Solo Travel with Renee
Since March 2020, we’ve been hobbled by pandemic mandates, barriers and restrictions. I assuaged my wanderlust with local trips, travel novels, themed dinners and travel movies (see my blog November 9, 2020).
Now, interprovincial bans have lifted, I received my second shot and my Travel Agent is open for business. I am on the move again, happily planning a trip to British Columbia for October.
So, how does one plan a solo voyage from square one? It might seem daunting, but if you take it one step at a time you can organize a fabulous trip and save money.
In earlier blogs, I covered turning travel dreams into reality and addressed fears of safe solo travel. Follow along as I plan my first trip in this new Pandemic world.
Step One: Choose your Dates
Pull out next year’s calendar and select your travel dates, preferably six months or more in advance. This saves money and creates time to research, plan and prepare. Pencil in a few possibilities, noting cheapest flights are on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. You also need to consider adding extra days for departure and returning home. If I plan one week’s visit, I will book for nine days and don’t plan activities outside of an exploratory walk on Arrival day. Remember some destinations require two days of travel.
Booking your trip: Avoid summer months: travel is more expensive, hotels have limited availability and there will be crowds. Using the ‘shoulder months’ of March/April/May and September/October yields rewards – hotels are eager for bookings with cheaper rates or upgrades, venues have small to no lineups and staff will have time to lavish attention. This rule flips for southern climes: December to March is the high season in tropical countries; off-season is April through early November. I have travelled to the Mediterranean in October and enjoyed perfect weather – warm days and cool nights. https://www.weather-atlas.com/ is one site you can use for weather reports.
Currently I am considering Scotland for October 2022; reports show weather is lovely in early October, then gets rainy. But if your trip revolves around museums, castles and restaurants, is sunshine crucial? Likewise, if your trip involves hiking, sports or garden tours, temperate weather becomes an important feature.
For my upcoming trip to Vancouver, I chose October 9th to 24th, early enough to avoid rainy, cold weather and the autumn colours should be glorious.
Research holidays and special events.
Be aware of countries with major festivals or religious holidays occurring during your trip; many restaurants and venues could be closed and services limited.
Use this website to check: https://timeanddate.com/holidays
Step Two: Accommodation
Book your accommodation before arranging flights. Most people book the flight first, then scramble to fit affordable hotel accommodation into their dates. You can pretty well fly anywhere, any time, especially to major European and tropical destinations where some airlines have two or more flights daily. So fit the flight to your accommodation; most hotels will offer some wiggle room if there is a conflict, especially in the off season.
I use Booking.com https://www.booking.com but there are many sites, such as Trivago and Expedia, to explore possibilities. I pick my location, plug in possible dates, then use filters to come up with a selection of possible accommodations. My concrete criteria are safety, cleanliness and location regarding transit and sites of interest.
Once the search has been narrowed to a couple choices, I read every review and study website photos carefully, noting what they don’t show as well as highlights. (No pics of the bathroom – red flag!) Then I make my final choice and book. Most sites carry free cancellation up to a certain date when booking far ahead. If you are familiar with a hotel or B and B at your destination you can contact them directly, sometimes getting a discount or free upgrade.
Try some ‘dry runs’ at one of these sites, exploring availabilities and pricing. Just remember to not continue to ‘final booking’ to commit yourself!
You have now chosen your destination and dates, found accommodation and are ready to book your flight. In my next blog, I will cover creating a custom itinerary and guide book for my fabulous trip to Vancouver.