from Japan, and see if there’s any cool rs that possibly live there, and might want to stop for a coffee, and it goes on, and on from there I check blogs you check all the different social medias apps like travel Stoke, and couchsurfing these are great ways to connect with locals before you get there, and let me tell you if you have a local connection in a foreign place it helps you so much with logistics any small problem that you have whether it be a language issue or something as simple as shipping a package if you have a local contact it smooths out so much of your travel burdens I highly recommend it, and the fifth, and final steps of planning this trip abroad is the detailed logistics.
So you want to ask yourself one do I have enough money to make this trip, and that is a post I can do unto itself a question that I get very frequently, and two that I would respond start saving money, and stop spending money on things that are necessary there is a there you go they’re angels very good very good another more detailed things that come along with that are do you have your travel insurance all set just make sure you read over the policy we had one policy when we went to Everest, and it wouldn’t cover us over 10,000 feet the problem with that is our hike started at 10,000 feet. So you want to make sure that you read the small print of your insurance policy, and another thing is are you going hiking on this trip will you be doing lots of physical activity Travel will take a lot out of you, and you want to make sure that you are in good physical shape to do it, and not only for your own health, and well-being. But I mean when you’re on that foreign beach you want to be looking good right you also want to ask yourself do I know the language or will I be able to communicate where, I’m going, and if you can’t I highly recommend learning at least two basics hello goodbye thank you how much is this where is that this will take you a long way, and it will also help you earn some respect, and appreciation for the place that you’re going to hey how happy Boyle there’s a beautiful oil value give us a Sunday still doo doo doo I mean speak the language they’re gonna be very nice just try if we eat any final stuff that I would recommend what’s all these other things are organized is just to start making a list all the things that you want to see, and do in a place whether you saw an Instagram photo or the Cathedral or Milan write it down if you want to eat something write it down, and that way you have a cool checklist, and you can go through almost like a scavenger hunt for your vacation, and yeah that’s it those are my five steps to planning a trip abroad a very simple post. But I want to give you a little bit of insight of how I go through the process as well as some tools that make it a little bit easier for you the big thing to take away from this that I would recommend is book that ticket yourself that carrot in front of you to really push for, and then don’t worry too much about the details the great thing about travel is they work themselves out if you put yourself out there if you have anything specific that you want to know please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below and, I’ll answer it immediately, and as always please give this post a thumbs up if you found it helpful leave a comment below, and comment if you haven’t done. So already, and if you have go ahead, and hit that notifications bell. So you receive updates when I launch a new post other than that see you guys next week.
