Samstag, 21. Februar 2015

FAQ Series #2: How do you travel that much?

After explaining the reason of my disease - travelling - I wanted to jump directly to the second most asked question that comes up very often when I talk to People: HOW do you travel that much?

As you might can imagine as a frequent Reader of this blog (thank you so much, by the  way!), I don't sit around at home and wait for my summer Holidays to come, like tons of People do. Yeah, I'm guilty, I travel around a lot, and sometimes People think that Money suddently Pops out from the wrinkles of my Couch or something. Not.
My very chaotic being is most of the time very well organized when it Comes to plan the upcoming trips of the year.

Photo shot while climbing Diamond Head in the morning.
Hawaii 2015


I thought that this post may could encourage you guys to travel more often, or, for those who want to figure out how to do it, i put together a few simple tips in this post. Here you go:

1. You have more Holidays than you think

I know, I know, doesen't matter where you work at, you'll never have enough vacation days. So do I. That's why I plan my trips also depending on how the festivities like Easter, Christmas and several national Holidays (this depends on your Country) fall. If they are on a Friday or a Monday, I have my win Situation already and I figure out what to do with this Extended Weekends.

2. Earlybirds never loose

A lot of my friends laugh about the fact sometimes, that I book a lot of my trips months in advance. Well, there is only one reason: I save a lot of Money. If I book certain flights 6 months or more before departure date, I'll might be going to pay way less than doing it a couple of weeks before. Let's take a Destination like Ibiza for example: if you're planning to go for the Grand Club openings, then you probably know on which Weekend this is going to happen. And you're probably not going to be the only one willing to do some booty shaking on the Dancefloors there, which means, you should book as soon as you can. I live one flight hour away from this beautiful, little mediterranean Island, and the Prices can reach 600$ easily, if you book last Minute. My plane tickets for the european destinations around me rarely are over 200$ for a round trip, and now you know why.

I have to add something else on this: another Thing that makes me save is the fact that I don't really care which carrier is going to bring me to my Destination. I can tell with no regrets here that I had good experiences with Budget Airlines (Easyjet, Vueling) AND the regular ones (Swiss, Qatar). Think about it: is it really necessary to play picky for a 1 or 2 hour trip? You got the answer. ;)

3. A Hotel isn't always the right choice

I'm not telling you to throw yourself in a 30 bed hostel dorm here, especially if you're maybe a Little over 25 and you're looking for some peace. There are plenty of Hotel deals online. Hotels.com is one of my favourite sites, since you can collect rewards and get every 11. booked night for free. If you travel as often as I do, it's an Advantage to book there.
When I'm travelling for a longer period like I am right now, I try to find a good Balance. Hostels are totally fine for me but I couldn't do it for 4 months in a row. My perfect combination for housing was booking a bunch of hostels, Resorts and local Apartments (most of the time on Airbnb), depending on how expensive my Destination was. I Chose to stay in some Resorts in Fiji, local Apartments in the US and part of Australia, and a hostel in between here and there.

4. Do you really want those Louboutins?

I rarely do Shopping when I am back home. It's limited to one piece a month, maybe socks? Just kidding... I'm Feeling quite ironic tonight. Back to the Topic: I don't go Shopping in my hometown unless it's for Food. Simple answer why: because I do that while I travel. I discovered so many good local brands while on the road, stuff that People back home don't even know the existence about, that's so great! So, before your best friend takes you out for a Shopping tour in town, because you'll might have to check out the latest issue of a Louis Vuitton bag, or Loubutins heels, think about it: you could come home from a citytrip with  Little treasures that nobody back home has. And, despite the Shopping abroad, you just saved Money for another intercontinental flight. :)

PS: this guide is for average People, so if you're rich then Keep on buying your Louis Vuittons.

5. Always go off sesason

Depending on where you wanna go, you'll have a high season in some period of the year. If you don't have any Kids that only have the longest break during summer, then DON'T. Don't do it.
The worst Thing I could do, seen from my Country's official holidays point of view, is to book my trips in July or August. That's high season here, where you basically don't recognize you own Airport anymore, so no, thanks, I'd rather stay home. I don't even mind because I know that there is loads of good stuff going on in Switzerland, like Festivals and warm weather (mostly), so I don't really Need to chase the sun then.
You'll find the best deals off season, which doesen't mean it's bad. I had a lot of alarms ringing when People knew I was going to Fiji in February: everyone was telling me about the bad rainy season. I was there 10 days, and I saw rain for 30 minutes. The rest of the time was sunny with an average temperature of 35 degrees Celsius, and the only thing I was looking for was a palm's shade. So if you want to experience Fiji in February, I can guarantee that the storms are mostly over. Just go for it! ;)

Top of Diamond Head, Hawaii


I hope I could answer one more questions with this :) If you have some more, or you might feel I forgot any important Topic, or just wanna leave your Feedback, then post your comment below or send me an E-Mail.


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