6 EASY STEPS TO PLAN FOR TRIP

My friend always asking me how I plan for my trips.
Planning a trip can be a daunting task for some people. Where to begin? How to do it?

Well..its not something burdensome to do. I always treat my travel planning as part of fun activities and enjoying to do. I can learn many things during my planning.

Here are some tips on how or where to start for next travel adventure.

1. Where to go?

Ask yourself when choosing a destination. You need to consider your personality when you decide. For me I am more cultural, historical and natural sites visit. I don't really favor shopping and city travelling. I prefer country sites. Normally, I avoid the place with visa requirements. Our Malaysian passport is widely accepted. The place that I travel which requires visa is China and Myanmar. Best if you use which routes Air Asia travel and wait for promotion. But since I unable to book my trip one year before so mine normally 1-2 months before trip. Life so unpredictable for me to plan like one year before.

2. When to visit?

If you choose seasonal country, make sure do some research on your most preferable season. As for me I love fall foliage and try to avoid winter, typhoon and heavy rain falls season. don't forget to check out the country public holiday too. The last thing you want is to compete against the local when visiting the attractions. With this you can decide which month to go and plan you leave.

3. How to plan for trip itinerary?

I normally refer to 'Miss Google'. My usual keyword type in 'Miss Google' search is " 10 must visit place in XXXX " You can type your choice destination. You can make use of many websites like Tripadvisor or Lonelyplanet for this. There are many travel blogs out there for you to refer. Sometimes I mix and match travel and tours agency itinerary and find my way to the place I chose.

4. How decide whether to go by travel agency or free and easy on your own?

My style of travelling is to travel on my own free and easy. I only follow travel if the place that I am visiting has difficulties in transportation. I avoid use travel agency or join tour because it always very restricted. I hate the fact they will end up lead you to more shopping trip rather than visit the attractions site. For countries with good transportation system like South Korea, Japan and China, I will look for attractions nearby. Make sure to get the local map with all the attractions list for your to explore. If there is attraction that I want to visit badly but unable to reach on my own, I will look follow day trip by travel agent. 

For place like Vietnam, Siem Reap , Thailand, Indonesia, I will hire car plus driver to visit my choice of places. I just walk around and took public bus when I was in Macau.

5. Book flight and Accommodation

I normally wait for promotion for flight ticket but I am not that person who go for free seat or whatsoever. I don't plan my trip like 1 year before because life is so unpredictable for me to plan way ahead. I normally do like 2 - 3 months before my trip. For accommodation, you have so many choices through Agoda, Booking, Ctrip and Airnb to choose. I normally choose accommodation based on reviews and location need to be walking distance to transportation and some other amenities like eateries and convenient store too.

6. How much cash to bring for your trip?

Well , you have paid for your air ticket, accommodation. If you are following day tours or what so ever please make sure you have paid them or bring cash to pay the remaining balance of your booked tour. For places with good transportation and if you are planning to take subway make sure do some research, normally they have some tourist pass that you can buy ahead before your trip. I normally budgeted RM100 - RM200 a day for food. Well, normally I have so much excess amount from this so I can buy something I like with it too. This depends on which country you visit. Some shopping cash just in case I fall in love for something I can't buy back home. Note that I am travelling alone. If you are planning for many people with you please allocate more cash. Don't forget to bring credit card (make sure call your credit card company that you are travelling) and some USD. Do not rely with just credit card for emergency because some countries is not advisable to use this method of payments.I always cautious when it come for credit card payment at foreign country. I will avoid it as much as possible. So bring some extra cash!

To me when it comes to trip planning...its all about RESEARCH! RESEARCH! RESEARCH! We are bless with the digital world nowadays. Information available with one click. There is no reason for don't know how to do or don't know where to start. For initial starter , just start with googling the country name and read about it.

Hope 6 EASY STEPS , I listed helps you planning for next trip! Good luck!

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