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How to plan the perfect trip? That’s a great question. Although there are many ways to go about it, we tend to start by reading at least one, if not two travel guidebooks when planning a trip. Although this might seem excessive, we thoroughly enjoy this part of the planning process. We also find it to be a very useful source of complementary information, because different guidebooks don’t always cover destinations with the same level of detail.
Using more than one guidebook can also help you to form your own opinion about places/activities/itineraries, instead of just blindly following the suggestions of one book. In addition, instead of finding someone else’s top things to do in a city, it can help you find YOUR top things to do in the city, and thus helps you move beyond the typical one-size-fits-all itinerary proposed by most guidebooks. If you thoroughly enjoy the trip planning process as we do, then we highly recommend this approach.
Travel Guidebooks
Lonely Planet has traditionally been our go-to travel guidebook, which covers most countries around the world. Their guidebooks generally offer comprehensive no-nonsense facts with low- and mid-budget listings. Rough Guides travel guidebooks are fairly similar to Lonely Planet and can serve as a good alternative. We generally try to pick up at least one of these two and, depending on the destination, pair it with either a Rick Steves’ or a Bradt guidebook.
Bradt‘s guidebooks specialize in off-the-beaten-track destinations (e.g. Namibia). They generally have exceptional depth of information and are usually written by genuinely knowledgeable enthusiasts about the area. If they have one drawback is that they are less visually esthetic than some of the other travel guidebooks. Rick Steves‘s guidebooks focus on European destinations and tend to be much more opinionated than alternative guidebooks. We are fans of his pyramid rating system to highlight can’t miss sights and activities, which inspired the star-rating system that we use in our trip highlight sections. We also find that Rick Steves’s guidebooks make restaurant suggestions that best align with our own tastes and budget. There are, however, tons of other guidebooks out there too. You can find more comprehensive lists with comparisons can be found here and here.
Travel Websites
Tripadvisor
Another set of resources that we love are the Tripadvisor travel forums, which we are constantly using to fine-tune our trip planning. If you have a lingering travel question, chances are someone has thought of it before! You’ll be able to see and browse through previous Q&As by using the site’s search function. It’s also a great resource for asking your own questions and having your itinerary and travel plans validated by local experts. You might end with a lot of different opinions, but in general, responders are trying to be helpful.
WikiTravel and WikiVoyage
Wikitravel & WikiVoyage can also be good sources of travel information. Both are free crowdsourced web-based travel guides written by volunteer authors. These websites can be particularly useful in the early trip planning stages to help you quickly get your bearings.
Travel insurance
Please do not underestimate the importance of travel insurance, especially when travelling abroad. Simply put: You wouldn’t drive a car without car insurance or own a home without home insurance? So why would you risk travelling without travel insurance? While it may seem like an unnecessary expense, travel insurance provides a travel vital safety abroad.
Travel insurance can minimize the considerable financial risks of travelling, including but not limited to accidents, illness, missed flights, cancelled tours, theft, and lost baggage. Yes, nowadays, you often have to option when booking to pay extra for fully refundable flights and accommodations, but even you go that route you are still potentially liable for healthcare costs should the unfortunate happen.
These days most major credit cards provide some type of general travel insurance. There’s no perfect card, chose the one that is right for you. In the event that you do not have such a card, the following providers offer great options should you decide that travel insurance is right for you.
What are travel insurers actually selling you? Peace of mind, that is what they are selling you. When you are properly covered, you can travel freely without having to worry about when MAY happen and WHEN it might happen. Because, once in a while, you’ll come across a little bad luck, and it’s nice to have that insurance to fall back on. At least, that’s our opinion.
Note: The above paragraph does not take into consideration the added complications of travelling during the COVID-19 pandemic, so please take extra precautions when travelling during these uncertain times.
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