How to Plan a Perfect Trip for perfect Experience and Saving Money...

"Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts"

There is always the first signal in life which most of us fail to notice and may be later we realise that was the initial confirmation what we love and what we wanna do in life in later stages

It was around the 10^th standard way back in 1999 where I used to score 90 above in History and Geography but maths was a distant memory to me. I really loved Geography classes and without much struggle did well in it and also collected things like stamps,  atlas etc.. Well that was the first sign and signal I might love to Travel and enjoy nature as well in my future life so give keen attention to your kids around 12-16 what they are focussed on and what they are doing great.

 

Well here I am in 2021, completing 38+ countries, 25+ Indian states and also contributing little bit to the mother nature planting 5000+ trees, removing 1800 kgs of plastics from biologically important junctions, Bird watching and nature education for kids and also participating in many snare comb removing, fire fighting activities of Karnataka Forest Department…I also a volunteer of Save Animals India animals shelter and have rescued 1000+ animals and help them to run the shelter.

 

To have a little intro about me, I have done my Engineering and also have done my masters in User Experience and Digital Design from Melbourne, Australia. My dream is to dedicate myself in winning the war over banning plastics and also to plant as much as trees as possible. I like to conserve water for the poor farmers and also to connect farmers with direct consumers. I am also an animal welfare activist and have saved and recovered many animals in danger. Thanks for listening to my story and on the lighter note I love to explore all the delicacies around the world and also a big foodie...

 

In this small article I like to explain my thought process of How I plan my travels and how I keep travelling almost every month…

 

 

 

 

Travel Genre’s

 

Well I am a varied genre traveller which means I don’t stick to one kind of travelling and give importance to the below ones

 

·     Grasslands and Waterfalls ( Basically Treks and Hikes in Hill stations)

·     Art and Architecture places ( Ancient Temples, monuments, step wells etc)

·     Beaches and Islands

·     Wildlife and Safari’s

·     Food Trips

·     International Trips

·     Forts around Bangalore

 

 

 

Seasons -The Most important aspect in Travelling

 

The most important aspect of Travelling is to choose when to go where and at what seasons.. The simple trick is to plan the places according to the months of the year. Usually my travel plans are scheduled below..

 

• Grasslands and Waterfalls – June to November ( Monsoon months for greenery and water in the waterfalls)

 

• Architecture places – November – December – January – February  ( The Winter and Autumn months where the Sky is blue for good Photography)

 

• Beaches and Islands – December – January – February – March – April ( The spring and Summer months for blue beaches and clear skies)

 

• Wildlife and Safari – Feb to May ( The drier summer months where its easier to spot wild animals)

 

• Food Trips – Throughout the year

 

• International trips – Mostly from Jan to June as June to Dec is mostly monsoon and year end for higher costs..

 

• Forts around Bangalore – Throughout the year…

 

 

 

 

The Idea of the above plan is to make sure we don’t end up in right place at the wrong time, for example Maldives from Jan to April looks a paradise and turns a hurricane country from June to November in monsoon and we end up staying indoors paying such a hefty price for the tour..

 

Planning the right itinerary

 

Once the right place in right season is selected start doing a itinerary of the places to visit, I usually check trip advisor to look in for places around the main location and also I read lot of offbeat blogs to know if that place is real worth to be visited. My usual way of travel is that when I select the right destination 70% I travel and see the recommended and must visit places and 30% I choose offbeat places. I also try to reach if any  of my friends are from that place as locals always give the right idea about the places we should visit. see and eat. Also make sure to plan a trip well ahead of 6 months so that flights can be cheaper and getting leaves from office wont be an issue. I have always have the year end trip calendar ready with me by January end of that year.

 

Once I select the places I get in to google map to check the distances and see how many days it takes to complete the full round and based on that I decide the number of days needed. Also the total trip from day 1 to day last is saved as google maps and saved.

 

For example my Bhutan trip had 5 days plan as I took one day each for Traveling up and down to Bhutan from Silguri and one day each in Thimpu, Paro and Punaka.. Always don’t spend extra days to see similar things, what I meant is that Bhutan being a buddist country there might be 100s of Monasteries but just choose the main and not to be missed ones.. I have seen people making a 8 day plan to Bhutan, cover 20+ Monasteries and come back and say it was boring so try to keep the trip multi variety and mixed ones... One more example is on my Philippines trip of 6 days I chose extremely varied activities for each day such as Islands, Beaches, Canyoneering, Trekking, Wildlife Visits, Old churches, Food markets, Swimming with Whale sharks etc. So plan for very much varied experiences to make the trips a memorable one.

 

 

Planning trips in a efficient cost

 

Well budget is a very main criteria to plan the trips very efficiently and cost effectively, for me the most important thing is to plan the trips myself and 9/10 I wont get in to touch with a travel agent unless or until I don’t get the opportunity to access certain places.  At the same time this rule doesn’t apply every time and every place as there are places where the travel agents are cheaper than actually we planning so its always better to check and compare what works out well before we plan a trip.

 

 

 

My Tips for a Trip plan after choosing the right season and Itinerary

 

·     Read lot of blogs about the particular place you are planning over traditional travel websites as they over hype the places and costs.

·     Check and see which airport offers the cheapest flight to the particular location, for example a flight from Bangalore to Philippines was costing me around 23000 INR but same was 17500 INR from Trichy ( this was in 2018).. So I took a bus from Bangalore to Trichy for 800 rs return and saved 17000 for 3 members in our family…

 

·     Flights to South east Asia is cheaper from Chennai than Bangalore, Flights to African continent is cheaper from Mumbai, flights to Europe is Cheaper from Bangalore and Delhi, so plan your trips accordingly. Same way the flights from Sweden/Norway to Iceland was much cheaper than from France or Germany so spend little time to see which country/airport offers the cheapest flight for your destination.

 

·     See if we can hire the vehicle and plan the itinerary as its more cheaper than getting a  travel agent to do this.

 

·     If the Travel agent is little higher priced but gives better facilities then opt for that.

 

·     If its an international long duration trip get ready to eat packages etc as they will cut down the tour cost by easily 30%. Just try the must eat items and rest manage with ready to eat and if you get kitchen facilities you can take rice, dal and make some nice food. For our 20 days Europe trip 2 meals a day we cooked and packed and saved easily 60000 INR per person but we did eat one meal outside to check the culinary delicacies..

  

·     Travel in groups, There are certain places which is way cheaper if you travel in a group then travelling alone or a couple.. When we planned our trip to Philippines the quote for 2 people came up to 85000 INR per head but changed to 50000 INR with 10 people group so when you plan to new countries its always safe to go in a group and save costs.. I understand the pain of handling a group but if you want to save money this is one option. Same way being 8 people for our Europe tour we hired a minivan and did a full Europe trip for 1.5 Lakhs a person for 20 days 16 countries visit the same costed 4 lakhs for a friend who did with a travel partner…

 

·     Finally save money for your travelling – I usually invest money in a mutual fund /FD/ Insurance etc every year so that after every 5 years I get a descent amout for Travel. I started saving 2000 INR per month from 2012 and right from 2017 I get minimum of 1.5 Lakhs a year from maturity amount which I plan for big trips..

 

 

·     Travelling is the biggest passion of my life and I never enjoy anything other than travel so I don’t mind spending 25% of my income to travel as life is to enjoy and follow the dreams. Start travelling as time ,situation and age can catch up with us anytime..

 

 

Precautions during the Trip

• For International trips always share and keep the money in different places and with different people, I always keep some cash with me, some with my wife and cards kept in 2 bags.
• For local drives make sure you always keep Tyre Inflator device with you for emergency tyre issues like leak and puncture
• Always buy a local sim if its a international trip and incase of any issues always contact the Indian embassy/consulate in the respective country
• Always drink mineral water bottles if you are someone who easily catches flu with water of other places
• Always contact friends/family at end of each day to make sure they don't panic
• Always start a trip with a prayer and if your car has a god idol keep a flower while starting
• Check for fuel and tyre air pressure before starting
• Check for nearby hospitals around the visiting place
• Always keep a first aid kit handy
• Most snake bites are dry bites so don't panic for the same and go to the nearest hospital

More than Anything its the passion and energy that drives us. There are many small places around us to visit which will basically take no time or money to visit them so give a try of changing the lifestyle to visit smaller places near to us to enjoy the beauty of Nature. Thanks a lot for patiently reading this blog…Life is a an onetime investment so follow your dreams and passion and always live and love to cherish Nature and its beautiful Miracles..If you have any doubts do ping me at 8971909806

 

Keep in touch and let's make this world a beautiful place for the future generations, #Vannakam, #Jaihind #Namaskhara