This isn’t a chatty or anecdotal post… I just wanted to
share some trip tips with you.
It’s no secret that I love to travel but what a lot of
people don’t know is that I love trip planning.
The other day, a friend asked me just how I plan a trip so I thought I
might as well write a blog about it. For
me, a trip isn’t about lying by the hotel pool (heck, I live in a hotel… I can do
that at home)… if you like that sort of trip, it’s easy to plan and you
probably don’t need my advice. For me, I
like to experience as many different aspects of a country as I can. This means my trips usually involve a lot of
moving around. I’ll often hire a driver
or rent a car. Trains and buses are
always fun (but not always safe) options too.
However, if you’re working with a limited time frame (like Christmas
vacation), a car is definitely the way to go.
But rather than ramble on about transportation, I’ll just give you the
steps to planning an amazing trip, full of adventure. The order of these steps
is not set in stone. In fact, this isn’t
even the exact order I use… I just think it’s the one that makes sense for most
people. This advice is pretty Hong Kong
specific, but I’m sure it can easily be adapted to fit your own needs.
Step 1: Pick a Country
I have a bit of a bucketlist going when it comes to places I want to visit. However, I don’t work through this list in any sort of order… I’m actually rather practical about it. Most importantly, pair the country with the time of year you want to go on a vacation. You don’t want to end up somewhere during their coldest, wettest, or most mosquito-filled month. Do your research! Also, do research on the visa process. First, do you need a visa for this country? If you want to go on the trip relatively soon, you may want to select a country you don’t need a visa for. If you have plenty of planning time and need a visa, make sure you do it far in advance. Getting a visa can be stressful and time consuming. Most countries need proof of either a roundtrip/onward plane ticket and a hotel reservation before you can get a visa…. So Step 1 and Step 2 are sort of intermingled.
I have a bit of a bucketlist going when it comes to places I want to visit. However, I don’t work through this list in any sort of order… I’m actually rather practical about it. Most importantly, pair the country with the time of year you want to go on a vacation. You don’t want to end up somewhere during their coldest, wettest, or most mosquito-filled month. Do your research! Also, do research on the visa process. First, do you need a visa for this country? If you want to go on the trip relatively soon, you may want to select a country you don’t need a visa for. If you have plenty of planning time and need a visa, make sure you do it far in advance. Getting a visa can be stressful and time consuming. Most countries need proof of either a roundtrip/onward plane ticket and a hotel reservation before you can get a visa…. So Step 1 and Step 2 are sort of intermingled.
Step 2: Find a Hotel and Flight
I try to take red-eye flights. They’re cheaper and you can just start your vacation when you wake up the next morning. Or, if you are not going terribly far, you can arrive late at night and stay at the airport hotel. The address of the airport hotel will be sufficient for your visa so you can just worry about the rest later. For flights, I look at Zuji. It’s a very user-friendly site where you can book flights, hotels, travel insurance, car rentals, etc. at a one stop shop. (Car rental prices with Zuji are beyond amazing… hotel prices leave something to be desired.) Once I find a flight I like on there, I cross-check it against the airline’s actual site. Sometimes, the airline will have its own special deals. Aside from Zuji, I have never seen another third-party site offer better deals than the airline itself. If you’re looking for a weekend getaway, use CX Holidays. This is Cathay Pacific and Dragonair’s side site where they throw out excellent last minute deals on hotel/flight packages.
I try to take red-eye flights. They’re cheaper and you can just start your vacation when you wake up the next morning. Or, if you are not going terribly far, you can arrive late at night and stay at the airport hotel. The address of the airport hotel will be sufficient for your visa so you can just worry about the rest later. For flights, I look at Zuji. It’s a very user-friendly site where you can book flights, hotels, travel insurance, car rentals, etc. at a one stop shop. (Car rental prices with Zuji are beyond amazing… hotel prices leave something to be desired.) Once I find a flight I like on there, I cross-check it against the airline’s actual site. Sometimes, the airline will have its own special deals. Aside from Zuji, I have never seen another third-party site offer better deals than the airline itself. If you’re looking for a weekend getaway, use CX Holidays. This is Cathay Pacific and Dragonair’s side site where they throw out excellent last minute deals on hotel/flight packages.
My airlines of choice are Cathay Pacific, Dragonair, Hong
Kong Airlines (all based in Hong Kong) and Jet Airways (India). The food and customer service on Jet Airways
never fails to impress me. I use Delta
to fly back to North America. They don’t
compare to the Asian airlines at all, but it’s a direct flight from here to
Detroit. I won’t fly on anything any
Chinese airline (China Southern, China Air, etc.) or any African airline. The safety records in China aren’t quite as
bad as people say, but the delays are awful and most flights require a 7 hour
layover in Shanghai (complete with Chinese visa requirements) when you may be
headed out of the country in the opposite direction. The African safety records are exactly as bad
as we’re lead to believe. For a low
budget company with a good safety record, check out Air Asia. They only fly to a few places from Hong Kong,
but the deals are out of this world.
As for hotels, I use Agoda. In my experience, it’s ALWAYS the cheapest,
when compared with other third-party booking sites. I also find it cheaper than the hotel’s own
website. Before I book any hotel, I
check out the ratings on TripAdvisor.
Read the reviews critically though… sometimes a wonderful two star hotel
will have a bad review because a patron who is used to five stars didn’t get
personal butler service, or something equally as stupid.
If I’m going on an extended vacation (longer than 1 week), I
will rarely stay in just one hotel. For
me, I like variety. In India, I stayed
in under the desert stars, in a palace, and with a local family. In South Africa, I stayed in a beach chalet,
a traditional tribal hut on safari, and in a treetop resort high in the
mountains. Where you stay and how long
you stay there really depends on the activities you want to do. So, again, there is some overlap between the
steps.
Step 3: Activities
This is usually my first step. I plan my trips so far in advance that I don’t usually have my vacation dates yet, so I have no choice but to start here. I usually find EVERYTHING I could possibly imagine doing in my country of choice and write it all down. I start by Googling “Things to do in *insert country’s name*” From there, I put it in some sort of geographical order (by city, east to west, etc.) This helps me determine if I’ll stay in just one city or if I need a driver. In South Africa, it turned out that everything we wanted to do was along one amazing stretch of highway (The Garden Route) so we rented a car. In Phuket, Thailand, everything was nearby or an easy drive away so we just arranged transportation through a local agent as necessary. My activities usually involve animals. I find that once you figure out your activities, the rest of the trip neatly plans itself.
Step 4: See the Doctor
Don’t travel abroad without making sure you are properly vaccinated. Check the Centers for Disease Control. My suggestion is that you use this website to check for what you may come up against and make a list. Then go to a doctor in the New Territories with this list and tell him what shots/pills you need. Do not go to a travel clinic or a western doctor on HK Island. They will overcharge you.
This is usually my first step. I plan my trips so far in advance that I don’t usually have my vacation dates yet, so I have no choice but to start here. I usually find EVERYTHING I could possibly imagine doing in my country of choice and write it all down. I start by Googling “Things to do in *insert country’s name*” From there, I put it in some sort of geographical order (by city, east to west, etc.) This helps me determine if I’ll stay in just one city or if I need a driver. In South Africa, it turned out that everything we wanted to do was along one amazing stretch of highway (The Garden Route) so we rented a car. In Phuket, Thailand, everything was nearby or an easy drive away so we just arranged transportation through a local agent as necessary. My activities usually involve animals. I find that once you figure out your activities, the rest of the trip neatly plans itself.
Step 4: See the Doctor
Don’t travel abroad without making sure you are properly vaccinated. Check the Centers for Disease Control. My suggestion is that you use this website to check for what you may come up against and make a list. Then go to a doctor in the New Territories with this list and tell him what shots/pills you need. Do not go to a travel clinic or a western doctor on HK Island. They will overcharge you.
Don’t…
-Book every second of every day: Make sure you leave time to relax! I try to plan one activity each day. If more stuff spontaneously happens, great! But if you try to do too much, you’ll end up not really enjoying or remembering any of it.
-Use a travel agent: their prices are inflated and they aren’t willing/able to look at ALL the options you may have.
-Take a group bus tour: this could be alright in moderation…. But then you’re on their schedule and not your own. And in China, bus tours take you to factories and stay there for hours in hopes that you’ll buy jade and pearls when you really just wanted an early start to the Great Wall. (We hired a driver in Beijing and are sooooooooo glad we did!)
-Drink: You can do that at home. You can spend that extra money and time on once in a lifetime experiences instead.
-Let surprises get you down: Things might go wrong. Just learn from it and keep on enjoying your trip.
-Eat street food: Hygiene standards are not the same around the world. This WILL make you sick. You inadvertently end up ingesting their water. I’ve gotten food poisoning twice now from eating street food. If you absolutely must eat street food (and I must), take a probiotic the whole time you’re gone. It makes a huge difference.
-Book every second of every day: Make sure you leave time to relax! I try to plan one activity each day. If more stuff spontaneously happens, great! But if you try to do too much, you’ll end up not really enjoying or remembering any of it.
-Use a travel agent: their prices are inflated and they aren’t willing/able to look at ALL the options you may have.
-Take a group bus tour: this could be alright in moderation…. But then you’re on their schedule and not your own. And in China, bus tours take you to factories and stay there for hours in hopes that you’ll buy jade and pearls when you really just wanted an early start to the Great Wall. (We hired a driver in Beijing and are sooooooooo glad we did!)
-Drink: You can do that at home. You can spend that extra money and time on once in a lifetime experiences instead.
-Let surprises get you down: Things might go wrong. Just learn from it and keep on enjoying your trip.
-Eat street food: Hygiene standards are not the same around the world. This WILL make you sick. You inadvertently end up ingesting their water. I’ve gotten food poisoning twice now from eating street food. If you absolutely must eat street food (and I must), take a probiotic the whole time you’re gone. It makes a huge difference.
If you have ANY questions about any of this, or would like more specific tips, don’t hesitate
to ask me. I love to help people plan
trips!
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