Blog: How to get the best experience for your money on vacations
Most of us with highly demanding professional lives look forward greatly to weekends, holidays and vacations. Year end is when the holidays of children, partners and even friends align and you can plan longer durations away from home. Whatever be the kind of holidays we prefer there are certain ways in which you can ensure that you get to experience the best of things for the money you spend.
It is not about doing a holiday within a strict budget, but getting the best for any kind of budget. The whole travel experience revolves around your travel philosophy and how you plan for it. Over the years I have learned a thing or two on this which now makes my travels and vacations way more enjoyable than they used to. Here are some curated facts for you.
Plan ahead. Well ahead – It is a well-known fact that we always benefit from the lower rates in hotels we stay or for flight fares if we plan ahead and book ahead as well. Planning ahead has a direct impact on your travel experiences. When we do a last-minute booking for a stay or flights and pay more for them, we start with much less funds at our disposal to allocate for the rest of the expense components of the vacation. Airlines and hotels offer better rates and concessions to people who book ahead. The early bird offers are often very lucrative.
Spend on experiences – It is very easy to get swayed by the inviting looking shop windows while vacationing. With quaint, exotic things on display, the temptation is huge. However, the material things we spend on have a much shorter life than any experience we pay for. The memories of the experience stay with us forever. So, when you are in Australia it would be way better to spend on a helicopter ride over twelve apostles than buying a jacket from a fancy shop which might be available in your home town as well. In Alaska you could go on a sledge dog ride rather than shopping for gems or clothes. Well, if you can afford both without busting your budget, Great! But when it is ever a choice between an object and an experience, you know what you should go for!
Have a balance between activity and leisure. Do not overschedule – You need not see everything and do everything and be everywhere when on a holiday. There is no need to have a ‘packed’ schedule either. When you try to over-schedule on a holiday, you merely end up being more exhausted after the vacation than being rejuvenated. Also, you don’t get to experience even one place in its entirety or experience everything the place has to offer but end up seeing and doing bits of everything which will not really be memorable as an experience. Unless it is specifically meant to be so, no vacation should have an overdose of leisure or activity. To appreciate the wonder of both, it should be well balanced.
Be flexible to stay options apart from hotels – Sometimes it just makes sense to book a hotel that offers a good deal or package. It is the easiest stay option to go with often. But in certain locations and circumstances you have much more interesting and enriching experiences offered by vacation homes or homestays. Being open to unorthodox stay options sometimes offers you great experiences and also makes your vacation much more cost-effective
Carry as less valuables as possible – Carrying along valuables in the form of currency, gadgets and jewelry while on a vacation can be an unnecessary responsibility and burden. If you see a nice waterfall during your hike the last thing you want to do is stay back without going in because you have to take care of your limited edition Rado.
Keep the important documents safe and handy – Keep all the travel documents, passports, id cards, visas and permits handy and also carry copies of all these with you. Retain copies of these at home before you go as well, so that in case of an unfortunate mishap of theft or loss, you are not entirely left in the woods and folks at home can do the necessary paperwork on your behalf.
Pack light, shop less – Carry just enough stuff and maybe a piece or two extras. You can save yourself from the hassle of long queues at baggage carousels and then again at security clearance when you travel light. Moving from destination-to-destination is also easier and at times using public transport is possible too when you travel light. Shopping too should be kept to a minimum and as previously said it’s better to spend more on unique experiences the place has to offer.
Outsourcing boring and tedious stuff – Things like booking flight tickets or passes to rides takes up time and are laborious activities. Also, errors are prone to happen in these if utmost care isn’t taken. More than anything these are rather boring tasks associated with a holiday. So, you can consider outsourcing such things to travel agents. In the event of a rescheduling or cancellation it becomes way easier if an agent is handling these things.
Try not to carry work with you – When on a vacation carrying work with you is best avoided. Exactly like your work needs all you attention and interest, while on vacation, it is only fair towards your family and friends or whoever accompanies you, that you engage with them with your entire attention and mind space
Choose vacations strictly on a ‘want to’ basis and not on a ‘have to’ basis – We live only once and in which most active, youthful years are spent working. The time we have and can afford to spend on travel is minimal. In such a situation, doing things and going to a place just because that is the ‘in’ thing to do or someone else went there are very underwhelming, insufficient reasons. You must take a vacation or go to a place simply because you want to or your family wants to and not for any other reasons.
Letting go of the internet – Internet and connectivity should take a back seat and you should not miss out on great experiences by insistence on availability of connectivity. There are beautiful and remote places on earth with pristine beauty visiting which are once in a lifetime experiences. The lack of access to modern conveniences like mobile connectivity or wi-fi should not be the reason you miss out on unique experiences the world has to offer.
Start with a budget – Lastly, when you plan your personal finances for the year and fix budgets, travel expenses too should form a part of it. You cannot afford to ‘wing it’ when it comes to a vacation. Like you budget your daily household expenses, fuel, entertainment or any other expense, vacation budget also should be fixed at the beginning of your financial year. This gives a sense of comfort and wriggling space when it comes to planning your travel and it would not end up as a sudden expenditure making your budgets go haywire.
Planning personal finance is an important skill to develop. Your professional success, income and savings will all add up to naught if you are not careful about personal finance. The same works for everyone in your team irrespective of income levels. If you are looking for any help or advice in personal financial planning or mentoring for your team or for yourself do write to us at harish@harishrao.world to know how we can help you with it. We understand the difference the right mentoring and training can make to a person’s growth. We would love to work with you on this or any other coaching needs you may have!
