This article was written during the SARS-COVID-19 outbreak. Please follow all health guidelines, and refrain from all travel and gatherings until the pandemic has passed.
Choosing your travel destination is always the hardest part of any trip. Trust me, I know! Do you travel to another country, or do you stay in your local area? Do you focus on seeing the sights, or do you try the local cuisine and culture?
It seems like a lot, but with a little bit of careful consideration, you can make even the simplest journey into a lifelong memory!
Narrowing Your Search
The first thing to look when picking your destination is always to consider what you want from your trip. I mean, why go to a food festival if you want to see the sights? If you goal is to get away from people, then the prudent course is to choose a locations not filled with people, right?
This may seem obvious at first, but even the biggest tourist traps have their low times, so selecting when is just as important as selecting your particular what. Everybody wants to go during those ideal times. Hawaii in December, Vermont in July. So on and so forth. After all, nobody wants to visit Mumbai during the monsoon season.
Now, there are some exceptions to this. Some kinds of holidays, such as ski trips, fishing trips, and festivals are limited to specific seasons. Sakura viewing always takes place between late March and April. Mongolia’s Golden Eagle Festival always happens at the beginning of October. For these kinds of events, there is no off season. They either happen or they don’t.
It really is obvious, but if I don’t say it, somebody may come along and say “Hey! I didn’t know that!” The funny thing about common sense is that… well, it’s not all that common.
- Make a short list of things you would want to do and places you would want to visit. Give yourself options, just in case some of the options don’t work out.
- Consider the time of year you wouldn’t mind visiting. If you don’t mind a bit of less than ideal weather, then going in the off-season may be for you!
- Look around for secondary activities at your destination. Having backups to your plans means a trip isn’t wasted!
- WARNING! Always reasearch your options before you decide on your destination! Unexpected visa requirements, travel restrictions, and planned closures can make for an expensive end to your trip before it’s even started!
Budgeting
Budgeting is going to be your biggest determiner on where you go and what you do. Some things are just beyond our financial ability to do. Disney World may be a big old ball of family fun, but even the cheapest packages can be prohibitively expensive for many in the short term.
Conscientious budgeting can go a long way to getting your destination. I’m not saying “Go as cheap as humanly possible!” That would be silly, and could put a damper on the whole experience! Instead, plan your financial options well in advance.
Now, there are two main schools of thought on budgeting. The first method is to set aside the finances for your journey and plan from there. Subtract each expense from your overall budget. This method has the advantage of meaning you will not overspend on your budget. The disadvantage however is that your budget is relatively inflexible, so unexpected expenses and unplanned activities are not accounted for. Oh no!
The second method is to plan your journey first. Once you know exactly what you want to do, you can set aside the funds for the journey. The big advantage of this method is flexibility. You can plan your budget around your trip instead of the other way around, which gives you more wiggle room if something doesn’t go quite right. The downside, however, is that budgets can quickly balloon out of control. Not fun! Suddenly your weekend at the beach is costing your first born child!
I personally like to strike a balance between the two. After setting an initial budget, planning what I may want to do, I give myself a wiggly soft budget and a rock hard budget! This way, I have the finances set aside for the main trip, and if something comes along that really catches my eye, I have a bit of wiggle room without making myself destitute. The idea is pretty simple. If something comes up, you can dip into your soft budget to cover the extra costs, and the hard budget marks your absolute limit.
- Plan your required expenses to a T. Lodging, Food, Travel. These very rarely change during the course of your trip, and can be planned throughly in advance.
- Give yourself some overhead budget on the above expenses. Just because they don’t normally change doesn’t mean they don’t ever change.
- Set a soft budget for activities. Give yourself a bit of wiggle room, so that if you accidentally go over your main budget, it isn’t a big deal.
- Look for deals and be flexible. Flying out and back midweek is often cheaper than flying on busy weekends. Likewise, many attractions have group deals. The only missed deal is the one you didn’t look for!
Throwing the ‘Rules’ Out the Window!
At the end of the day, everything above is just a guideline. Sometimes, it’s fun just to throw some clothing in a bag, head out the door, and just go someplace!
I mean, half the fun is finding new places that you haven’t been!
Ultimately, find what works for you. It can be as easy as choosing a nearby location and going there. Or planning every detail well in advance. With everything, the best option is always to strike a balance. A bit of planning could be the difference between an absolute blast, and gutwrenching heartache! But overplanning can lead to disappointment! The more complex the plan, the more likely a single failure can undo everything!
At the end of the day, the purpose is to enjoy the experience! So go out, find something new, and have some fun!
Safety First!
One of the most important things you must ALWAYS consider when choosing your destination, is is it safe for you to travel there? Just because someplace is a popular destination for people, does not make it safe. This is especially true for minorities and LGBTQ+ people. While I wish this wasn’t the case, places like Dubai in the UAE, Egypt, Russia, Nigeria, and several others can be very dangerous to LGBTQ+ travelers, and racism is still prevelant in many parts of the world.
The worst part about this world sometimes is that people aren’t always welcoming, and no amount of desire to visit a place should take priority over your own safety.