Vacation Planning Tips for Backpackers
A Good Plan Gives Increased Enjoyment and Better Value for Money
Oct 27, 2008
Today being an independent traveller has never been easier with easy access to information on any destination in the world. Apart from Lonely Planet guides, which started an independent travelling revolution, today’s traveller also has access to up to date blogs and travel websites.
However despite the information available, evaluation and good judgement is still as essential as ever. Below are some points and resources to consider when planning a vacation.
Choosing Where to Explore
This is usually the fun part as it could be finally going to a dream destination. Main considerations are:
- Season - peak tourist season is expensive and requires advance bookings.
- Festivals - for an enhanced experience plan a vacation to coincide with an important festival.
- Timing of Visit – The destination could be too hot or rainy to enjoy the planned activities.
- Political or economic instability - check the government’s Department of Foreign Affairs website for updated travel warnings and advisories.
- If cost is the major constraint research destinations closer to home as travel opportunities in our back yards are often overlooked.
Planning a Cost Effective Route
This is more important for longer journeys as good planning can yield significant cost benefits. Main considerations are:
- If the objective is to get from A to B choose direct well travelled routes as they are cheaper and time saving.
- Round-the-world airfares and airpass programs can be cheaper than booking several individual flights.
- On long travels choose a land/air travel mix. Long trips over uninteresting country are best done by air whereas a cheap local bus along a scenic gorge is not to be missed.
Health Care for Backpackers
It is best to see a travel doctor as general practitioners are not specialists in travel medicine. Travel doctors also sell medical kits which can be expensive to create yourself. Other things to consider are;
- Requirements of destination country as to certificates of vaccination.
- Consider joining International Association For Medical Assistance To Travellers (membership free). They have a list of affiliated doctors in most countries of the world.
- Read up on travel health on the World Health’s Organization (WHO) website. It gives information by country on yellow fever and malaria as well as general advice.
Calculating the Cost of a Vacation
Having done the research on fares the next step is to calculate the cost of accommodation, tours, travel and food for the trip. To get an idea of prices look at the following;
- Lonely Planet and The Rough Guide books. Chances are they will be out of date when you read them so add on a reasonable increase.
- The official tourism website of the destination country usually has links to hotels, bus and tour company websites that provide pricing.
- Bank fees at ATM machines add up over a period and interest is charged immediately on drawing funds on a credit card. Consider transferring funds to the credit card so it does not go into debit and attract interest.
Deciding on Accommodation & Tours
The find the best value for money on these 2 expense travel items research the following;
- Tripadvisor and travellerspoint web sites consist of testimonials and travellers blogs on experiences with hotels, tours as well as general destination tips.
- Guide Books are still a good source of information for the independent traveller as they give an unbiased view on accommodation and tour operators.
Before Travelling Assess Dangers & Annoyances
Obviously this research is essential to avoid dangerous areas and the latest scams. While all the above mentioned resources are useful, traveller’s blogs are particularly helpful.
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