Getting around in a foreign country can seem daunting. After every trip, we always get asked this one question, “what company did you travel with?” and the shocked look on that person’s face when we say, “we went on our own” answers the question of how comfortable people feel traveling without a guide. The answer: Not at all. Well, we are here to change that!Our first major trip out of the United States was to South America. We had never traveled that far from home or for that long (10 days) so it seemed obvious for us to do a guided tour. We met our amazing travel group and we would never change a thing about that trip but it was an eye opener to how little we needed the guide. Several times during our time in South America, we would decline the planned group activity to go off on our own. We knew we could see more unplanned things if we weren’t with a big group. It was after that trip that we decided to make our own Itineraries and go where we wanted. With the exception of Iceland (we went with the same tour company as we did for South America but it was limited guide access and we only paid for two group activities), we’ve done all of our trips on our own. Here’s how we do it. There are three key factors for planning our trips: flights, lodging, and transportation. Flights.Real talk, airfare can be the most expensive part of a trip. Sometimes, travel companies can get insane deals on airfare. There is a lot of comparing involved when we decide to go on our own. The first thing we do is look and see what those tour companies are charging for a trip abroad. If we can find a great airfare deal, we factor in lodging (usually estimate $150 a night) and if it’s significantly cheaper to do it on our own, we start the research process. The Research Component: This isn’t a key part if you plan to do a guided tour because most of the lodging and day excursions are already planned for you. If you go on your own, trip research becomes crucial for a successful vacation. A lot of times, we read through tour companies itineraries. We check out the day-by-day flow and see what we would do similarly. The things we are not interested in get replaced with things we’ve discovered from blogs, instagram, and travel books to fill in those holes. Once we have a good idea of what we want to see and do, we move on to lodging. We wrote a blog post awhile ago about the methods we use for researching. Check it out here. Lodging.There are two ways to do lodging, immediately after you book your flights or a bit later after you’ve done some research. Just based on how we’ve structured this list might indicate to you that we do the latter. We like to know what neighborhoods are contenders for our time and then we try and find a central apartment that is still close to transit. Price is always key! We usually book with Airbnb and the place has to be under $150 a night. Ideally we look for $100-120 but if options are limited, we’ll up it a bit to be in the area we want. Public Transit.This might seem odd to you unless you’re a logistics person. If you travel with a tour group, public transit isn’t something you have to consider. You’ll be in one of those big coach buses and the guide will get you where you need to be. Not the case if you’re traveling on your own! We usually do some serious digging on public transit and read what experts and other travelers have experienced. If the city doesn’t have great metro options, we rely heavily on Uber. Usually it’s one or the other. For instance, Tokyo has the largest metro system in the world so the need for Uber was incredibly small. However, when we were in Brisbane, their metro system lacked but they had Uber drivers available in 2 minutes no matter where we were. Knowing what to expect before we arrive definitely allows for a smoother transition into the city. Notes to Consider:We are not against using tour groups in certain situations. Usually, they can get great prices on lodging and discounted group rates for big tourist attractions. With that in mind, we look to see what their rates are and you know the old saying, if you can beat em, join em. We are also aware of tourists being in harm in certain parts of the world. We’ve read that larger groups, with local guides that can speak the language, are usually left alone. No part of the world is off our list so when the time comes to venture to areas of conflict, a tour group will probably be the way we go. Keys to Success:1. Flexible travel will be the cheapest. Be open to visit a place that might be 3rd or 4th on your list because your No.1 is just too expensive right now.
2. If flights are cheap, lodging will probably be reasonable as well. Supply and demand is evident when it comes to travel. 3. Researching is key to being comfortable and confident in a new place. 4. Don’t be intimidated by the language barrier. With apps like google translate, you can travel to another country and still get around. BUT be respectful. We’ve noticed just trying to speak common phrases goes a long way with locals! Until Next Time, C + D
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