BitDefender Antivirus Sale!

Top Ten Best Travel Tips

posted on 11/02/2009 in Travel & Tourism
PoorNothing SpecialWorth ReadingPretty CoolAwesome! (6 votes, average: 3.17 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

We all love to travel, traveling is fun. For some, it is a great way to get away from home and regular life style and do something new. For some, it is the way of life. Traveling is fun only when we are organized and know the DOs and DONTs thoroughly. This list of top ten best travel tips will be handy when you plan your next outing. Whether it is a short trip, traveling with family, traveling with friends or a business travel, travel tips will always help you avoid the pitfalls and make your journey safe and even more fun. These travel tips will answer most of your questions like:

  • What are the best destinations to travel?
  • Where to buy cheap travel tickets?
  • Where to find the best travel packages?
  • Where to find the best luggage for travel?
  • What sort of luggage items you should carry?
  • What are the DOs and DONTs of travel?

This list of best travel tips will also help you in deciding a good travel destination and answer most of your questions related to the best destinations of the world.

Best Travel Tips

Plan your travel
Plan your budget
Choose your destination
Know climatic conditions
Culture and Language
Guides, maps and attractions
Plan your luggage
Travel systems and transportation
Travel times and distances
Tickets and packages
Hotels and Resorts

1 Plan your travel

Plan your travelPlanning involves lots of things. The first and foremost is to decide total travel duration. If we have only few days off, traveling long distances may not be fun because most of the time we will be just traveling to our destination, not enjoying the places we visit. However, if we have a few weeks on hand, we may think of traveling long distances such as traveling international destinations. All our plans should be balanced to; Total travel time vs Spending time at the destination. We do not wish to keep traveling through out our visit to our favorite travel destination. We also wish to spend some time resting at a good hotel, visiting local attractions and visiting the best places. Be it local travel, international travel or even a national park, we wish to explore the best parts of that place. All that takes time and that’s where the true essence of traveling is hidden. When we return home after traveling our favorite destinations, it is not just the journey that we remember, it is the scenic beauty, culture, people, attractions, beaches, fun places, etc that we remember and cherish in our memories. So, understand how far can you go in how much time before you spend money on buying tickets to your favorite destinations.

2 Plan your Budget

Plan your BudgetEverything revolves around your budget and the duration of your travel. Once you have decided your travel/vacation duration, it is good to plan your budget and expenses. This depends totally on you, how much money you wish to spend on your travel. Also, if your friends or family members are traveling with you, you need to plan accordingly. It is advisable that do not go neck-to-neck with your budget and travel destination. Leave some room and flexibility on your expenses. You should have enough money so that you can return home safely. The last thing you need in a foreign country is running out of money. So, first decide your budget that how much you wish to spend on your travel trip and then move over to choosing a destination. This will help you in choosing and deciding your destination. I plan out my budget before I decide where to visit for two reasons. First, it allows me to have a better hold on my budget that I wish to spend on my travel. Secondly, if I decide my destination first and later find out that my budget doesn’t allow it, I feel a little sad and then I have to choose another destination. Finally, divide your budget equally on the number of people traveling with you that are dependent on you. So, plan and decide your budget first before moving over to choosing a destination.

3 Choose your Destination

Choose your DestinationNow that you know your budget, you can choose your travel destination accordingly. Perhaps you have already something on your mind where you wish to travel. But if you haven’t yet decided a destination, You could start off with exploring a couple of travel websites where you can find information about the best destinations of the world. You can plan out a visit to another city in your own country or you could travel to international destinations, depends on the first two points: Duration of your travel and your budget. Once you have decided on a destination, get a rough estimate of ticket fares, air fares, transportation expenses, living expenses and food expenses by visiting travel websites. You could refer to our article best travel guides that can help you decide your travel destination. Even a rough estimate can give you the idea if your selected destination is within your budget or not. If it is, Voila! If it is not, do not get dis-heartened, try another destination that does not involve traveling to long distances. Once you have decided a destination, move to the next travel tip.

4 Know climatic conditions

Know climatic conditionsThis is a common pitfall if you are not a regular traveler. If you have 7 days to spend at your dream destination and it happens to be the rainy season at your dream destination, you are done. You would perhaps end up staying in your hotel room most of the time. If you do not like places too cold or too hot and you happen to land at such a place, you would wish to return home the same day. Your best option is Google. Search around and you will get to know a lot of information about the place you are planning to visit. You can find the seasons, current temperature, temperature forecast and lot of other things before you even leave for your destination. Try avoiding places where climatic conditions are not favorable or be ready to do some extra shopping to meet the needs of surviving in extremities. It is always good to find out what sort of climate are you going to face when you arrive at your destination. If you find out that your dream destination has the right kind of climate, move on to the next travel tip.

5 Language and Culture

Culture and LanguageThis is the most interesting travel tip. Most travelers have experienced language barriers when they move to countries where English is not the first language. In such cases, your best bet is to learn some sentences and words that you will be using quite often when you arrive at your dream destination. If you know just the basic words and sentences, that could make a huge difference. In fact, local people would love you if you can speak even the general terms like: Hello, How are you? Hello, How is your day? What is your name? Good day! Have a great day! Also, general words like: Bus stop, Train station, Food, Water, Hotel, Taxi and more. Language is the best way of getting involved with people and creating a friendly atmosphere. Imagine someone visits your country and doesn’t know a single word of your language. Perhaps you wouldn’t hate them but you wouldn’t be interested in talking to a total stranger. Same goes with the culture of the country you are visiting. Know the culture, you will be greeted like a friend. Secondly, you can amaze and make some great friends if you know about the country you are visiting. People will simply love you if you know just basic things about their culture. Although this travel tip is useful, it may not be too necessary and if you are visiting some place in your own country, perhaps you can skip this travel tip and move to the next one.

6 Travel Guides and Maps

Guides and MapsNo matter what part of the world are you visiting, traveling local or traveling internationally, you should have some local travel guide and map with you all the time. Traveling to a new place can be a lot more fun when you know where is what. You don’t have to ask locals where is what, if you have a map with you all the time. At least you won’t find yourself stuck into a situation where you would need lots of help reaching various attractions on your travel destination. Guides can help you with lots of information about the culture, hotels, food venues, transportation systems and more. Maps can help you in reaching your destination without running around for help. Guides and maps are a must have for any traveler. You could refer to our top ten travel guides article for more information on travel guides and maps.

7 Plan your Luggage

Plan your LuggageAha! Packing luggage is fun! Eh, not really. Perhaps, packing is the most tedious job. It may be, only when you are packing your luggage without planning what to carry and what not to carry along. The best way to go is to make a list of all the stuff that you think you may need on the move and while living at your destination. Start off with clothing. Think what you will need according to the type of place you are visiting. Is it a cold place, a hot place or if it rains most of the time? You can begin with our article on best luggage stores for finding top quality luggage items and accessories for your travel. Also, make sure to read the Airport Checked Baggage Material on TSA.gov website. Once you have decided what sort of clothing you will carry with you, think about other items like perfumes, sprays, oil, toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving kit, etc. Once you have all that in your list, think about other items that you will be using frequently through out your travel like: camera, camcorder, diary, pen, mini torch, key holder, key chains or other such items. Once you have laid out everything on a list, it is a matter of minutes. You will find yourself in a much organized position to pack your stuff. You can put this list at a safe place so that you can use it when you are ready to pack your stuff.

8 Means of Transport

Means of TransportOnce again, it depends on your travel destination. If you have planned to travel to an international destination, it will involve traveling by air or by ship. Find out some of the best air travel websites and search for airfares to your dream destination. Compare your findings and finalize your tickets. Do not book your ticket in hurry, take your time in researching the best travel websites and choose the one that has good reviews on the web. Once you have booked your tickets, it is not over yet. Think about your arrival times at your destination. When will you reach your destination, what time of the day it would be when you reach your destination. What sort of transport will be available when you reach there. More you research on these questions, you will find yourself in a stronger and confident position. In fact, once you find out answers to these questions, you will kick off all the stress off your brain and all this information will be handy when you reach there. Note down all the information in your diary that you will be carrying along.

9 Travel Times and Distance

Travel Times and DistanceThis is quite interesting travel tip and involves some research work. Working out on this travel tip will help you understand means of transportation at your travel destination and travel times between different attraction spots. The research can be helpful in saving lots of time. If an attraction spot takes 2 hours of transportation time, you could perhaps move anytime when the day breaks. However, if an attraction spot takes 4 or 5 hours of transportation time, you may like to leave early morning. Decide all the attraction points that you wish to visit at your dream destination and plan how and when you wish to visit there. This can also save you lots of money while traveling from one attraction spot to the other. If the distance is short, you can take a taxi and be there in no time. If the distance is longer, you can perhaps use the local transportation system to reach there and save lots of money. Although, this travel tip is not necessary, but if you follow it, you will find yourself in a much organized position.

10 Tickets and Packages

Tickets and PackagesTravel tickets, airfare tickets or ship bookings should be done well in time. Later you do, more you will be paying. So, it is advisable to book your flights or other methods of transportation well in time. Also, decide at least a month ago, how you wish to travel to your chosen destination. If you wish to travel by air, book your tickets through some good air travel websites. If you plane to travel by ship, make sure you book your tickets well in time. Last minute bookings are costly and you will end up consuming a good portion of your budget in just traveling to your travel destination. Before you book your tickets, search travel websites for good deals and packages. You may find some luring packages that can save you heaps. Secondly, book it online directly from the merchant. Cutting the middle man will definitely help you avoid unnecessary expenses. You could refer to our best travel guides article for a list of good travel websites where you can find good deals and packages to some of the world’s top travel destinations.

11 Hotels and Resorts

Hotels and ResortsBooking a hotel or resort at your travel destination can be really helpful when you arrive at your destination. Once again, if you plan to book a hotel or resort for stay, book it in advance so that you can avoid unnecessary botheration of ending up staying at ‘not so good’ hotels. It is better to research and find hotels that are active members of organizations like AHLA (American Hotel and Lodging Association) or other such similar organizations that ensure quality service and industry standards. You can never be sure of last minute bookings, so make your bookings in advance. You can also find some good deals and packages if you directly buy from official websites of hotels. You can refer to our best hotels and resorts article for information on the best hotels and resorts for staying at top hotels in the world’s best travel destinations. Most good hotels offer free pick-ups from airports when you arrive at your destination. Make sure to check these goodies and other goodies like free breakfast, free stay and other such packages. Hotel industry is a competitive market and most hotels run special packages to promote their hotels, check what benefits you can avail.

Information and Resources

These travel tips are author’s personal views and reviews. Even though you agree with author’s thoughts, please do your research, only then make your purchases. For further reading, you can read our travel and tourism reviews and read useful articles on best hotels to find the best hotels and resorts. You can also read our best travel guides article to find top travel guides. For luggage and luggage accessories, you can read our best luggage stores article to find best products and deals on top luggage items and accessories. If you found these travel tips useful, please share your views with the community. Feel free to suggest more tips based on your experience, we will add your tips at the end of this list of best travel tips.

4 Comments to “Top Ten Best Travel Tips”

George:

Excellent tips Chelsea. I’m planning to travel with my family next month. I have bookmarked this travel guide page and certainly it is going to be really helpful.
George.

Rhonda:

wow good tips! really useful when planning to travel far distance. i will return to this page in future when i plan to travel.

Travel Guy:

Hmm good travel guide, the travel guides and maps (#6) tip is really helpful when you are visiting a place you have never visited before. It makes you independent and you dont have to depend on the locals to know where and what.

Barnie:

#9 tip (travel times and distances) is really helpful for me. It is good to know the distance between one spot to the other so that you can plan your day accordingly. Very good travel tips.

Leave a Comment