And I do think a lot of people can be intimidated by the cost, which is a given of course, but there are some ways you can get around paying out loads of your money to travel and see the world on a budget that suits you! Of course, travelling isn't for everyone and a lot of people do like their home comforts, but for people like myself who have been bitten by that travel bug, it's important to take any opportunity to simply just do it! Of course that's easier said than done, with work commitments, family commitments or just life generally can get in the way of doing something like travelling, so when the time does come when you can just get up and go - JUST DO IT!
As the saying goes, "you only live once" and it's so true, you've got to take any opportunity to do things you really want to and just the blissful thought of looking back in years to come and thinking "I'm so glad we did that". But anyway, enough of me getting all deep and emotional about life, haha! Just thought I'd simply start this blog post with my method of thinking when it comes to travelling especially. "Fuck it, let's go" and I am so happy I have that mentality because I have such amazing memories from places I have been to. So let's get into the post before I start getting all deep on life and that again!
Travelling, like I said it can be very expensive. But in most cases there are certain things you can do to tip-toe round those huge costs! So I have a few tips and tricks that I have picked up over time when I have booked my trips.
Look at booking everything separate!
Flights or any other form of travel!
When your booking a trip, whether its a short weekend away or a full on two week holiday, its always worth looking at the cost of each aspect of your holiday separately. This mainly being flights and hotels. Now, with flights you must SHOP AROUND, I call it a roulette with getting a great price for a flight as flight prices change every single day, so you may strike lucky! When I decided to go to visit my dad in Singapore last minute, I managed to bag a flight with British Airways for just £500, which is amazing for last minute and around Christmas time. But out of interest, I looked the next day and the same flight I had booked went up to £1200! So if you see a price for a flight which you think is amazing, BOOK IT! But if you think it could be better, shop around and wait around because you could have a bargain pop up! It's all about knowledge of flights too, knowing how much roughly it is for a flight to a particular place and knowing when you've got a good deal.
My top places to look for flights is Sky Scanner, Google flights and the individual airlines websites, as they sometimes have offers and last minute deals that aren't shown on sites such as Sky Scanner. Google flights is great, as it gives you a visual calendar with prices on, so you can see prices for particular dates dead easy! This I've mainly done for flights but it goes the same for boats, trains etc.
Hotels
It can be so much cheaper booking your accommodation separate, and my favourite apps to look on are of course Booking.com, Trivago, On The Beach.com and I could go on as there are so many, so again SHOP AROUND, and you could find a hidden gem hotel that you may not have seen through a travel agents. This is amazing too if your in a situation where you can travel around and see different places, and through booking separate your not restricting yourself to one place, unless that is what your wanting to do, just chill in one place. Whatever type of holiday your going on, the idea of booking separate can benefit anyone one way or the other.
Independant Travel Agents
Don't feel as though you have to book your trip through the larger travel agents such as Virgin or British Airways, of course unless you want to, as sometimes they do have great deals, but most of the time they can come up quite expensive.
I'm not sure as it many be different in various parts of the UK, but for me personally, I have found an independent travel agent from a brand called Althams, and she gets some amazing deals! Deals that beat what the big chain travel agents offer. And I can message her with where I want to go and my budget and nine times out of ten she gets it and she's had some amazing feedback. But with her not being chained to just one airline or hotel branch, she will get a deal best suited to you, and not one that would more suit the airline, if that makes sense!
Also, check out independent websites for amazing deals! For example, loveholidays is an amazing site with such good deals. I have literally just booked a Prague trip on their website, and for four nights, staying in a four star hotel with breakfast and including flights, it only came to £300! Amazing!! Icelolly.com is another amazing one, Lastminute.com is another favourite of mine. So it's definitely worth having a mooch on there to grab some amazing deals.
Voucher Sites
A lot of people forget that you can grab some amazing holiday and travel deals on voucher sites, such as Wowcher and Groupon! With these I think it is a roulette of finding what you want, as of course they'll just have the odd random one on, but also getting a good deal. As I am writing this post, Wowcher at the moment have this amazing offer, where you pay just £99 and you get a random long weekend away. So they simply call you up one day and tell you where and when your going. For me, I LOVE THAT! But I know that it can be quite a daunting thing if you need full control on travel plans! But still, an amazing way to see somewhere new or experience something you may not have thought of, for just £99! So always keep your eye on voucher sites for these sort of offers, or travel offers in general!
Save And Grab A Last Minute Bargain
Easier said than done I know, and I also know a lot of people already do this, but saving and booking a last minute deal is a great way to travel on a budget. For example, we went to Florida in June and we paid around £900 for just the basics for the trip, and we was out and about doing holiday shopping and we saw in the window of a different travel agent, near enough the same holiday as ours for just £450 per person, thats HALF THE PRICE. Of course your not always guaranteed a fab deal and it would be stressful only having like a few weeks to prep for your holidays but definitely worth it. Just pop a little bit each month in your savings and you'll thank yourself later when your on a beach sipping cocktails having paid next to nothing to be there! But I know the struggle of saving, I'm pants at it! Hahaha!
So, I hope this post has helped or you have learnt something new, I know that a lot of people may know about some of these but I have met people that didn't have a clue on some of the ways you could book trip. I also hope that its inspired you to go on that trip you've been thinking of or saving for that dream holiday, because travelling to new places for me makes me so happy and there are hundreds of places I want to go to!
So travel plans for me at the moment, well I have a cheeky short break in Prague booked for August, a cute weekend in Centre Parks in October and I have something in the works at the moment where I could be going over to Singapore for Christmas and New Year with a trip to the Philippines in between and maybe a sneaky weekend in Bali. So definitely be on the look out for more travel diaries!
Thankyou for having a nosy and a read of me post, and I hope to see you on the next one!
