Traveling is amazing, but let’s face it: it’s not always all fun and games. It can be super stressful or even scary, especially if you’re a new traveler. Planning and executing the perfect trip takes a lot of time and effort, and it can be hard to know where to start. To help make your life a little bit easier, here are my best travel tips, gathered through my personal trials and errors.
Booking your Trip
Perhaps the most difficult part of any trip is booking your transportation and accommodation. If you’re flying, I recommend Skyscanner. It compares flights from tons of different airlines, and it’s where I tend to find the cheapest flights. Plus, if you want, you can make your destination and dates flexible to truly see the cheapest options. StudentUniverse is also a great website to check out, since it offers tons of flights to students at discounted prices.
If you’re a bit more adventurous and a bit more broke, look into group trips through student tour companies. Here in Italy, I’ve been using bus2alps a lot! Choose your desired trip and they’ll bus you there, provide you with a top-rated hostel accommodation, and will probably even give you a free tour of the city, depending on your destination. Yes, the bus rides can be rough, but if I survived the 16-hour trek to Budapest, so can you.
Finally comes accommodation. If you’re on a student budget, a hostel is probably your best bet. Make sure to check out hostelworld.com and hostelbookers.com for some great options. The hostels are rated based on things like cleanliness, safety, atmosphere, and location. You can also specify if there are certain facilities you want included, such as internet access or free breakfast. Staying at a hostel can definitely be a little nerve-wracking at first, but you get used to them in no time! Airbnb is also an inexpensive option, especially if you’re traveling with a few people. Choices range from a single rooms to whole houses, and can be simple or extravagant based on what you want. The great thing about Airbnb is that you can get a feel for the host through their photo and description, as well as through other people’s reviews.
Pre-departure
Other than the typical packing, there are a few things you can do before your trip to make sure it goes more smoothly. If the place you’re going to doesn’t predominately use English, it might be a good idea to look up some common phrases in the new language that you’ll be surrounded by. Just knowing how to say some simple things like “hi” and “thank you” will make the locals warm up to you much more easily.
Remember that where you’re going may also (and usually will) use a different type of currency than you’re used to. Try to exchange some dollars for the new type of currency while you’re still at home, so you’ll have something to start with once you reach your destination. You can definitely take out money there as well, but it’s nice to have a little with you, just to be safe.
Internet can be temperamental and Wi-Fi hard to come by while abroad. To avoid getting lost, take advantage of Google Maps’ offline maps option. It allows you to download a map of any city, which you can then use without service. Although it won’t give you step-by-step directions to a specific point, it’s definitely good to have in case you end up lost. If you do have data when you’re there, but don’t want to use it for too long, try this: put in your destination, start the directions, and then turn on airplane mode. Your phone should still show your location and give you directions, but it won’t be eating up all your data.
Oh, and don’t forget a portable charger. Trust me, you’ll need it.
While You’re There
Now that you’ve reached your destination, it’s time to have some fun. First and foremost, make sure to try out the local cuisine. Sure, McDonalds may be the safe option, but it’s also the boring one. Open yourself up to the new culture you’re in by eating like the locals. Who knows, you could even discover your new favorite food!
Not sure which restaurants to try or which attractions to see? Ask locals for recommendations. Whether it’s someone who works at your hotel or hostel, a cab driver, or a tour guide, the locals will definitely know which places to go and which to avoid. Nobody knows a place like its inhabitants do, so you can be sure that the recommendations they’re giving you are the best out there.
Finally, make sure to go with the flow, and make the most of your trip. Don’t be afraid to try new things and keep an open mind. Yes, traveling can be exhausting and trying new things can be scary, but you don’t get this opportunity often. Don’t waste your time sleeping all day, or sticking to a strict itinerary when there’s other things you’d rather be doing. This is the time to be adventurous and go outside of your comfort zone. There’s nothing worse than coming back home with regrets.