Concurrently planning another overseas trip, and this time it's with my friends to Korea! Yippee. But right now we have totally zero itinerary and planning done except for our air tix. heh. I, myself, am a blockhead when it comes to travelling. Being a nomadic and having the "let's get lost" mentality is totally not my thing. I don't mind getting "lost" in the streets and along the alley way but really I would still like an objective to cover as I travel. And I can't emphasise that I really hate large tour groups that bring you everywhere but with so little time and so many long travelling hours on the bus. One day is fine but five days would kill me.
Anyway as the title goes, if you are a dummy like me in the aspect of planning a travel, here are some really useful tips you can follow when you book hotels, tix and stuff like that :) Resources I got from are mainly my mom (who does a load of overseas free and easy planning) and friends around. May not be the best but I think it could serve pretty useful!
Before the trip, you should really sieve out the best deals there is. This is probably more applicable to Singaporeans because I'll be recommending certain websites you can hop to to get the best deals.
1) Tripadvisor is your best friend
First and foremost, Tripadvisor will give you the truest and most transparent opinion of the masses (which means the public) who have went there and experience the place for themselves. Written reviews, critiques about anything under the sun can be found on Tripadvisor but most people use it to review hotels and all that, plus they give you many tips on how to go about getting the best deals and all that kind of stuff.
Oh! Plus, they even show you normal pictures of hotel rooms and place so you wouldn't be fooled of the illusion of spaciousness or niceness of the whole hotel or destination - important.
2) Your kins and friends are your best trip advisors as well
Well, obviously. Asking friends about their experience on the trip would be the best as they will provide more relatable notions and things to look out for or avoid. They might even throw in their itinerary for you to follow which you can modify too, saves you at least 50% of the work you have to.
If you have friends/relatives staying there, then it's all the more better. They can be your own personal tour guide and also you can home-stay with them!
3) Always be on the lookout for deals, especially air tickets
Budget budget budget, getting the cheapest deal out of everything is the Singaporean's number one goal. Deals for air tix can dramatically change the price of the initial ticket price to your desired destination. For one Bangkok trip I went with my friends, the friend who booked the trip got a decently low price for Airasia plane tickets at Expedia which, if I'm not wrong, also included a hotel.
But if you are thinking of just heading budget with airline flights, Scoot would be the most decent choice in terms of comfort and price. For scootz, ALWAYS look out for cheap deals which can be about $100 difference in normal air ticket prices, and especially look out for special days or holidays which they often have their promotions. haha. Airasia is another one you can go which have really nice normal airplane seats and are sometimes cheaper than Scoot in terms of normal pricing. Prices are always very fluctuated on different days. And like all budget airlines, don't add any add-on or frills which can sum up to quite alot, don't even choose the seats! Hehe. You can always find entertainment with a book, an ipad, sleep or with friends.
3) The best hotel deals can be both cheap and good
Singaporeans like us would think cheap isn't good or low quality but really, you can find cheap and good stays if you book in advance. During my UK trip, I did stay in a 5 star hotel but I too stayed in a Bed&Breakfast hotel which I also found really comfortable. It's smaller but it's really nice. I myself recommend Holiday Inn because free wifi, affordable price, nice room with needed facilities and convenience of the location. Anyway if you see the reviews, they're rally quite good la.
Anyway 3 things I would say to look out for when choosing a hotel:
i) convenience - locations of hotels near the train stations are the best for travelling.
ii) cleanliness - I would prefer staying in clean and functional hotels. I also hate having uninvited guests while I'm sleeping.
iii) comfort - sleep is important to be fully energised and exhaust your travelling potential for the next day.
Agoda would probably give you the best deals in hotels and all that sort but what I realise about the website is that the strike off-ed prices they show are ridiculously expensive even compared to the normal rates. I don't know why, but probably is to psycho you that the deal is really cheap for that limited about of time so you will buy. Nevertheless, it's still a pretty decent website to go to book your hotels. Be sure to check the hotel reviews with Tripadvisor and your friends to tally the reviews.
4) Check the weather during your stay in the country
The weather forecasts are never accurate but climate wise it's probably quite. The weather will tell you what you might want to bring to wear and I highly doubt you want to wear shorts, slipper and t-shirt during a cold rainy day there. I suggest to always bring a sweater along for cold days even if you are in some tropical country.
5) Write your plan as neatly as possible
Okay seriously, unless you are such a frequent traveller (and probably wouldn't be reading this anyway) and you can remember exactly when and where you wanna go, you should really have an organised, well written plan (best to be in point form) and pleasantly looking schedule. I wouldn't recommend ad hoc trips unless you have the financial capabilities because hotels and travel (like trains that bring you long distances or planes or ferry) are gonna be super expensive. I remember my mom and I going wanting to go to Amsterdam last minute and the price of the hotel(with very limited facilities) was like $300 per night. Don't even need to mention about the train tix.
Side note - if you're into scenery and sight seeing, a day's tour to the outskirts of town would be really good because firstly, you have little travelling time compared to long tours and also, you'll get a more educational/interesting tour, especially if your tour guide is local. Same goes for out to sea ones too!
If you are planning to add a timing to the places you are planning to go, I would suggest having a 2-3 hour extra leeway in case you find something interesting to see along the way and thus, would not have to rush from place to place (especially if you are super OCD about following your time table) which in my opinion, makes a trip highly unpleasant. Also, adding things like what to look out for on the way in point form would make sure you won't miss out of some interesting things you might see along the way!
3 main things to be in a traveller's itinerary would be
i) Schedule
ii) Packing list
iii) Budget
Always have a leeway or buffer to everything, because after all, you are in a foreign country, you wouldn't know what you would expect when you're there, having extra would be better than less!
Yup, these are the main stuff to do before a trip which will make you feel more prepared there but really, you wouldn't know what to expect there most of the time, that's the whole point of travelling yea? to experience something that's out of your cultural norm.
I'll probably upload my Korea itinerary when it's done so do look out :)
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