By Joys Alabi
For almost every young person, one of the biggest goals for 2022 is to travel more. Therefore, given spring break/Easter is just around the corner and summer will be here even before our bikini bodies are ready :), totally take advantage of these opportunities to tick traveling off your list this year. In case you are like most people who have a lot of ambitious financial goals for the year alongside wanting to travel more, here are some ideas to help you win on all sides.
- Location: You may want to travel within the UK (or the country you live in), within Europe (or the continent you live in), or some more ‘exotic’ travel to the US, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, etc. This would really depend on what you are looking out for and of course what your budget is. Within the UK, there are some pretty cool places you can visit such as Bath, Brighton, Cotswold, etc (check out this link). However, you would find that sometimes traveling within the UK to do a ‘staycation’ may even be more expensive vs traveling to other European countries where there might be cheaper transportation and accommodation options. You just need to have a visa for the latter.
- Timing: If you decide to travel during a general holiday period such as spring/summer break, then costs would definitely be higher vs off-peak periods. Of course, you should try to leverage bank holidays but really try to plan your holidays as early as you can. Buy all the tickets you need on time and when possible, do book Flexi tickets. A suggestion is to travel (and return) mid-week rather than on weekends because tickets are always cheaper that way.
- Transportation Options: Be sure to compare travel costs by bus, rail or air, especially when traveling within the UK or Europe. Sometimes it is actually cheaper to travel by air on selected flights vs taking the train. You may also choose to take the train for the sake of making your trip a bit more fun if you have never been on the Eurostar (for example) prior. Also, double check your travel duration vs the cost. Sometimes the time saved using the train vs bus is not significantly different hence the higher cost may not be worth it.
- Accommodation: In case you have friends/family in your vacation location, it is a great idea to leverage those relationships (if convenient) to save your coins on booking accommodation. However, if this is not an option then booking ‘hostels’ is always a better option for affordability vs hotels. Most hostels are often located in the city centre, so you have easy access to all the cool spots. In the UK, there are multiple ‘Travel lodges’ and ‘Holiday Inns’ which offer affordable accommodation (depending on your dates) in most cities. Booking.com also provides lots of options based on your criteria.
- Activities: It is important to have an itinerary for your travel plans because you might not adequately maximize your stay without this. A suggestion is to check out Blog Posts and YouTube videos from people who have been to your selected location, make notes of the places that seem interesting, and then plan your trip so that you can visit those places too. Be sure to double-check the costs to carry out any activities in case you need to book in advance (which may help save costs) and also confirm that those locations will be available during your selected dates. If you are traveling within the UK, doing one of the ‘Hop-On, Hop Off’ buses like a true tourist is always a nice idea! Of course, be sure to look out for free things you can do in your chosen location too.
- Feeding: Food is often a large part of one’s travel budget especially if one of the appeals of your chosen location is fine dining or fairly expensive food. It is good to just bear this in mind and plan accordingly. One tip would be that, when you are on holiday, always try to only eat from non-chain restaurants; that is if it is a restaurant which is available in the city you live in (e.g. McDonalds or Pret) then only eat there if you absolutely have to. This is to make sure you get a taste of the delicacies your vacation spot has to offer. Also, where possible, eat from local shops vs bigger restaurants to help save costs. This point applies to shopping too!
- Some other general tips are to:
- Plan your trip early and start your visa application early if you would be needing one.
- Go solo if you need to because while traveling with friends/family is ideal, no need to put off your travel plans all year because you cannot find others to go with.
- On the point of traveling with people, an idea to explore is travel clubs set up by young people in your city looking to go on group trips. This would be a chance to help you meet people in the process. Two examples are @bgtravelclubldn and @gojolley (on Instagram).
- Be safe! – Avoid posting your location on social media (particularly accommodation details) in real-time and avoid disclosing to new people you meet that you are traveling solo.
- Have your budget in mind and do your best to stick to it!
- You should definitely check the weather forecasts of wherever you are going but do not completely trust this or else you might find yourself cold and wet without a jacket or umbrella in sight.
I know at least one of these points would help you in achieving your travel goals this year! In case you have some additional points or suggestions, let’s chat in the comments!
Image from Unsplash.com