Here is the second and final part of our article concerning the preparation of a trip.
MAKE A WHOLE BUDGET
Thanks to the elements we talked about in our last article, we make a budget which takes everything into account: plane/train tickets, accommodation, food, visits, transportation on site, souvenirs and unexpected expenses. This stage allows you to make sure you have all the money necessary for the trip and can determine the part of money you will take cash and the one in your credit card. Make sure you have a margin in order to be more relaxed on site. Don’t forget to think of a plan B if needed (if you lose your suitcase, a big unexpected spending, if your papers are stolen…). Once we are on site, we always try to respect the budget at best, even if we can allow ourselves some pleasures and liberties. There are anyway some expenses we can’t take into account: exchanges and withdrawal fees, some taxes and some unexpected needs of transports (especially from the airport to the city which is more expensive than the rest).
MAKE A DETAILLED SCHEDULE
Having a very precise idea of your trip allows you to make a planning day after day, with all of the activities you want to do. To do so, we use the application Google Maps in order to know the distance between each place. It is important to know how much time you need to go from one place to another. Then, we organize the places in order to get the most efficient itinerary as possible to make it profitable. This step takes time but you will gain much more time once you’ll be on site: you will directly have an idea of the places that are close to each other and that you will visit on the same day. Do not be afraid, you will not be prisoners of your itinerary: of course we always discover other places and things to do once we have arrived: we adjust the planning and we let a bit of unexpected and surprise even though we made plans before.
But not only distance counts when you do your planning: make sure you check the opening hours of the monuments, the days they are free…: you can spare a lot of money by paying attention to this.
We also try to organize our days according to the kind of activity and tiredness in the course of the trip: we try to divide the activities over the week so that we do not spend a whole day in museums or a day with only open-air activities (visiting two huge museums is very tiring, even if sometimes we do not have the choice if the two are located in the same place). For example, during our stay in Poland, we chose to go to Auschwitz-Birkenau the day before leaving, because we knew the psychological shock would be hard and because we wanted to spend the very last day in Warsaw.
Do not forget to take into consideration the check-in and check-out hours of your accommodation. If you are lucky, you will probably have the opportunity to let your luggage in a specific room. In any case, for the last day, we recommend you to stay near the airport or near a transportation mean that brings you there. We also advise you to know about the time you need to arrive in advance, especially for long distance travels.
Finally, be careful, don’t overestimate your capacities: it is useless wanting to do too much or accumulating a lot of activities in one day. One need to remember that an unexpected thing may happen very easily and we always count a margin of time in each day we plan. Above all, spend in each place the time it deserves and don’t forget that travelling is enjoying and not ending exhausted of your day to fully enjoy the next one.
BOOK !
Then, you just need to book! And while waiting for the departure, don’t forget that a lot of things are still to be done: for example, you can check if you need an adaptor, if there are specific behaviors to have in some countries, check your bank conditions about the withdrawals in a foreign country and the use of credit cards, get info about the system of memory card/internet, make sure you have photocopies of your official ID papers and scans of them on your phone if you lose them. Our advice: let some people close to you know about your trip so that they can help you if needed. For instance, if your papers or your phone are stolen, someone will be able to send photocopies to the embassy and it will be very helpful.
Have a nice trip!!!
Official websites:
The french website for everything concerning your trips: https://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/fr/conseils-aux-voyageurs/conseils-par-pays-destination/
2 Steps Abroad 