Planning
When I started this blogging journey on my solo travelling stories ,I realized how much time it takes to complete a trip . It takes creativity ,research and to understand clearly my readership. There is a lot of enjoyment & satisfaction completing my travel plans.
I like it so much that I may actually organize tours so you can join me but this will be later , much later on . Would you like that? Would you join me ?
Many have asked me, how do you choose your destination ? Well that is a good question and I actually put lots of thoughts on my next destination. The first thing I look is safety of the country. If I decide to travel solo, safety is the most important factor for me.
I try not to listen to people who just believe what the news portrays because most of the time it is very negative, not real and lots of propaganda behind it. So I avoid that.
I do my own research with reputable travel publications like Lonely Planet, National Geographic , Passion Passport , Afar or Travel & Leisure. The writers are world travellers with real experiences who have been to a particular country. Their stories are real , based on facts and personal experiences. They are my main source of information.
Next , I like to know what my favourite travel bloggers think of a particular country. Once again, they are world travellers who have real experiences. It is not fabricated as fearful or dangerous as the media manipulates their viewers to believe.
Continent
I am only on my 4th continent and my I plan to do them all, hopefully ! So the next motivating factor when choosing a destination is ” have I been to this continent yet ? ” If no is the answer then there is the motivation and curiosity to explore it. Again safety plays a big part if my travelling plan is solo , if not I opt for a group tour & that is ok.
It may take my lifetime to travel to them all , but I like to dream big and go after my dreams! And you should too !
Resources
So once I get to choose where I want to go the research starts. I look for how I can immerse myself fully in a culture, what I do to show my readership this culture, the natural beauty of the country, the food and its people are things I look at when travelling.I seek what my readership wants to know. This helps me create story telling.
Once I get an idea where I want to visit as a solo traveler , I research their culture, places to stay, best areas of the city, best restaurants or shops to visit and of course the main “touristy” thing to do. But my favourite is living like a local, connecting to the people and learn how they live. Like when I stayed in a Buddhist temple in Koyasan .
I also check other cities in the country that has a particular interest. Once I get this all going I plan my itinerary.
Last and not least the websites I use are Travelocity, sometimes Expedia or Cheap flights. I never use a US company because of exchange rates. This is where I play around the dates. There are days during the week that are cheaper to fly like Wednesday. Friday and Saturday are the most expensive. Wednesday is the best day to check on line.
I look for deals and start searching at least 1-2 months before I leave. sometimes more. I see if the prices decreases and usually it does. Make sure you always clear your cache and cookies . Once I see a good price, boom ! I book ! The best feeling ever lol.
Should I stay or Should I go Now?
We are all living in a very unfortunate time right now. It’s very sad . Lots of people are cancelling their travel plans, travel bloggers are putting their plans on hold, people are postponing their work etc. I myself have decided not to travel . I am not sure when all this clears up but it is better to be safe than sorry.
So lots of my projects are put on hold and hopefully I will have the possibility to go back. As much as I enjoy sharing my stories with you, there will probably be a “dry season” up until everything irons out.
Be safe everyone and for those who have instagram feel free to follow me ,
jet_setters_suitcase and I follow you back 🙂
