Tips for booking and planning

FOR A LONG TRIP

At the beginning of December, I will board a plane heading to warm Asia, and if everything goes as I want, I won't be back until February. The winter can start off so mild, I still hate it. Moreover, I can do my work anywhere, so why not try writing from a tropical beach? Just saying. But whether you are traveling the world for work or not, booking and planning a long trip is a different ball game. So here are some tips. Will you send me a postcard?

Write down your wishes

When I arrived in New Zealand, I was pretty clueless about where to go. Auckland, where I started, is not very nice, and after just two days, I wanted to leave. So I sat down with pen and paper behind the computer and first wrote down what I wanted to do and see in New Zealand. Then I looked up where I could best do or see those things and started making a logical route with those places. The last step is to arrange your transport: are there buses? Trains? Do you need to fly a bit? Fill it in. Start from your wishes and turn them into practical plans.

Be realistic

You can't do everything. And even if you're in Thailand and Laos seems just around the corner, so “oh, we'll do that too,” it doesn't work that way. It's not fun to have to travel around in a hurry, and maybe that one place is much nicer than you thought, and you want to stay longer. So make a somewhat flexible travel schedule, take potential setbacks into account and try not to cram too much into your trip.

Make a budget plan

Going on vacation for two weeks is quite straightforward, but if you're going away for two months (or longer), you need to plan your money. What I usually do is think about how much I can and want to spend in total, and I divide that over the number of days I'm away. Take into account overnight stays and travel costs and determine how much you can spend per day. Of course, you don't have to stick to it too strictly, but it's nice to have a bit of an overview of your expenses so you don't have to cut your trip short due to lack of funds.

Make preparations for home

If you're going away for a long time, what happens to your house? Can you perhaps rent it out via Airbnb for extra income? Do you need to temporarily move some of your belongings? And do you have good travel insurance? What happens if you break something or worse? Who is your contact person in case of emergency? Do you have all your vaccinations? And visas? Is your passport valid long enough? All very boring and tedious matters, but important, and especially important that you arrange them before departure, because once you need them, it's too late.

Make preparations for there

Are you going to Cambodia for three weeks? Or India? And do you want to be reachable? Then buy a local SIM card on the first day, so you often have enough MBs and call minutes for just a few dollars to stay connected. You will have a different number for calls and texts, but WhatsApp remains the same. Once your new SIM is in your phone, open WhatsApp and say that you do NOT want to configure the app with your new number, and then you can keep all your own WhatsApps. Furthermore, I personally always find it nice to have at least booked a bed somewhere for the first night. And if I arrive in the evening, I sometimes want to book a transfer from the airport to the hotel.

Get help for your flight ticket

If you're going to book a simple round trip, you can manage it yourself, but if you have a more complicated plan, it's wise to get help. Suppose you start in Sri Lanka, then go to India, then Bangkok, and you leave again from Cambodia, you can book one-way tickets yourself, but that's incredibly expensive. It's better to book miles or a tailor-made world ticket. I personally love the travel specialists at Kilroy Travels, who always help you so well in putting together your perfect trip and suggest routes and places you would never have thought of yourself.