Travel Diaries

The most difficult part of planning a vacation is definitely the constant trade-off you have to do between doing more and spending less. But I truly believe that to enjoy your dream vacation without burning a hole in your wallet is not impossible. Who wouldn’t love to go on a vacation more than once a year, but not sticking to a predefined budget could upset your plans and postpone your next holiday to the distant future. So here I want to share a game plan with you to make sure your holiday remains memorable for all the right reasons.

PICK A BUDGET, STICK TO IT

You probably already have a place in mind. But contrary to what you might think, that should not decide your budget. Your budget should only be decided only on how much you can afford, irrespective of anything else. Get a thorough look into your account balance, your savings , any other immediate expenses that may be coming up. After seriously considering all of this, come up with an amount that you can comfortably set aside for your vacation.

RESEARCH! RESEARCH! RESEARCH!

Now that you have both a destination and budget in place, it’s time to get down to the most tedious but also the most productive part of your planning – Research. Use the internet, books, people in your social circle and dig up everything you can find about the place you want to visit. Read articles, travel blogs, travel agencies, tourism sites, and everything else possible because you should never come back from a holiday with the guilt of missing out on something good. So look into everything that is famous in and around your vacation spot, and then again at some off-beat options. Look at what interests you, and jot down details of those places. Please don’t forget to note down vital details like – how to get there, how much would it cost, is there any weekly off day or visiting hours, any restrictions on how many people can visit, are any prior bookings required, etc.The focus should be to gather as much information as possible at this stage.

THE FIRST DRAFT

Now that you have a list of all the to-dos for your holiday , try to devise a few viable itineraries considering only your time and distance constraints. Quite obviously, you will have more places listed out than is actually possible in your time frame. Try to devise a plan which comfortably fit into your time frame.

EXPENSE ESTIMATE

Armed with the time-based schedule you have chalked out, it’s time to get back to finances. If you are sincere about sticking to your budget then you will have to put in some major costing work before finalizing your itinerary. 

For any holiday, you will primarily require two sets of funds –

1. Pre Vacation – This mainly comprises of travel and hotel costs, most of which will be done before you go on vacation. Compare various alternatives from the information you earlier collected and narrow down on the most suitable options. Once you have decided on these arrangements (don’t book just yet), subtract this amount from your fund and check how much are you left with.
2. On Vacation – Now this is what most people find tricky. How are you supposed to know what you’re going to spend on the holiday – before getting there? Here’s how you can go about it. Take each visit/activity you have listed for your holiday and start figuring out the expenses involved. For example if there’s a visit to some local tourist spots-

• • How far are these from the place you’re put up? What are your options to reach there? How much do these options cost approximately?
  • Once you get local travel expenses down, next include any entry tickets/guided tours, costs for specific activities, rentals for any gears/equipment, etc that might be required.
  • Another factor is your meal expenses. This should be pretty standard for your vacation. Ideally, you should be able to come up with a maximum amount per day that you will end up spending on food. Needless to say, this is not a hard limit but will be helpful in planning the rest of your finances.
  • Lastly, there are the miscellaneous expenses. Just add what you think should be rough estimate considering the nature of the trip. For example, if you are going on a guided tour where everything is covered you are not likely to have many unforeseen expenses. But if you’re venturing out on your own, you can include a considerable amount here.

So now you have clear idea of the expenses that would be incurred during the vacation. If you subtract this from the funds remaining there is a good chance that you have already crossed your budget, and you’re probably wondering if this entire exercise was futile. As it happens, you are now better prepared to stick to your budget now than before. Since you have clearly charted out the cost associated with each leg of your trip, you will now need just one look at your expense sheet and you can easily figure out where you have gone overboard. It’s best to take some time to analyze your expenses and see where it is possible to cut back. I am listing down a few suggestions that could help  –

1.  Try to cut down on your living arrangement costs. So maybe your hotel rooms will not be as luxurious as you would like, or maybe Airbnb would be even more economical. Please remember whatever you spend on your stay is the most mundane albeit most necessary part of your holiday budget. You’re not going to have any lasting memories of your hotel room. So look for utility when you book. As long as the accommodation meets the basic requirements don’t think twice over it.
2. Keep a keen eye out for deals or coupons that might be going around and try to book well in advance to get early bird offers. 
3. Try to rent bikes/cars or use public transport or even your legs, instead of wasting money hiring cabs to cover short distances. Also try to stay someplace that is central to all the sites you are planning to visit, that way you will not lose out on much time or money in getting around.
4. Please read the fine print before putting your money anywhere, especially when it comes to accommodation bookings. Check what is included in the tariff and what will be charged over and above. Keep a look out for good package deals. 

THE ITINERARY

This is the big one. Or maybe not. Your itinerary is only as crucial as you make it to be. Some people love to be spontaneous and decide things on the go, others love a well set-out chart for their entire vacation. For most folks a plan in hand gives them less to fret about while on their holiday(which is basically the point of a holiday!). Ideally, all the rigorous work should be done prior to your vacation. 

GET. SET. GO.

Itinerary – Check

Budget- Check

Enthusiasm – Big check

So everything is set and you’re ready to take off. But even with all this planning there is one commandment to be followed for any vacation. Never go on a holiday with hard limits or inflexibility. Even the most efficient planners can’t make a fool proof itinerary. Things will inevitably go wrong, no matter how well you research and how many backups you have. The point of all this planning is not to have a perfect vacation, because no such thing exists. The purpose of the planning is to avoid mistakes that are avoidable. And the things that go wrong anyway should be faced with nothing more than some mild irritation and some good humor. Because a perfect vacation never makes for good stories to retell later anyway. Think about it, when was the last time someone started a hilarious holiday story with, ‘So we had gone on this perfectly planned vacation …’