Travelling is supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to take you away to parts unknown, where you can get up to all kinds of things, and meet all kinds of new and interesting people. All in all, you’re supposed to have a good time, and want to come back again and again in the future.
And yet, it’s easy to miss out on an experience like this when you forgot to include, or purposefully cut out, certain key elements of a travel plan. Because if you’re going to a foreign country, where you don’t speak the language and you’re not sure how to get from A to B, you need to have some precautions in place.
Your travel plans could be wildly different from those of your neighbour’s, but some general rules remain the same. And when it comes to planning a trip away, there are some things you should never cut out of your preparation, your suitcase, and your travel itinerary. So, let’s go through the main ones below – make sure you’ve got them on your mind when the time comes to plan your next holiday.
A Safe Way to Get There and Back
It’s imperative that you never cut out a safe way to get around when you’re travelling. You never want to be stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope or direction of getting out again, and this is a common fear for many a traveller.
Sure, some people are able to go with the flow and feel confident enough to land themselves in a field and find their way back, but this should only be done if you know the emergency numbers and you’ve got something like a compass in your pocket!
Instead, make sure you’ve always got a travel option available to you, especially when you’re in a foreign country and don’t really speak or understand the language. This practice should start at the airport – make sure you know how to get from here to your actual destination, as there’s a good chance there’s a few miles in between the two, and you definitely don’t want to be walking that as soon as you touch down.
Get in touch with a service like FAT Taxi to book a driver that knows the area, or be sure to hop on a coach that goes back and forth from the airport. Always remember that public transport is there to help you, and it’ll serve you the most to get to know how it works!
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance is the one thing you can never ever do without, even if you think you’re perfectly safe and you’re really not going away for all that long either. Because literally anything can happen when you’re off on a trip, whether for business or pleasure, and it’s the best course of action to have a safety net to catch you if you fall.
So, make sure you get yourself some travel insurance, no matter where you’re going or for how long. Make sure it covers what you’re taking with you – it’s much easier to lose your phone than you might think! At the same time, if you have medications to take with you, it’s much better to have an emergency fund in place – travel insurance rates are still highly affordable when you’ve got a pre existing condition, so nothing to worry about there either.
Plus, if your trip gets cancelled for any reason, travel insurance could be there to reimburse you. And seeing as trips can go awry for a thousand different reasons under the sun, you could lose upwards of £500 here if you’re not careful and don’t take the right precautions.
A Few Emergency Supplies
You’re always going to need something to keep you going, even if you’re just hitting your local town and know all of the sights, sounds, and smells. You know where to go to grab a cheap burger, and where the best ice cream is made, but you still carry snacks in your pockets or a bit of extra cash just in case, don’t you? And the same principle applies when you’re in a foreign city and barely know anything about the place.
So, make sure you have emergency money, an emergency battery or portable charger for your phone, and you have something to give you energy. This is especially important if you’re in an extreme environment, where it’s too hot or too cold, and you’ll need a bit more energy than usual to pump the sweat off or to keep warm as you walk.
Always have a reusable water bottle in your backpack, and fill it up every single morning before you head off. No matter what you buy throughout the day to drink, you’ll have this bottle of water to keep you hydrated, which is good for both heavily populated inner cities and remote countryside alike.
Something to Keep You Occupied!
Of course, you’re going to need something on you to keep you from getting bored, especially for the journey there and back again. Take something familiar along with you, that you can use again and again and still have a good time with. Something like your laptop, or a Nintendo Switch, that can easily fit into a bag and have hours of entertainment loaded up on them.
Even just a good book, that you love and have read before, can help the flight go a little bit faster. Something that’ll stop you from getting too bored or desperate on the way there, that’ll ensure you don’t feel disillusioned with the traveling process! There’s nothing quite like an endless journey to ensure you never go off and have fun again!
Your travel plans should never be missing elements like those above, so remember that the next time you have a holiday to book. After all, you don’t want to be stuck somewhere with nothing to do, no money to use, and no one around to help.