In
budget travel,
cheap travel
How to organize a trip - tips to help you book flights, accommodation and make an itinerary
Hi guys!
I really love to travel, but when you book your trips with some agency, everything in quite expensive. So I decided to start organizing my own trips. I think I've learned some stuff, so I'll share my tips with you 😃
STEP 1: Decide where you want to go
This one is obvious, but I want to go everywhere, so when I have to pick one place, I have some problems. What I suggest you do, is to check some travel agencies' pages on Facebook and see what they offer. This way you'll find some ideas of destinations and where to fly from. It's quite important, because they usually find some good deals and this way you can save a lot of money.
STEP 2: Get your plane ticket
In my opinion ,the easiest way to get your plane ticket is by Skyscanner (https://www.skyscanner.net). You just pick return tickets, to and from, dates and it finds the best deal for you. Then you just have to pick a deal you want and the page directs you to the offer.
Here are some pictures to get the idea of how it works, but I think it's pretty simple (We love that, don't we?). 😊
STEP 3: Book your accommodation
When I have my plane tickets booked, I'm always so excited. Now it is real - I'm going on my trip. 😁 But I still have to book the accommodation. You can totally skip this step and find a place to stay when you get on the location, but I suggest booking it for at least the first few days.. I usually go on Airbnb (https://www.airbnb.com) - you can get so many good deals here. If you prefer hotels, I suggest you try Booking.com (https://www.booking.com).
Both sites are easy to use, reliable and they help you find the best option for you. 😉
STEP 4: Make the itinerary
If you want to travel around the country, you should first make a draft of your itinerary and then book the accommodation. This way you'll know for how long you should stay in one place to see everything you want. I usually visit some forums on TripAdvisor (https://www.tripadvisor.com). Well, I actually google for example "how many days for (name your city)" and click an the TripAdvisor forum link that covers the topic.
Next on the list is the actual itinerary. I again use good old Google and type in "(country/area) top 10". I check the first few links and use Google Maps to create my draft using the "top 10" form different links.
How to create your map in Google Maps:
1. Open Google Maps (obviously xD).
2. Click on the menu and choose "Your Places".
3. Click on the "Maps" and at the bottom choose "Create map".
4. A new tab opens up with your new map - you just choose the title and start adding places to visit.
5. You add places by first finding them (oh what a surprise 😜) and then choosing the "+Add to map".
6. You can write a description, add a photo, change the color of the pin and make it pretty. But I suggest you do that only to the places you actually decide to visit (it's gonna be much less work 😉).
You can add and delete the places to visit depending on how much time you have. I recommend you use some kind of forums to determine how much time you need for each place, so you won't end up rushing on your trip.
The last tip is to buy or borrow a book about the country you are visiting in advance, so you can prepare better for the trip. I love the Lonely Planet guides and I always buy them the minute I buy my plane tickets. And the best part is, when you always use the same kind of guide, you know the system and everything is easy to find. The fact that I'll have a beautiful collection of books that remind me of all the trips is a great bonus 😀
This post was very long but I hope it helps you when you're planning your next adventure.
And remember:
"Travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer."
xoxo
Ela
