11 Tips to Have a Better Vacation
Learn to make the most of your vacation so that you can enjoy your next trip abroad. Stop making travel blunders to have a great time on your holiday. Here's our list of top tips to have a better vacation.
If you have ever wondered what makes a good vacation, then the answer is not that easy to find. Every one of us has different preferences. And what someone finds exciting, another person might see as dull.
However, some general rules apply to all situations. Therefore, we rounded up a list of tips and advice for you to have a better vacation.
Traveling is, for many people, one of the best ways to spend their time off work. Unfortunately, not everything always goes according to plan, and your trip might turn quickly into a hot mess.
And dealing with problems when you travel is probably the last thing you want to do, especially when you worked so hard the entire year to get unforgettable memories from a foreign country.
If you are looking for traveling tips to make your trip more enjoyable, you've come to the right place. Depending on your travel style, try to include at least some of the advice mentioned below.
So without further ado, here are some helpful tips to have a better holiday.
CREATE THE TRAVEL ITINERARY TOGETHER
Before you set off, you need to plan your trip. Solo travelers might find this part a bit easier. You only need to please yourself. Therefore, you can be selfish and create a travel itinerary to your likings.
But what if you travel with your partner, friends, or relatives? It's essential to include all your travel companions in the planning part.
Otherwise, you can't expect that the rest of your travel group will share the same enthusiasm for the activities you planned.
Balancing the travel activities that will entertain all group members is the key to have a great vacation. Regardless of their age and abilities, make sure that everyone is involved in the planning part.
In fact, choosing the travel destination and planning the trip together will ensure that no one is going to feel left out. It also helps create a bond between all the participants as everyone will have some responsibility when making the itinerary.
Also, agree on the travel budget before the trip. Trust us. It will help you to get a good night's sleep, and you will enjoy the trip better.
Make sure to read our guide on how to save money for travel so you can spend a bit more next time you travel.
STOP LOOKING FOR FLAWS
If you get up every morning and look for faults, you will find them.
One of the best examples we can come up with is the good old Copacabana Beach. If you start looking for reviews and experiences, you will soon find out that the opinions vary a lot.
While some people find Copacabana dangerous, dirty, and overcrowded, others say it's the best city beach in the world.
Once walking along the beach, you might start looking for the bad things. Did you notice how many people are there? It's like going to the mall. What about the guy standing over there? Is he going to rob us? There is some plastic in the sand. I bet there will definitely be more of it.
While we are not suggesting dropping your guard or walking across the pile of trash, it's good to stop looking for flaws.
Sometimes, all it needs is to change your mindset.
HAVE A POSITIVE MINDSET
Traveling the world can be stressful, so having a positive mindset on vacation is essential in order to enjoy it.
Good vacations are not necessarily relaxing ones, but the ones where you feel relaxed. Regardless of whether you hike the Annapurna Circuit or laze around on the beaches of Florianopolis, it's essential to feel good on your holiday.
Not surprisingly, a positive mindset can be the critical ingredient that can make or break the trip. Moreover, being positive and open to new situations allows you to see the world from a new perspective.
And as you will see different cultures, habits and experience new things, staying positive will help maintain your inner sanity, especially if you travel long term. And not only that.
Making new connections is way easier when you are nice, open-minded, and polite. All these attributes will allow you to find new friends on the road more easily, and also the locals will interact with you in a more friendly way.
Simply put, not everything will go the way you expect, and a positive attitude helps to deal with all obstacles the journey puts in your way.
And by the way, if something goes wrong while you travel, make sure you have proper travel insurance.
In fact, we never leave home without travel insurance that was designed to cover our expenses if something goes wrong during the trip.
Travel insurance protects against theft, flight delays, injury, illness, cancellations, and much more.
World Nomads provides travel insurance for travelers to cover their trip essentials, including sports and adventure activities.
SafetyWing is affordable travel insurance for backpackers, long-term travelers, and digital nomads.
Travel smarter and safer!
LOWER YOUR EXPECTATIONS
Every time you want to visit a new place, then you should lower your expectations. The most famous destinations in the world are often pictured as the ones that offer the best travel experiences.
At the same time, everyone wants to see the sunset from the Empire State Building or walk through the ancient city of Petra.
However, the upper deck of New York's iconic building is often packed with tourists, and the former kingdom of Nabataeans gets really hot in the summer. If you don't know what to expect, you might get a different experience than you hoped back home.
It's easy to lower travel expectations to avoid disappointment, but it doesn't mean that you shouldn't be excited about the places you want to visit.
LEARN TO USE THE SOCIAL MEDIA
Social media often create a picture that is very distant from reality. And once you start planning your trip while using only social media, you can begin to see this illusionary world that can hype your expectations beyond any realistic limits.
If you ever see a soothing photo of a beautiful girl posing in a flying dress alone in a place such as Rainbow Mountain, then you might get the feeling that you won't find a more amazing place in the world. And while the scenery and the girl are absolutely breathtaking, so is the elevation.
At 5000 meters above sea level, the chances are that even basic things such as breathing or hiking will be difficult for you. Not to mention that if you haven't acclimated your body properly in Cusco, you will also have a pretty annoying headache.
Moreover, the place is so famous that hundreds of travelers visit the area every day so you won't be there alone.
Lastly, hiking at such a high altitude in the Peruvian Andes requires proper gear (sturdy boots, rain jacket, comfortable backpack, etc.), and if you think that you can get to the viewpoint in a simple dress, then you're putting your life at risk that's simply not worth.
This is the 'boring' reality. The image on social media you've seen is just a nice photo.
So learning about Rainbow Mountain from social media is perfectly fine. Just make sure you know to filter the image the social media can create about places you are about to visit.
YOU CAN'T SEE IT ALL
There are so many places to visit in the world that one human life is not enough. Try to ditch the idea to see it all. Its' simply not possible.
Creating a good travel itinerary requires experience and practice. And we all know that practice makes perfect. But even the best of the best travel itineraries won't be able to cover every single must-visit place in a given destination.
For instance, most travelers going to New Zealand have only two weeks to travel around both islands. And while you can create sensible travel itineraries for South Island and North Island, you will barely scratch the surface when traveling for such a short time.
So, you might get the idea that a 4-week New Zealand itinerary trip will do the job. Not by any chance. A few years ago, we spent almost a year and a half in New Zealand on a working holiday visa.
We spent months and months traveling around this incredible country that we've seen even more places than most locals do. But did we see it all? No. And the idea of so many places still unexplored by us is still at the back of our head ever since we left.
Funnily enough, New Zealand is only occupying 75th place on the list of the largest countries in the world.
Now imagine how much time you would need to explore Canada, the U.S., Australia, or Brazil. We've visited all these countries (some of them more than once) and still can't wait to go back to explore other parts we couldn't fit in our itinerary.
Accepting the reality that you won't be able to see all the places on your bucket list will ease your mind.
And hey, it's never a bad idea to come back and visit those places you missed or didn't have time for on your previous trip.
AVOID OVERPACKING
Lugging a heavy backpack on your trip is not a pleasant experience. Always think about what you really need and what you can leave behind.
Whenever you go on a shorter trip, then you should be able to pack everything in your carry-on bag. Especially short city breaks won't require much clothing and other gear. If you are often staying in hostels, make sure to check our hostel packing list.
Simply put, having carry-on luggage on your trip will allow you to focus on the essential things you really need.
Sure, the length and purpose of the trip have a huge impact on your final packing list, but the idea remains the same.
The hardest decisions are often connected with the trips that include all types of activities.
In Colombia, we knew we wanted to enjoy the sunny beaches of Tayrona National Park and climb the volcano in Los Nevados National Park. The fact that we wanted to spend two months in the country just fueled up our packing anxiety.
Fortunately, you can rent most of the things at the destination, which can help you to reduce your backpack weight significantly.
Overpacking is one of the biggest travel mistakes every person makes, as we all are scared that what if we need this extra t-shirt or not.
The next time you come back from a trip, open your checked bag and pile up things you didn't use. Be honest with yourself. If you packed five shirts but used only two, then it might be a good time to reconsider your packing habits.
So the next time you travel and feel like you are overpacking, take a deep breath and bring only a half of those things you wanted to take with you.
BRING A PROPER GEAR
The opposite of overpacking is underpacking, and it can cause even more annoyances.
Imagine being on a New Zealand road trip with no hiking intentions until you meet a nice couple in a hostel who just returned from the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.
They only have words of praise for the hike, and the images they show you will convince you to change your plans and walk it as well. But you didn't pack up a rain jacket or hiking boots, as hiking was not your intention.
You brush off any packing recommendations and weather warnings and think that the good old jeans and runners will be enough for hiking in the alpine environment. And this is where things can go south.
Interestingly enough, this is not a totally made-up story.
A few years back, the local authorities even created a rule that the day-trippers without proper gear shouldn't be allowed on the bus that takes you there and back. They had enough of the irresponsible visitors that often needed help.
Balancing out the packing part is not easy. But the more trips you undertake, the more confident you will be.
LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES
It's funny how you can also use many of these travel tips in your daily life. We all make blunders when traveling.
So there isn't probably better travel advice than to learn from your mistakes.
You could forget to bring a headlamp for your Canadian Rockies camping trip, reserve accommodation in Banff for the wrong dates (without realizing it at home), or didn't break in your shoes before hiking the Routeburn Track.
These things happen, but make sure you won't repeat these mishaps in the future. Stay humble, cast your pride aside, and be glad you don't have to undertake the experience one more time.
Learning from your own travel mistakes allows you to have a better vacation the next time you go abroad.
EMBRACE THE EXPERIENCE
Regardless of whether it's good or bad, it's an experience. And traveling is all about new experiences.
After many years of traveling, we had so many stories to tell that we eventually started a travel blog. No, you don't need to start your blog, but the concept is that you will have a gazillion of new experiences every time you travel abroad.
Every day on your trip brings something new.
You'll be facing new situations that you won't be familiar with from your home. You also meet dozens of new people on your trip, from your roommates in the hostel to the clerk at the bus station, so you will make many human connections. And not everyone will be pleasant.
Every step you take on your journey pushes you towards new directions you had no idea that existed.
We never forget when we stayed with a guy we met at Baku's bus terminal because we didn't have any plans or when we had to change the flat tire on Westfjords while the road was battered with strong winds. Or when we were robbed in Bogota.
Every experience is different; make sure to expect the best but be prepared for the worst.
And while you might get the impression that social media presents that every second abroad is fun, it's not simple as that.
Traveling is often tiring, quite challenging, and sometimes even boring. But that's the reason we travel. It gets you out of your comfort zone, which often makes your life stagnant.
And quite frankly, some of our best experiences came up when something didn't go according to a plan.
LEARN TO LAUGH AT YOURSELF
One of the best ways to embrace the travel experience is with humor. Being able to laugh at yourself or the situation you end up in will make everything easier and allow you to deal even with unpleasant circumstances.
A bit of humor and a positive attitude can help you overcome even on hardest situations on the road.
Did you miss your ferry because you misread the timetable? Well, that's bad, but tomorrow is another day. You can get angry, or you can laugh about it and move on.
And while it wasn't on your itinerary, maybe you can explore the port town a bit more. You might have a chance to see the town that's often skipped by other travelers more closely. And without other tourists around, you might find some unique experiences.
And as they say. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Travel Resources
Here you can find links to all the travel resources we use and which you might find helpful when planning your next holiday.
Accommodation: When looking for accommodation, we usually search hotels via Booking.com or Hostelworld.
Tours: Although we love to travel independently, some places are better to visit with a guided tour.
We prefer GetYourGuide for its easy-to-use interface and solid reputation. Another great alternative is Viator.
Rental Cars: When going on a road trip, we always use Rentalcars.com, a reliable site for booking a rental car in advance.
Flight Tickets: When looking for flight tickets, you can search Skyscanner to find the best price.
Travel Insurance: World Nomads and SafetyWing cover against risks of travel.
