How to Plan a Perfect Cost-Friendly Holiday Trip

How to Plan a Perfect Cost-Friendly Holiday Trip

Planning a vacation on a budget can be strenuous, but having a plan in place will prevent you from being overwhelmed. Being prepared and knowing how to save money for various aspects of the trip—accommodation, transportation, food, and attractions—is the key to an affordable vacation. In this article, we shared four tips to plan a perfect cost-friendly trip you should adopt before your next vacation.

1. Decide where and how to go

It can be hard to decide where you want to go, especially if you are limited by funds. However, there are three ways you can get recommendations on where to go—from travel experts, friends and social media platforms.

Your Facebook and Instagram aren’t just for getting likes, you can also use them to find awesome vacation destinations. You can leverage Instagram collections and start compiling your own images for places you’d like to go.

Action:

Once you decide where you want to go, you need to get specific with it. Set a SMART objective for your vacation plans. For example, "I want to travel to the UK" is not specific. To be specific, you should say, "By April, I want to travel to the UK for a retreat."

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bound.

2. Plan ahead of time

When you travel is as important as where you're travelling to. In fact, your timing can mean the difference of hundreds, possibly thousands of naira in airfare.

Let’s say you want to take a 7-day trip to Kigali from Nigeria, scheduled for November 23, 2022 to November 29, 2022. Here’s what the flight cost looks like:

And here’s a flight three months later. Here’s what a flight from February 1, 2023 to Feb 7, 2023 looks like:

Time matters! Which is why you should be flexible with your travels.

Plan your trip in advance because it will often save you money in the long run. Hotels and rental services (cars and trains) are likely to give a decent rate if you book ahead of time, especially if you're planning a vacation during peak seasons such as summer when children are out of school.

Action:

Pull up Google Calendar and start looking at dates that work for you.

Compare flights and hotel prices for different dates online. If the date you’re trying to book is more expensive than another one a few months away, it's likely that date falls under a peak season. Each country has different peak seasons.

3. Estimate your total vacation budget

Set your overall budget before you begin preparing the specifics for your vacation budget. Finding the correct vacation budget is a personal experience. It's a combination of many things, and it all boils down to what's comfortable (and feasible) for your family.

Once you've decided on a budget, the other specific details will fall into place. Remember that you want to strike a balance between feeling free while travelling and not feeling worried when you return to reality. It's a fine line to walk, but it's doable.

Action:

Get the estimated cost for your flight, hotel, meal, fun and others.

Plan how you will save towards it by dividing the cost by the number of months or weeks. Choose what is convenient for you.

Automate your transfer to avoid forgetting when you are paid. You could also save in dollars to protect you from currency devaluation.

4. Take some time off work

It is vital to promote good physical and mental health in the workplace and to improve employees' work-life balance. It allows individuals to take some time off to rest, refresh and be re-energised. This helps to reduce stress, improve mood and boost staff morale.

Action:

You can put this forward to your manager or HR.

Dear [manager’s name],

I’d like to request a five-day vacation time from Monday, December 5 through Friday, December 9, as I’ll be going on a family vacation.

While I’m away, I’ll be reachable via phone but not email. Also, I’ll make sure there are team members who can stand in for me while I’m away. A Google sheet will also be shared with the team to show my work progress.?

Is this okay?

Thanks,

Your Name

This maintains a friendly tone throughout the message and gives a good reason for your absence. You may also want to send this email weeks or possibly months in advance.