Whether you’re a solo explorer or seeking a romantic escape, whether your heart craves adventure or yearns for picturesque sights, we help you plan like a local backpacker for your next trip!
Allow us to inspire you and take you through our travel planning process.. because WE LOVE IT!! đ
Get inspired
How many of you love planning your next trip, at the end of a previous one?
WellâŠjoin the club! If you get excited about âwhere nextâ and want to plan your trip, then the first step is to get inspired. We find our inspiration in:
Instagram reels, Pinterest, Flipboard, Travel Blogs such as Jessieonajourney.com or adventureinyou, ASoulWindow.
We ask ourselves these questions?
- Am I in mood for a mountain vibe or a beach vibe?
- Do I want to get out of my comfort zone?
- Do I want to explore local places or go for a lazy vacation?
- Do I want to spend lavishly or do a budget trip?
- Do I want to expand my cultural horizons?
- Do I purely want to meet new people and make friends?
Answer these questions before planning your next adventure, and broadly identify where your compass points.Â
Get Familiar
Research and get familiar with your destination.
Time It Right
We prefer traveling during the âshoulder seasonsâ. Shoulder season is the period between a destinationâs peak season and off-season. Call me Goldilocks, but itâs just the perfect time to visit, when the crowd is neither too much nor too less, and the prices are neither too high nor too low.
Book Your Flights
To plan like a local backpacker, first create a broad route map and book your flights accordingly. A lot depends on what type of trip you want. If you are on a budget and are oblivious to peak season time, you can get cheap tickets for an off-season trip. If you want to be in the middle of happening on-season vibe, be prepared to shell out a little extra for tickets.
Strategize your Itinerary
We create a broad date plan when we plan our travel from point of entry to point of exit.
How can you do that? Itâs simple⊠Look at the number of days Vs destinations to visit. (For example 10 days in Bali and 5 destinations to visit.) Then, shortlist the locations where you would like to stay Vs. the ones you can visit on a day trip. This will give you an idea of which locations you can visit and for how many days each. You can try this strategy, while visiting a country or planning a longer trip as well.
Book It.. Lock It!
Once our broad plan is set, we look at internal travel and places to stay at each destination. We highly recommend you book places that have a refundable policy, if you are still unsure about a particular destination.
Here are some of our go-to sites for travel and stay:
Travel:
Expedia, make my trip, Goibibo, KLM, RedBus
Stay:
- Booking.com â excellent if you wish to compare stays and get authentic reviews. Their refundable policy makes it very flexible for travellers to make bookings.
- Hostelworld â Great place to meet new people and make friends. A curation of good hostels at your preferred destination.
- Homestay, Airbnb, VRBO â Places with home vibes, very comfortable if you want to make a stay your home.
- Reach out to boutique hotels via their social media handles. By contacting hotels directly, you may find excellent discounts during shoulder season!
Get Ready
Yay! Your flights and stay is booked! Up next comes the âWhat to doâ part. đ
Explore Get Your Guide
Key in your destination and check out some planned activities. With reliable reviews and detailed explanation, these activities are well worth it.
Try to google off-beat activities, unexplored places and amazing cafes while researching the destination.
Read up on the local commute of your destination. Find out the preferred method of internal travel. Commute the way locals do. This will save you a lot of money. Understand how reliable Public Transport is at your destination and be prepared before-hand.
Allocate Budgets
Take note of the bulk amount you want to spend. Check your spending capacity. Keep a fine balance between how much you want to spend vs how much you can.
Use Prepaid Cards
Try Forex travel, American Express. They are reliable and used in most countries. We highly recommend you speak to your bank and inform them when you plan your trip. There might be deals on your card which you could access. Keep your bank in loop to track any anomalies in your account, just for safe-keeping.
Pack your Bags
Travel light and keep what is necessary. Pack clothes keeping in mind the weather and the type of activities you plan to do.
For adventurous and sporty gear we usually check out Decathlon , Bombay Troopers.
So what are you waiting for! Plan like a local backpacker and get ready for your next adventure. You can always let us know, we would be happy to join!