Travelogues I- Before you Go, Get the plan going
Updated: May 19, 2022
A dream vacation may sound perfect at first, but without the right budgeting and planning, it can turn out to be as good as your phone’s alarm going off or an early morning wake up call from your boss. Below are some tips and tricks on how to plan a real life vacation without any nasty alarms or surprises.
The price of dreams — Travel Budget
Before taking any real financial action, you should decide not only on a destination that will fit with your vacation plan but also your budget. If you are on a tight budget, avoid costly destinations. Once your next adventure has been picked, the next step is to set up a budget! When preparing a budget, do not underestimate the expenses you will be occurring in order to make yourself feel better. Be realistic and do your research when you are trying to come up with a budget, this will help you get a better idea of how much you will have to save.
Budgets must include items such as flight tickets, food, accommodations, transportation and activities. If you are at the beginning of the process in deciding what you will do during your next adventure and need to estimate some costs, it is always better to overestimate the costs and plan ahead! If you end up by paying less than planned, that is money that can do directly towards your savings account.
Just In time — Planning before for a journey forward
Just like when a financial advisor is trying to guide you about investments, the most important thing when it comes to planning a trip is time. The earlier you plan your trip and start saving for it, the easier (and less painful) it will be to reach your savings goal. Also, should you decide to go on a more expensive trip or decide to spend more during your getaway, proper time management will allow you to work towards saving more money.
Planning your next move — Establish a strategy
It is rare that travellers have all the money they need at the time they are planning their trip. Therefore, you need a plan that you must put in place and stick to it! For example, why not put aside 10% of your payroll every 2 weeks in a savings account? A creative way to save more money would be to put a smaller amount aside every pay-check. A surefire way is to find a travel circle with Oraan. Obviously, it is always easier and more manageable to save a small amount more frequently than trying to save a larger amount at once, within a community that’s motivating each other as they have the same goals. It is like giving yourself a salary every two weeks after paying all your other (less funny) expenses.
A little extra takes you another mile — Side gigs
When you are trying to save for a future travel and vacations, try and support your savings by getting some extra financial funds apart from your regular income to support your travel budget. Whether it is finding a second part time job working from home, or whether it is putting in extra hours at your job and getting paid overtime, any extra funds that you can put towards your travel fund will make your holiday easier and more enjoyable. By creating an Oraan Circle that can be geared towards saving for travel, you can find other like minded individuals that can not only help you with your travel budget but can help you help you achieve the goal that is your dream vacation!