Plan for a Better Travel Experience

One of the best ways to improve your travel experience is to do some planning for your travels. This doesn't mean just scheduling and paying for your plane and train tickets. It means you should also do planning and scheduling for when you are at your destination.

Do you have a destination in mind? Find a tour book (or a few) on the location. Lonely Planet, Fodors, and Frommer's (and others) have good guidebooks that list attractions, major holidays, schedules, maps, as well as listings of places to stay, eat, and tour, and tips for enhancing your trip. Use these books to outline the main attractions you'd want to see in the places you want to go.

Although the guide books generally have a small section for phrases for the destination country, if the country you are going to has a language that is different than your own language, it may be useful to buy a small phrase book that not only provides side-by-side the destination language and your language, but also the special characters used in that particular language with how the words are pronounced underneath the symbols. This is particularly useful in places like China, Japan, Russia, Israel, and India, where their languages have symbols and characters vastly different from other languages.

If you don't already have a day-planner, appointment book, or other type of day-to-day calendar, get one to help with planning your trip, because timing will be critical to keep your trip sane.

Timing

If your trip can be flexible, look at the calendar for the upcoming year to schedule your flight. Have this calendar in front of you during this exercise.

Look for blocks of time that you know will fit into your schedule. If your flight would be halfway around the world, your flight over and the flight back will take two days of your vacation in each direction. Yes, you can quibble here about the exact number of hours for each flight, but let's just say that 18 to 20 hours of flying overnight (including time spent getting to the airport, wading through the lines at the airports on both ends along with layovers, transfers, and so on) is taking up at least half of the first day and half of the second day (both days of which you most likely would want to have off as part of your "vacation time"). So, saying that, you'd have 4 days that you would need available for vacation time right from the start.

Then, how much time do you plan on being in-location? If you live within a 3-4 hour flight of your destination and within the same time-zone, maybe you can squeeze in just a few days in-location. But if you are going to do a very long flight, particularly one that crosses many time zones, you probably would want at least a week (7-days) to see things.

For taking a vacation, sometimes you can combine the time-off-from-work with a holiday (like Memorial Day, or Thanksgiving Day, or Christmas or New Year's Day) and you can straddle a weekend or two that can add to the number of actual work-vacation days you have available. If you have 10 vacation days (2 work weeks) accrued and you combine it with a two-day holiday as well as straddling two weekends, you can really squeeze a lot of time available for a comfortable, less hurried, trip.

Set out a letter-sized piece of paper (lined or unlined, it probably doesn't matter) for each day of your vacation (including the day before your trip and the day after your trip). These, combined with your calendar/day-planner, will be how you scope out your trip.

Of course, each destination has particular times during the year that are good for photography, special events, and weather. Remember that south of the equator, you will experience cold weather during what the folks in the Northern Hemisphere would consider summer. Winter in the Northern Hemisphere will give you summer-like temperatures in the Southern Hemisphere. These differences in weather can influence when you'd like to see particular scenery such as those featuring spring flowers, fall colors, rainy seasons, dry seasons, and so on.

Even though different destinations may have interesting and colorful national holidays that might be fun to experience, consider that these holidays could cause crowded travel problems or there would be many places closed for the holiday. Use this information to fine-tune your trip scheduling.

If your passport is within 6 months of its expiration date, you should probably consider renewing your passport. Since it's hard to rush this process with most governmental agencies, it's good to start the process well in advance of your trip.

Get an RFID-proof wallet to hold your ID, passport, credit cards, and cash. And exchange at least a few $100 into the destination's currency before leaving. This will enable you to buy things (and pay for bus and taxi transport) with less hassle at the destination when you first get out of the airport.

Planes

Once you have figured out the number of days you have available and your destination, it's time to commit and get the tickets for your flight arranged. You may need to schedule the flight at least 3-4 months in advance -- particularly if you need a Visa or other government-required paperwork on either end for your trip. When you have the flight reserved and a confirmation document, mark the airline, departure airport code, flight number, and departure and arrival times on your day-planner or calendar. Also note this information on the second of those sheets of paper representing the days of your trip. (On the first page before your flight information page, note the things you'll need to do before your trip—stuff to pack, arranging care for pets and plants, house-sitting, mail-pickup, and so on.).

If there's a lay-over at an intermediate airport, note this on the second sheet under the notation for your departure flight, with the same information (airline, arrival/departure airport code, flight number, and departure/arrival times). Do this for each lay-over/plane change and day until you get to your destination. (If the initial and continuing flights are on the same day, note their information on the same page/day in your calendar and trip sheets.)

Of course, be sure to get to the airport well in advance of your departure time—for U.S. airports and international flights, that means at least 2-hours before the scheduled departure time. If you see that the weather will be particularly messy or that your flight is during a holiday season on either end, give yourself more time.

Try to not have less than 2-hours for your layovers between your connecting flights. Any delays for your incoming flight will put catching your connecting flight at risk. The airport terminals for the connections are frequently spread so far apart that you won't be able to walk between the terminals to make your continuing flight in that time. You may even have to go through additional security checkpoints between one flight and the next, so schedule yourself with buffer room for this possibility.

Lodging

Depending on the season or timing of your trip, you may need to reserve places to stay within your destination country well in advance. Make sure you account for all family members in your travel party. Some lodging options are picky about how many people will be in a room or may not be able to accommodate more than 2 people per room, so you must make sure your reservations account for them.

Your lodging, if near the arrival airport, may provide free shuttle bus transport from the airport or the train station to the hotel—check on this when deciding on your lodging. If you are planning on having a few days at different cities and towns throughout your vacation, be sure to reserve lodging in each of those places.

Mark the name of the lodging, the street address, the phone number, the email address and website (if they have one) on your calendar for the day(s) you will be there as well as on one of the sheets of paper that represent your travel days. On each of these (both in your calendar as well as on the sheets of paper you are preparing), note the attractions around where you will be staying and the methods available to get there and back to your lodging.

You may find that your lodging and the attractions are conveniently close to public transit like trains or subways, or you may realize that travel by bus or taxi might be a better option. Note this on your calendar and the sheets of paper.

When checking in, be sure to get a business card or map with the location noted as a way to inform taxi drivers on how to get to your lodging. Sometimes, the lodging will be hard to find, even if the taxi driver is using GPS.

Trains

A "RailPass" is a good deal, if you are planning on doing a lot of train travel. Generally, this RailPass must be purchased OUTSIDE of your destination country and then the form you receive from the purchase is exchanged for the actual ticket at the designated train pass exchange at the arrival airport or other designated tourism office in the destination country.

Long-haul travel, such as that between the airports and the major cities, is most cheaply done by train. Once in the major city areas, however, if no free shuttle is available, using a taxi from the train stations to get to your lodging is effective and a time-saver (and a lot less hassle), especially if you have a group of 3-4 people.

Avoid the train stations during commuting hours – between about 7am to about 9am and between 5pm and about 7pm. It will be hard to find seats (or even room to squeeze into the cars) on the trains during those times. Also, if you are hauling luggage, it will be particularly difficult to navigate through the crowded stations and onto the trains during those times.

Automobiles

If you want to see multiple sites/sights in a limited time in a specific area, using taxis is a good option—again especially if you are traveling with a group of 3 to 4 people. Why? The limited amount of time you have “on-the-ground” makes it painful to be waiting for buses, trains, and subways. Sometimes there’s a lot of time spent just walking from the hotel to a bus stop or train station, time spent waiting there, and then time for walking from destination bus stop or train station to the attraction. And then repeating that for the next attraction. The 1-ride taxi fare for 2-4 people may be less than if you paid for individual train or bus tickets for the same route. And you will usually get front-door service.

With a taxi, you can go directly from the hotel to attraction, and from that attraction to the next attraction, and so on, without all the waiting and walking between the places. Yes, they can be considered “expensive”, but then again, “time is money” … how valuable is your “time-on-the-ground”?

Although you may be adventurous, for many countries in which their language does not resemble your own, you might consider NOT renting a car—particularly if they drive on the opposite side of the road from what you are accustomed to. If you do rent a car, make sure the GPS on your phone or other device is set for DRIVING and not WALKING. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a serious predicament, as shown in this photo.

Hiking it

Be sure to bring and wear comfortable shoes that have been well-broken in. Do not buy new shoes that haven’t been worn and tested out before going. Wear loose and comfortable shirt and pants—you don’t want to have chafing problems when you are out walking. Also, bring well-cushioned and absorbent socks so your feet can stay comfortable and dry. There may be a lot of walking (even if most of the major travel is by taxi or train or subway). Comfortable sneakers or walking shoes and appropriate socks are a must.

A small backpack with a compactly folded rain coat, extra pair of socks, and perhaps a wide-brimmed hat would be helpful, particularly if you are planning on hiking a lot at your destination. If you are traveling with a group, get each member of your group a colorful hat and/or backpack so you will be able to find them quickly in a crowd. (The colors also add to any photography you may consider, because it will add a "splash" of interest. That's why a colorful umbrella might also be handy.)

Record Keeping

By the time you have gotten to the airport for the first leg of your trip, your calendar and the sheets of paper should be filled in with useful information for each day. You'll have your flight numbers and departure and arrival times, you'll have your lodging address and phone numbers for each day of your stay, you'll have a listing of the main attractions you want to see or things you want to do at each place during your travel, and you'll also have notes for your other experiences. 

Since you reserved your flight and your lodging before you left, you'll have this record already. But for your purchases of meals, tickets for attractions, and souvenirs, not only should you note the amount on your calendar for the day that you purchase the item, but also on the sheet of paper for that day. Also, save the receipt.

At the end of each day, tally up the receipts. This will not only help your budgeting for the trip, but when you go through the immigration and customs area on returning, you will have a fairly accurate accounting for your purchases. If you don't want to carry around paper receipts, you can just snap a photo of them with your cell-phone or camera.

When you return from your trip, the notes you have taken in your calendar and the sheets of paper can become your travel-journal to help with your memories of your trip.