I have also written a few guide articles. Today I will talk about how I prepare a guide before traveling, as well as tips on booking hotels/air tickets.
This article is for planners like me, and also for those travel enthusiasts who like to travel independently, but always feel a little confused about where to start.
Note that this does not apply to hand-holding parties and Buddhist travelers . It is purely a personal habit and is for reference only~
/Contents of this issue/
1. What will I consider before “just leaving”?
2. How do I generally make strategies?
3. Air tickets/hotels/local one-day tours/other TIPS
1. What will I consider before “just leaving”?
Regarding destination selection:
Usually I rely on whims and having many alternative places in my mind. As long as I have vacation, time (and money), I can go. Although due to various reasons, it has not yet broken out of Asia. But I already have a lot of places I want to visit. If you are confused about where to go, you can pay more attention to some travel articles or apps, which will recommend many niche travel destinations to spread your ideas~
Commonly used recommendations: Lonely planet / Mafengwo
About time arrangement:
I hope to avoid peak seasons (winter and summer vacations, statutory holidays, etc.). If I don’t have much annual leave and can only travel during short holidays, I feel that May Day, National Day, Spring Festival, July and August This is the highest peak, so try to avoid it.
Visa convenience:
If you have a stable job and income, it is generally not difficult to apply for a visa anywhere. The main consideration here is the time of signing, as this will affect how far in advance you have to start planning. Some visas may have a small probability of being rejected. For those who are not sure, it is recommended to get the visa first before booking a flight.
2. How do I do the strategy (steps)?
After deciding on the country to go to, I will first search for general information on the Internet and have a big framework in my mind.
I usually use the Mafengwo app/web version to read official guides and travel notes written by others. Summarize it, then add your own preferences and habits to make a preliminary itinerary.
For example, which cities/attractions will I go to, how many days will I stay, and where will I stay for how many nights?
After determining the approximate itinerary framework and the number of travel days, continue to optimize.
At this time, I will use the most simple, but also the most useful tool - excell No new small program or app can be as useful as excel. In addition to being convenient for deleting lines according to your own habits, it is also convenient for calculating expenses, saving it on your phone, or sharing it with others.
I usually list the following sections:
Just to give you an example, the main sections are date, main itinerary, accommodation, transportation, and expenses . Of course, I will make adjustments based on the actual situation every time I go to a different place. Sometimes I am more concerned about time arrangements (for example, when I book ferry tickets in advance) and I will mark the time. If I am more casual and lazy, I don’t need to write it down.
Like the version above, because Japan's transportation is very developed, the transportation time planned on Google Map is also very accurate, so there is no need to mark the time separately.
With the excel frame, it is very convenient to delete, modify, and remark other important information during optimization.
When optimizing the itinerary, I will refer to various travel notes. In addition to Mafengwo, I will also read local travel websites, Zhihu, Weibo, travel bloggers’ articles, etc. We combine everyone’s strengths and personal interests to refine our daily itinerary.
Finalized:
1. Where do you want to go every day? 2. Check the internal transportation. 3. Where to stay on the day.
4. Understand the tickets/vouchers/cards that need to be purchased in advance, as well as the location and method of collecting the tickets. 5. Determine whether to book a local one-day tour.
…
Sometimes when I see some useful websites, I will paste them directly into excel for easy viewing.
Now that the itinerary is almost optimized, let’s start arranging accommodation.
My personal habit is to plan the itinerary first, check the transportation time to and from different attractions and other information, determine where to stay every day, and then book accommodation. This makes it easier to save money, save time, improve experience, and more.
Basically, once the accommodation is confirmed, the pre-trip guide is almost done.
Pre-trip budget/expense summary
As mentioned earlier, excel can be used to record expenses very conveniently. I usually add a column expense to the itinerary excel sheet before going out. Write down some expenses that you already know, such as air tickets, hotels, internal transportation, booked attraction tickets, purchased phone cards and so on.
When traveling, I actually don’t keep track of every expense. That would be very troublesome and unnecessary. Just have fun playing! But when I come back and organize the guide (usually to send to others for reference), I will look at the bank cards and add up the amount of cash withdrawn and the amount of other card purchases . Finally, summarize the amount paid before the trip + the consumption during the trip .
3. Let’s talk about various TIPS
Flights/Accommodation
Many travel websites offer air and wine packages, which are sometimes more cost-effective than booking them separately, but sometimes can be a bit trickier , so it is recommended to simply calculate the prices on both sides, and sometimes just leave it at that. I lost 700 to 800 yuan immediately because I didn't care. It was still a bit painful.
For air tickets I will compare Ctrip , Fliggy, the airline’s official website, and the airline’s WeChat applet . If the prices are similar among these four platforms, it is recommended to book through official channels. The last time I booked a flight for Spring and Autumn, I found that the cheapest one was through their mini program.
For accommodation (overseas), I will mainly compare agoda and booking . Each one has its cheaper times, and each also has different preferential policies. It depends on the situation. Most of the time, agoda requires payment in advance, while most bookings can only make reservations and cancel for free (this is better). There are some non-refundable special rooms, which are particularly cost-effective, but the premise is that the itinerary is 99% confirmed and will not be changed.
Internal transportation reservation/purchase
Sometimes, transportation between different cities in a country requires the use of trains, boats, or even planes. Some of them also need to be booked in advance. When making a guide, you need to know how to buy them. If you need to book in advance, you need to make a reservation. Some are on the official website, and some can be ordered through Magnum.
After making a reservation, be sure to understand how to use it, the validity period, whether there are any special requirements and so on. Avoid being caught off guard by sudden bugs.
for example
When I booked ferry tickets between islands in the Philippines, I booked them in advance through e-mail.
1. Customer service will give you detailed instructions on how to use it, and will also tell you what kind of luggage requires additional luggage check fees (to avoid being cheated).
2. When I was doing the guide, I learned that if I go to buy a ferry ticket locally, the ticket window has fixed working hours and closes before 5pm. However, it was already evening when I arrived and I couldn’t buy a ticket for the next day. , so to be on the safe side it’s more reliable to book on an agent.
If you don't buy it in advance, you won't be able to buy the ferry ticket when you get there, and all the accommodation will be booked and you can't get a refund. That's really cool! ! Once again, the importance of making arrangements in advance! !
Ability to be flexible and adaptable
Although I am a planner, when traveling, there are always some things that go wrong, such as rain or flight delays. I visited the scenic spots faster than expected, so I didn’t know where to go. As the saying goes, plans can’t keep up with changes, but changes are under my control The specific situation must be analyzed in detail, but here are a few general ideas:
* If it rains, you might as well consider indoor attractions, such as various local exhibition halls, museums and art galleries. If that doesn't work, you can also search for cafes/food courts/bookstores with high ratings. You can go shopping in the mall, make reasonable use of google map.
* You have plenty of time but don’t know where to go: In addition to the indoor venues mentioned above, you can also search for local parks, streets, markets, and fly restaurants . These are not popular attractions and usually do not appear in the itinerary guide. However, if you have more time, these are the best places to experience the local customs and customs~
In fact, there are so many things that I want to share that I can’t finish one article.
Let’s just do this this time, everyone doesn’t like to see it if it’s too long…
Although some people always tell me "Are you tired of planning in such detail every time?" and "Is it necessary to make it so complicated? "
But when you are really traveling, it feels good to have everything under control, not to rush, not to worry about being cheated, or to be blinded.
Spending a little time in advance actually saves a lot of time when traveling.
After all... you are not a wealthy person, so you still have to consider cost-effectiveness and annual leave utilization.