How to Plan a trip Abroad

“One of our captured officers, my Lord.”

I can still remember this scene in Mel Gibson’s movie, The Patriot, where he freed some of the captured militia without sweat due to his clever ploy. It was brilliant and well-planned that it was quite a feat.

Traveling is also a battleground, at least to me. Its victory relies on scheming and proper use of weapon.

With our status of Noviceship in this field of traveling, how did we then manage to win our 4-countries-in-11-days tussle against a Php 20,000 budget and endless scams? No, we did not use guns and knives.

TRAVELOGUES
Our whole concept of traveling and border-crossing started with our blog-hopping and people-bugging. Was that too much –ing? Anyway, we got inspired by travel diaries of people who have been there and have done that. Special mention to flipnomad.com, soloflighted.com, pinaytraveljunkie.com, and thetravellingfeet.com. Your travelogues helped us a lot! ☺ We also utilized travel forums such as the Lonely Planet and TripAdvisor where opinions of experienced travelers really matter.

MAPS
We saved not only our limited time but also our small funds by using maps. Oh no, you need not to buy them. Maps by Google, from the airport, travel agencies, and those that you get free from restaurants and shops really come handy.

MICRO SAVINGS
If saving a bulk amount of money seems a difficult task for you, then try dropping few coins into your coin bank everyday. We bought our round-trip airline tickets, booked some of our lodge/inn accommodations, and even bought our wedding band by opening our coin bank thrice within a year. Imagine how much we were able to save!

FLIGHT PROMOS
Who says cheap flights are dangerous? Look at us, we are very much alive and happy and we did use the services of low cost airlines. For this trip, we booked flights through Cebu Pacific Air (Manila to Ho Chi Minh City, Kuala Lumpur to Manila) and AirAsia (Bangkok to Phuket, Phuket to Kuala Lumpur). Again, as I have mentioned in my previous posts, it is always best to book advanced of time. It doesn’t only give you an ample time to do research on the places you’ll visit, you’ll also save a lot of money. These promos usually come months ahead of your planned trip.

LOW COST HOTEL RESERVATIONS
They say going with the flow is definitely an experience not to miss; just like going to a location without any place to stay at, backpacker style. Oh yes, it’s great but for trip-abroad rookies like us, browsing the internet for the cheapest accommodation was time-saver. By this we meant, Agoda.com. All of our lodges were booked through this website and we never had a problem. Next time, maybe we’ll do the backpacker style.

Those that were mentioned may not work for others, but it did for us. So there, some of the basic tactics on how to win a travel blitzkrieg without losing blood, legs, arms, and what have you. It’s fun to be Benjamin Martin sometimes.