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All Prepared For Blissful Travel?
Today I am collaborating with my blog buddy – Miah. We both live in Europe – Miah in Rotterdam, and I am here in warm and sunny Vienna. We love to travel and have learned quite a few tips and tricks along the way. I love blissful travel because it means less stress for me. Who needs stress when they are going away on holiday! After all, the point is to relax isn’t it?
Miah and I decided to share with you our Top 5 Travel Tips for blissful travel in preparation for your next trip, vacation, getaway! We want you to enjoy it to the fullest.
These tips will not only help you prepare for your holiday better, but ensure that you have an effective and blissful travel experience while away.
So How Can You Ensure Effective And Blissful Travel?
1. TAKE EXTRA CASH
In case you lose your wallet, the ATM stops working, or heaven forbid your cards do not work or are blocked, you will be so happy to have extra cash on you.
Try to keep extra cash money elsewhere than in your wallet. Shoes, side zippers, toilet bags….you get the picture.
I would say take about 300 Euros/Dollars with you. If you don’t end up using it, great! More money for you when you return home.
2. MAKE COPIES OF ALL YOUR TRAVEL DOCUMENTS
Yes – ALL. Ok so not only can you lose your wallet, but what happens when you fall asleep on a bus or train, even at the Airport and your bag is stolen? It is the worst hassle in the world trying to prove your identity or to get your Embassy to issue you a travel document to fly back home should your passport (including visa) go missing.
Trust me, you will be happy to have the copies. Copy all your documents before leaving home, and simply pop them into the safe when you arrive at the hotel at your destination.
Just don’t forget to take them back out.
3. SPEND A LITTLE MORE THAN USUAL
You are on holiday! Spend a little more than you would at home. No need to go over the top crazy, just treat yourself.
Yes, budget for a hotel, have an approximate set amount for how much you want to spend while on holiday, but don’t be afraid to splurge a little.
You would have completed all the research on discount sites, places to visit prior to travelling anyway, so enjoy a nice dinner out at an expensive restaurant, get yourself a gift. Enjoy a spa day or massage, go shopping. Do something that makes you happy.
After all, it’s back to reality when you return home.
4. KEEP AN OPEN MIND
Embrace the people, the culture, and the lifestyle of the country or city you are visiting.
Things will likely not be done the way you are used to, so keep an open mind. There is so much to learn from others. Sometimes all it takes is patience and listening.
Besides, the locals will be able to give you some “inside” information on places and events you may not have read about online or in your tourist guide.
5. DON’T PLAN YOUR EVERY MOVE
The universe or Murphy’s Law will always have a way of interfering with your plans so don’t both planning your every move.
Sure, have an idea of where you want to go and even when, but do not plan your day down to the hour or minute. Try to do more on foot, and less on tour buses if distance and weather allow.
If you get lost? Who cares? Use it as an opportunity to see interesting, yet unusual places that were not initially a part of your plan.
A lot of my best travel moments were on days where things did not go as planned.
Be spontaneous and flexible. Those are my Top 5 Travel Tips! These have guaranteed my blissful travel every single time.
*BONUS TIP FOR BLISSFUL TRAVEL*
Are you familiar with GPS-guided travel articles? In this day and age, when travelling on holiday or planning trips we hardly ever take heavy books of guide and maps with us anymore. Why? We have it all on the internet. That’s what makes GPS guided travel articles so great.
Let me introduce you to GPSmyCity which is filled with a plethora of gps-guided articles! It is an awesome and reliant personal walking tour guide. I am excited that my travel articles have been turned into an app that can help others navigate their favourite cities with tips, suggestions, and insider advice I can give.
You get:
-Use of the maps and articles are available offline.
-You can read the articles on the go – for example on the plane, or while walking around exploring your city of choice.
-You can create your own detailed travel plan.
-Mark your favourite points of interest.
-The “Find Me” tool will alert you if you are going in the wrong direction.
-Articles from over 750 cities worldwide!
Take a peak at my post on How To Personalize Your Guided Travel Articles for more information and free download.
Check out Miah’s Top 5 Travel Tipshere and connect with her on social media too.
Please share your tips on blissful travel with us in the comments section below.
Safe travels,
52 comments
Thanks for sharing these amazing tips
[…] a busy bee, I love to travel, always have and always […]
Very helpful tips i will take note of everything. Thank you for putting in time and effort writing all these 🙂
Such great advice! I always bring extra cash and make copies of my travel documents! But my favorite tidbit was not over planning! I completely agree that some of my favorite days abroad have been this with a flexible schedule.
Keeping an open mind is great advice. That can make the difference between having a great trip or a boring same old same old trip. You are also right on with not planning your every move. The GPS my city is pretty cool too.
I totally agree with these tips 🙂 Especially number 5! It is great to be organised and have key details planned, but also so important to be spontaneous and go with the flow. Sometimes the best travel experiences come from random encounters or getting lost. Thanks for sharing!
You have included some very important travel tips here, cash and copies are always required at some point! The GPSmyCity app looks interesting, I’ll check it out as I often miss things whilst visiting places.
Nice tips! Right on the dot. For us, keeping some extra cash safely stashed in your pocket is the most important thing. You would never know when you need it, especially during emergencies.
Thanks for the tips. Planning everything out never works out – I love to just go with the flow while I’m away!
I love the idea of not planning every moment. It’s important to know that you can have new adventures by just exploring.
I am a spontaneous traveler so these tips are my bread and butter. I never restrict myself and always makes copies of my documents
The copies of documents are so important! Especially in countries where pick-pocketing is prevalent. Having someone who can help you out back home is key!
xx, Tomi
Every tip I 100% agree with. I travel a lot and $300 is always the amount I try to bring in cash, my mom always makes sure I have copies of all my travel documents (like every page of my passport haha), I tend to spend more than I originally budgeted but in the moment it’s so worth it for the experience, I always interact with the locals and try to immerse myself in their culture, and I love being spontaneous and getting lost. Love all the tips!
I agree with the last tip because I’ve paid for plans that were too close together and ended up wasting money as I needed a little wiggle room.
The extra cash and copies of your passport are super essential. Also extra bank cards are so important if one decides to stop working.. been there and had a second one with me 🙂
XX
Nadine Cathleen
I am definitely going to remember these tips. I never thought to bring extra cash with me or make copies of my documents. Granted I don’t travel very much especially where a passport is required, but I’m going to do this regardless. Thanks for the ideas!
These are some of the best travel tips I’ve read. You need to be safe but a little spontaneity is good instead of scheduling every last detail.
Omg I can’t stress enough how important is to take extra cash with you when you travel. This September I went to Cincinnati and my credit cards did not work until three days into my trip. Thank God I took some extra bucks if not I would have been screwed! I wrote a post about 5 things to help your travels be healthier. If you want you can check it out 🙂
Nicole, I can’t imagine how tough that would be to travel and not have enough cash and the cards not working. It could ruin so much of your trip. So glad you had some extra with you.
I always take extra money, just in case… And we often wait to plan out our days until we get to our location…
Good tips here. The only modification I’d make with #5 is to be semi-spontaneous, especially when traveling alone. I like to tell someone- even if it’s just a note left in my room, or the concierge – where I’m heading.
Hmmm, this is interesting. Do you tell them your plans for the day? Is this to ensure that if anything were to happen that they could better help trace the last places you visited?
Love this! I refuse to plan out every part of my vacation. I do try to have an idea only because my son has autism and he likes to know what is going on.
I always have plenty of cash on me!
I love #5 the best. My sister and I both took a sister-trip to Turkey two years ago (insane that we were able to travel there with all the craziness that’s going on right now!).
One of the best reasons why we travel so well together is that she’s the planner and I’m the more spontaneous one. I think it worked really well because, on the days we didn’t do something in the guidebook, we ended up finding out more about the city than what was written in the book!
These tips are pretty useful! I use them when I travel except the spending more than usual. I enjoy myself but I cannot afford to spend more than I already do!
Me and my hubby love to travel and we always end up spending much more money than we plan to. As far as the travel docs are concerned, having a hubby who is borderline OCD, that’s taken care of too. Great tips still.
I agree with not planning your every move, it’s nicer to go with the flow on holiday.
These is really great post and very helpful. Im really agreed with these tips. I´m normally always good prepared on my travel and always make some list of all my belongings and all my documents. But this post is really awesome.
Kintan XOX,
It’s been so long since I traveled far, have only been doing road trips – these are great tips and reminders of the basics. 🙂
Loving those sandals & bag where did you get them. I am obsessed with shoes & bags as you can tell (:
Thank you for all these reminders, Sheri! Everytime I feel guilty of overspending, I remind myself, hey, Jona, you work your ass off, don’t be too stingy! Haha! Thank you! And hoping to meet you someday in Vienna!
Definitely agree with all points – especially #3 at times (even though I’m a frugal traveler). Oftentimes spending a little more means you get more time to explore, or are in a better mood to do so! Worth it, IMO. Also #5 is essential – too much planning stifles spontaneity 😛
This is a FABULOUS post Sheri! And, even though I am a seasoned traveller, it’s always handy to see how others organise their trips, and what they take, leave behind etc. I have bookmarked this, a really informative and handy list of things to do! Thanks for sharing! Karen
I love those tips, because they’re really useful, and we don’t always think about them when we’re travelling. One thing tho I really do think about is not planning my every move. I’m really a wanderer, and I love discovering a place I’ve never been with just picking a hood and then just wandering around the hood. As much, making copy of your travel documents is such a savior idea! I mean, everything can happen, and you can be a victim of thief or lose them! It’s then a mess. I’ve been through it!
I’ve always been good at 3 and 4. Keeping an open mind is something that every traveler needs to do.
Also I am good at not having everything planned part. I still don’t know where I’m going after 6 days in Chiang Mai
This is all good advice! The tip about having extra cash on you is really important. I had a terrible time in Ireland once because my bank system’s computers crashed. I had to wait seven hours until they came back up and I only had one Euro on me so I couldn’t do anything! I’m never going through that again!
All these suggestions ensure that you really enjoy and cherish each moment of your travel. After all who would want some silly mistake to play havoc with your travel. The secret is in just being and experiencing each moment one at a time.
Couldn’t have said it better! Spend a little more and don’t plan your every move is so important! The most important thing I think is the “keep an open mind”! That’s so true! Awesome tips!
“Don’t plan every move” – so true! I always find this really difficult though, as I’m the kind of person who needs to know every step of every thing! Recently I’ve been trying to be a bit more relaxed about it all and let things happen as they happen. So far, it’s been going really well!
The last 3 points are my favorite, explore and eat your heart out coz you are back to reality back home. Sometimes take a wrong route explore new things and explore like locals respect their way of life.
Agreed-over planning is the death of whimsy and fun. I always make a list, though, of all the possible actitivities and sights just so i have it and can consult it as I have time/if I feel like it 🙂
I agree with the last tip. Dont plan your every move. In the initial days, i used to sit and chalk out a plan days and months before my travel only to be disappointed because things did not go accordingly. today, I go everywhere planless, But i do keep in mind the must-see places and their opening times and stuff. I should say, today i enjoy my travel experiences more than ever.
These tips are truly helpful, especially bringing extra cash and being spontaneous on each trip. It will make things more memorable, fun, and exciting!
Yep, taking some extra cash is a really good idea, I always take USD as this currency is accepted almost everywhere. I also invest a little bit of money into buying 1 gram golden cards (yes, they look like a credit card carrying a little chip with 1 gram of gold – funny, isn’t it? :)). I think it’s a great idea as the gold doesn’t loose its value and is accepted everywhere in the world.
Like the tips you mention and agree with all, specially making copies of travel documents : would add have a drive to store travel documents, that way you can access and print them out if needed. Also totally like your tip on having an open mind. I would add a tip : not only take a camera but learn a bit of photography as one may not get a chance to go back again, so capture what you well to make the most of your memmories.
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My husband and i don’t plan much when we travel. Some of our best memories have come from meeting fellow travellers and hearing their recommendations. It becomes a real adventure!
It does become a real adventure Tania, you are right about that! I love doing things spontaneously, especially while on holiday as there is so much to discover and can open your mind to new things.
I agree with #1 take extra cash. Here in the Philippines, there are locations with no ATM machines available and in some where emergency cash is a necessity, i.e., in islands where there’s always a chance of being stranded for a few days due to the sea condition. I feel more secured when I bring extra money, plus I won’t miss out on awesome souvenir items I may find.
Absolutely Kat! In this day and age we tend to rely so much on ATM machines, computers, GPS systems that when those things do not work we find ourselves stranded. Extra cash is never a bad thing to have on you. Also, when I pay in cash on holidays, it helps me regulate my spending.
These are some amazing travel tips! You know, I always spend more when I travel, just because I have my whole life to try everything there is in my home country and very limited amount of days to try something new in a new country. And I enjoy spending 🙂
Girls are just girls, right? 🙂
Yes we are. Girls will always find a way to spend 🙂 I just try to make sure I dont ever overdo it. Where is your home country? I love to travel, so when I do I try to make sure I budget for certain things, but allow myself enough money to enjoy myself. Thank you for your kind feedback.