HOW TO PLAN A SOLO VACATION

HOW TO PLAN A SOLO VACATION

VISA CHECK

The first step in how to plan a solo vacation is to already have an idea as to which countries you will like to visit (see my Destination page for some ideas) and to start the booking process/checks at least 3 months in advance. What are you looking for, sea, sun, adventure, snow, culture? Having this in mind, the next step is to do a visa check to see if you need a visa, remember if you do, it will add to your vacation overall cost, no matter how small.

You then visit Google Wikipedia and check for your country, here you will find all the countries you will need Visa to visit on one list.

COMPREHENSIVE RESEARCH

After your visa check, you now have an idea of the countries you will like to visit. You will re-visit Google and read about safety, unrest, etc. look at the major news (my favorite is Aljazeera news) and see what’s taking place in these countries. This is for your safety and will help you to make a safer and more informed country selection.

It may, unfortunately, happen, that after you have planned and paid for your vacation, some unforeseen occurrences like earthquakes, floods, strikes, etc. take place, but with everything in life, there are always possibilities of uncertainties.

Comparative Price Search

From the countries you have chosen, you are now going to do price comparisons for;

Airlines prices, round trips from your country and any other connecting flights to this destination.
The average hotel prices for the duration of the stay in each selected country.
Average food prices and tours etc. for reasonably priced tours I recommend Klook (#Ad). Use Trip Advisor for a list of hotels in one place, along with reviews. For the comparative search and pricing of all airlines in one place, use Cheapoair (#Ad) and Skyscanner. .

Once you have gotten an average figure of the overall cost to travel to each country, you choose the one most budget-friendly and then continue with your search on TripAdvisor, where you will find all major booking engines (Bookings.com, Expedia, etc.). You can now choose your favorite booking engine and read the reviews of each hotel before you book one. After the price checks on ticket, hotel and average food prices, etc. you now have an estimated figure as to which country is within your budget and can better decide your destination.

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION

You have chosen the country you will like to visit, and you are looking for an ideal location for your hotel stay. I cannot emphasize this enough… especially when planning a solo vacation, but the location is key when booking your hotel. If it’s your first visit to this country, then more than likely, you will not be sure which is the best location or most convenient area for your hotel stay. Re-visit Google once again and type it in the search, literally (which is the best area in the country you have chosen to vacation).

Many forums can help you choose the best location and reasons for the choices, (e.g. city, countryside, etc). More than likely, you will be right back on Trip Advisor forum, via Google, where previous travellers will give their perspectives on the best location for your stay, in that country, you can then decide.

Your ideal Location within the Country

It must be made clear that the main reason for choosing the location before booking the airline ticket, is simply because some countries may have multiple airports, and you may want to book the flight for the airport closest to the location you have chosen avoiding hours driving to this location from the airport.

Now that you have chosen your location, it’s time to book your flight, preferably directly with the airline, online, (it’s cheaper) or with your travel agent (you pay more). I will, however, also suggest when booking your airline ticket, to do it directly with the airline instead of a booking engine, just for your peace of mind, in case there are any hiccups with date/time changes along the way, some booking engines may not inform you of said changes.

BOOKING YOUR AIRLINE TICKET

It’s time to pay for your ticket, point to note, if it will take more than one flight, on different airlines, to get to your destination, be sure to do the necessary checks for each connecting flight, on each airline, before booking the first flight. Some early mornings or late-night flights carry cheaper fares, at times, so do diligent search on different times.

Leave at least 5 hours in between said flights when booking any one of the flights unless it’s with the same airline. This will facilitate with any hiccups due to late arrivals or delays by of any airline on any leg of your trip, the last thing you want to happen is to miss your flight, causing you to have to buy a new ticket for even more money, to your destination. I prefer to sit at an airport for hours than risk missing a flight due to tardy airlines. This can also be a good thing if you have a long layover, walk with a good book or you can go out into the city and enjoy it before your next flight.

BOOKING YOUR HOTEL

The excitement and adrenaline kicks in, the ticket is purchased and it’s on to choosing the most appropriate hotel, (price and location is gold). When checking for hotels, again you want to be sure of what you are looking for. On a tropical island, you may consider a hotel close to the beach if you want to spend your days on the beach, instead of the city center for hangout spots and nightlife or vice versa, without the hassle of transport back and forth every day, which will add to your overall costs, so choose wisely especially if you will not have personal transport.

In bigger cities, you may prefer the countryside, city center or even the outskirts of the city center, remember, prices vary according to the exact location you choose. Now you are going to re-visit Trip Advisor (see my TripAdvisor account) or Trivago, and use the filter to zero in on your best choice, in the filter options, choose the period of stay, price range and other amenities like wifi, breakfast, etc. and only these hotels/hostels/apartments will be shown with said criteria, you can then choose the ones with the most affordable prices.

CHOOSING YOUR BOOKING ENGINE

You have narrowed down the hotel list based on your chosen criteria, it’s time to choose one based on the reviews of past guests, to see what is negative or positive about the said hotel. TripAdvisor can help with this, for me, the minute I read noisy at nights, bugs or thieves at a hotel, in more than 2 reviews, I skip it.

When you find one with satisfying reviews, then you book it, all booking engine options are on TripAdvisor. The ones I recommend are Hotels.com (after every 10 nights stay you get one free). Expedia, (with every stay, points are given that you can use to book a room eventually) and Bookings.com, my favorite and most used (gives you 10% – 15% discount on check out, the more you book with them).

The reasons I prefer Bookings.com over the others are, whereas Hotels.com and Expedia allow cancellation also, but in most cases, your credit card is debited the same day you book the hotel, if you wish to pay at a later date the hotel, then you pay more. However, with Booking.com (click here to book);

You not only get the cheapest hotel prices along with your 10% – 15% discount.
The option of paying later without any increase in price
If any unforeseen occurrence happens, you can cancel without having to wait days to get a re-deposit on your credit card (because your credit card was never debited on booking). There is also the option of booking without a credit card.

TRANSPORT TO/FROM AIRPORT

Transport can be as easily prearranged with your hotel, for pick up at the airport, (which in most cases will cost you a bit more than regular/airport taxis).

The other options are: Book a pick-up (#Ad) with any of the booking engines (Expedia, Bookings.com, etc) you get to the airport and the driver will be waiting for you in arrivals with your name on display).
Call Uber when you arrive at the airport (you don’t need a credit card to sign up or to pay).
Use the train or official airport buses (these are usually the cheapest options) especially if they stop conveniently close to your hotel.

I have used all these mediums of transports, based on 1. most convenient (with luggage) 2. Price and 3. Time of arrival in said country. However, if you have the extra funds or would need a car for your solo vacation, then you can rent a car (preferably one with GPS). I recommend Discover Car Rentals (#Ad) for cheap rentals (click here to book a car).

RELAX AND SMILE

Yipee!! Relax and Smile , you have successfully planned and booked your solo vacation, now you can relax knowing you have something exciting to look forward to. In your free time or even in traffic, you can read up some more about tours, site seeing activities, etc on TripAdvisor. Trust me, after you have done all this research, in your mind’s eye you feel as if you already know the place and some of the anxiousness is quickly dispelled. You have done it!! Time to focus on outfits, Forex, etc, for the big travel day.

Enjoy

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