It’s that time of the year when you’re busy planning your annual foreign vacation. You’re asking friends for recommendations, looking for the best deals on tickets, getting your budget in place and shortlisting the dates that best suit you. It’s not every day that you plan an international holiday, so we get it that you want to ensure that nothing spoils your plan. So here’s a handy checklist that will help you plan well for your vacation abroad.
# Put on your researcher hat: No matter which place you plan to visit or who has recommended it to you, it always makes sense to do a little research yourself. What things to do, which places to visit, what items to carry and especially about the kind of food you get there! This will make sure that you don’t get any shocks when you actually reach the place. Researching beforehand will help you to plan your trip based on what you like and what you absolutely hate.
# Activate international roaming: Vacations mean visiting lots of places and making memories, not looking for free Wi-Fi at hotels and cafes. So make sure to activate international roaming on your phone. Consider a network like Airtel which provides international roaming packs that cover 175 countries, more than any other network in India. While some countries offer local SIM cards for cheap, be wary of sharing your ID in an unknown country. Why run the risk when Airtel's international roaming packs are quite affordable and provide reliable connectivity while you're out and about.
# Search for a hotel close to all the action: Travelling to a new country gives a great chance of knowing a new culture altogether. You should always plan to maximise this experience and so plan your stay at a place which is closer to the city center that gives you the best outlook of the place you’re visiting. Better still, you can also plan to stay with a local for at least some part of your holiday. There are lots of sites and apps that will help you out with this. This is the best way to get to know local food scene, markets and nightlife.
#Budget your trip and get your forex in place: No matter the type of traveller you are, always budget your trip well in advance to ensure you don't end up overspending. Anticipate how much money you’ll need to speed for each day and for every activity. This will help you to know how much money you should carry. Another important aspect of planning an international trip is getting your foreign currency and travel card in place. Once you do this, you won’t face any hassles as you go about eating, shopping and having a good time.
#Carry your personal medical kit: You undoubtedly want to have the best time on your international vacation, then why let minor, niggling health issues come in the way? There are times the weather or food may cause allergies or infections that can potentially upset your whole trip. Avoid this by carrying your personal kit with essential medicines for common illnesses. This is way better than consuming some new medicine (and that too in a new place) you know nothing about.
This should get you started off really well in planning your international trip. Now go ahead and make all your bookings. Make that foreign holiday happen and give all your Instagram followers #travelgoals!
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