5 September 2018

The Real Struggle Of Planning A Trip ft. Rookie Mistakes To Avoid

Step 0 (Legit AF). Select destination or throw a dart on the world map? I prefer SkyScanner! They also have an option to search for flights anywhere in the world during a specific month. It's a boon for indecisive people like me hehe!
Step 1. Look for cheap flights/train tickets. Again, Skyscanner ftw. (Duh! Stating the obvious, Pragya)
Step 2. Contemplate how broke you really are, think about going somewhere cheaper.
Step 3. Cry. (Very important)
 

Step 4. Browse for discounts, check up all the various possible combinations achievable within a limited budget for the initially planned destination - Mamma didn't raise a quitter.

Step 5. Realise that you need to create a budget, really now?


Step 6. Revise budget with the 'overshoot' expenses - for example, 3x what you'd initially planned to because you live on impulse purchases hehe!


Step 7. Look up the local Airbnbs, Couchsurfing hosts, hostels, hotels (I prefer Trivago for hotels) - all that jazz. I prefer more connected, centrally located accommodation when I travel within cities even though they might be sliiiightly more expensive because time is money (money is also money, wow) and I believe that it's better to shell out a little extra and save up on all the taxi, bus and train costs (AND the time you waste while you're stuck in traffic) by walking or taking a tuk tuk to whatever attracts you. Central location is often safer and you often find a bigger variety of places to eat out as well!
 
Step 8. Breathe in, breathe out.


Step 9. Check the weather, for your destination of course. I LOVE AccuWeather and swear by it.
Step 10. RUN to the store if you don't have appropriate clothes. 
Step 11. Run back because you got distracted and didn't buy the things that you were actually supposed to.

Before I start packing, I toss all the potential things I can take on my bed,
pile them up by occasion/season and do a quick recce. This way I know
what I have, what I don't and what I need to get.
Step 12 (very specific to me). Run and buy groceries because I'm vegetarian and emergency food is a legit scary thing. (I shall soon make a list of my favourite 'Emergency Food' soon!)
 
Step 13. Contemplate all these efforts being worth the hassle. The travel anxiety (if any) shall pass.
Step 14. Sit back and relax until the wait is over.


Now some of the n00b mistakes that you should avoid (Been there, done that, not proud...)


1. Sometimes these online booking companies call you BEFORE you make the payment for your tickets (I'm looking at you MakeMyTrip, I have started to dislike you.)

Most of the times, you don't get a discount on telephonic bookings. Long story short, I missed my additional discount since I booked my ticket over the phone. ALWAYS read the terms and conditions guys, ALWAYS read them.

2. Every small town and village ever will remain shut over New Year's Eve and the New Year. Avoid avoid avoid! We had nothing to do in Ziro, in soooo cold omg, we left for Itanagar and witnessed the most beautiful sunset of our lives - but that's a story for some other day.

A post shared by Pragya Shukla (@pragyashukla) on

3. Waaaay back in 2010, we had a one hour layover in Frankfurt Airport from Delhi to San Francisco. Our flight was 2 hours late and we somehow managed to sprint through the airport and make it to our flight by a few minutes - so horrific and embarrassing at the same time. Always have 2+ hours of layover time, to be on the safer side.

4. On that note, try not to have a layover of more than 3-4 hours. I almost missed my flight from Abu Dhabi to Delhi cuz we got distracted thinking that we had waaay too much time to treat ourselves at the airport. And a 6 hour (plus the delay) layover at Shanghai airport was maddening cuz my sister and I had absolutely nothing to do there. It was so so boring! ew


5. Always check up for your train timings at the station that you intend to board at. We were lucky enough to catch our train out of Itanagar because we turned up an hour before the scheduled departure - they changed the train timings to an hour earlier and the only notification about the change was on the fliers stuck on the walls at the Railway Station.

6. If you have a long time to wait, wait at the airport rather than the railway station. Check your tickets twice and don't be stupid, in general.

7. Understand what can and cannot be done in a day, don't try to cram too many things for a single day - chances are that you won't enjoy any of it because you're rushing through everything AND you might not be able to see everything either - it will be disappointing. Travel to unwind, there's no point in stressing it out. Sometimes, all you need to do is laze around in a park and soak up all that Vitamin D.


A post shared by Pragya Shukla (@pragyashukla) on

A post shared by Pragya Shukla (@pragyashukla) on

8. If your airlines has a frequent flier program, SIGN UP FOR IT! You'll be soooo bummed when you don't get that upgrade you'd have got if you had those points, seriously! It's even better when your flight is in an alliance with other flights. You can use your points for upgrades or spend them on goodies - there's nothing better than getting free stuff (when you're pinching every penny to travel)
And remember to have a great flight!



Fin.

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