It is in everyones' bucketlist to travel - whether local or abroad. Travelling is part of a persons lifestyle and a big portion of salary is being saved for this. Others are planning a year just to have the "best trip ever".
Having travelled to destinations local and international, be it an official business trip, a family trip or just a weekend getaway, i learned a lot and here are my thoughts on how to make the best of your trip.
1. Plan ahead. You dont need to be professional to make the best plan for your trip, you have to be a good researcher. To check the reviews of the place, recommendations, weather, culture, restrictions (on visa, clothes, laws, etc). If you're not in the mood for all of these, ask a travel agent. They know best 😉
2. Allot a free day. Many of us maximize the usual 3days 2nights weekender trip. Filling all the schedules with sightseeing tour from dusk till dawn. In reality, you are missing a lot. Cramming on tour makes your mind overwhelmed missing the best part. Having a free day makes you wander, relax, and enjoy the place. I suggest you make a time just sitting on a bench or cafe, no gadgets, just looking around and observe the place and the people. At the end of the day, you will have more stories to tell to your friends.
3. Get a guided tour. This helps a lot specially if you are first timer in the place. The tour guides provide information that you might miss on your research.
4. Try local foods. I dont say try the "exotic foods", not all of us is a fan of such. There are numerous local delicacies that are palatable to the general public. Be careful with what you eat though, always try it on a clean and decent restaurant.
5. Get a travel insurance. Many of us never ever mind getting a travel insurance. For your information, the insurance tax indicated on your airfare does not cover you or your baggage or your documents if they might get lost or damaged. You should have a separate travel insurance that can cover expenses when your baggage got delayed, when passport got lost, when your flights got delayed and misconnected, when your tummy aches so bad and needed urgent medical attention. All of these are the inconviences that we can manage when we have travel insurance. It just cost your php250 for a 4days trip to any Asian destination. Would you rather save the php250 to the hassle it may cause you when your baggage suddenly lost? Your choice.
6. Take pictures (a lot of them). You can only visit this place once, or if twice, something will be different. Smartphones are the best thing to bring to capture the moments, and yes it is easy to share it with the world. Here's my thought, invest on a good camera that take good clear pictures. Captured Sceneries are best shared and appreciated when it is not pixelated, has good lighting, and angled perfectly. We may not have all the talent to take the best shot, but having a good camera makes us one step closer to it. Read and study pictures of the places you will go so you have an idea what angle you will take.The reason why you go to that place is to see it personally so you have to take a lot of good pictures.
7. Plan your outfit. Part of the story of your trip is your outfit. Your backgrounds are perfect but your outfit is distracting. You might bring a lot a clothes but you dont have any plan on what to wear on a specific day. You can have a few basics and do a mix and match. (I will post soon how to plan your outfit and make every picture IG perfect.)
8. Load up your gadgets. When you're travelling, you are always outdoor - bring a fully charged powerbank that can charge you gadgets up to 4x full bars. Clean up your phone or camera's memory card or bring extra. Its so annoying when you are about to take a picture but you can't because the memory card is full.
