There are a lot of things to consider when planning a vacation. If you’re traveling with a group of people that have wildly disparate ages and tastes, compromise tends to be a key factor in pleasing everyone. Of course, couples and solo travelers naturally have more freedom to follow their own whims. With those things in mind, here a few questions to consider when picking out a place to go on your next holiday.
Image Source: Harsha K R via Flickr and CC 2.0
1. How far will the predetermined budget allow us to travel and how long can we afford to be gone? Naturally, this is the main concern of anyone that has ever planned a trip. If your boss will only allow you an extra day tacked onto a holiday weekend, it’s obvious that taking a 12 hour flight one way is probably not the most productive or pleasant way to spend your time away from work. Instead, you might want to opt for a two hour drive to a nearby town so that you can spend more time at your destination and less in transit. By the same token, you don’t want to spend all your money on expensive plane tickets that mean you will have to scrimp unmercifully when you arrive at your destination. It is always in your best interest to consider all the ways to get the best possible experience out of the money and time that are available, even if that means choosing an alternative place to go on vacation.
Image Source: Kevin Dooley via Flickr and CC 2.0
2. What style accommodations are you looking for? Budget travelers may be looking to stay solely in hostels but there isn’t always one in every town. The same is true for 5 star hotels that have suites with all the trimmings. Some places have a bunch of them but in other locales they might be quite scare. Advanced research on the subject of available accommodations can work wonders. It’s also a good idea to know what sorts of amenities are essential to have on hand. The availability of elevators, swimming pools, kitchenettes, and complimentary Wi-Fi can all be deal breakers for some travelers. Ideally, travelers will want to pick a vacation destination that has several accommodation choices which meet their needs. This allows travelers to have a selection of alternative places to stay if their first hotel choice ends up being fully booked after they have finalized details like plane tickets.
3. What sort of activities are you interested in: swimming, hiking, boating, shopping, or just lazing around by the pool doing nothing? You’ll want to be sure the destination in question can deliver what you want. Travelers that enjoy hiking and roaming around in nature aren’t likely to be thrilled to find themselves on a party island with lots of nightclubs and not a spare spot on the beach. Of course, people that thrive on human interaction may be equally unimpressed if they find themselves in a small village in the middle of nowhere. On a similar note, people traveling in groups need to consider what everyone else wants to do as well as the person planning the shindig. There are some activities that can’t be found in every single location and these things could be deal breakers for some members of your party that really want to spend their vacation participating in a certain activity. After all, it is their vacation too.
Happy Travels!
