Embarking on a
journey with your partner? Here
are some tips to save money, time and energy without straining your
relationship.
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| Our very recent travel to Seoul, February 2015 |
Plan Your Itinerary
AIRPLANE & HOTEL BOOKING
As both of you may have
to take vacation leaves from work, scheduling ahead gives you enough time to free
up task list at work days before the trip. Significant savings on plane fare
and hotel booking is also a huge advantage scheduling ahead.
BUILD YOUR TO-DO/MUST-DO LIST
Agree on your to do list.
Identify the areas, tourist destinations, shopping areas and restaurants you
want to visit. You can set aside half a day or more for solo wandering. This
way you can be more efficient covering more areas and doing what you like
without boring your partner or worse, annoy him or her. It’s not as romantic
but you get to do and see more.
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| El Nido, September 2014 |
ORGANIZE
YOUR TO-DO/MUST-DO LIST
Now that you have a to-do list you may organize them
on a per area basis. Daily schedule may be organized based on the different activities
that can be done in a specific area or location. This way you can truly savor
what the area can offer in terms of culture, heritage, history, food, souvenirs
and goodies without wasting time, energy and money in the process. And from
this, you can now pack accordingly.
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| Sydney, Australia, August 2013 |
TRANSPORTATION
OPTION
Know how to get
to the different points of interest. Download all the necessary apps to your
phone to understand the wisest transportation mode. In most advanced cities, the
train system is the best choice, if you don’t mind the walking distance. Since
you identified your daily itinerary on a per area basis, it is a lot easier now
to track how to go to that area from your hotel and back. It is also
recommended to get a train card and top-up/reload on a daily basis to save
money.
Other transportation
modes include the more expensive taxi or uber services. However, the more rural
you go, the more challenging the transportation becomes, especially in
developing countries. The best source of information is the locals. Ask from
hotel concierge, co-travelers, neighbors, store owners, waiters, etc. on the
best and easiest way to your destination. Have them translate in their native
language and write in a card that you can show to the driver where you intend
to go.
PRINT EVERYTHING
Print all that can be
printed – itinerary, hotel reservation, daily activities, maps, and list of
food to eat. Have a picture. Don’t forget to screenshot everything and organize
them in your phone’s photo app. Attach together all the items needed for that
day’s activities. Include the envelope that contains your pocket money.
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| Tokyo, April 2014 |
BE FLEXIBLE
Be flexible with your itinerary. Sometimes,
due to unforeseen events or your mood, there are places that you can opt to
skip. If you have scheduled a trip to temples or museums located in the areas you
plan to visit, chances are you will skip all the other temples after seeing a
couple on your first two days. This is especially true for those who are not
really after the heritage and history.
SET A BUDGET
Especially if you are a backpacker type,
sticking to a budget is crucial. Always have money for the daily basic needs –
transportation, meals and drinks. Also, prepare for other expenses such as
souvenir shopping, entrance fees to tourist spots and tips. Buy the destination
currency from your friendly neighbourhood moneychanger to get the best rates.
Always bring cash. You can also opt to withdraw money using your local ATM card
in the destination. Credit card is also advised but only for emergency expenses
or if you plan to buy an expensive item. But these may entail additional bank
charges and foreign currency adjustments.
When buying with a credit card, ask the
merchant to charge you in their currency. Normally, there is now an option to
charge you in your country’s currency. But this is more expensive than having
the bank convert it to your local currency on your cutoff.
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| Hongkong, November 2014 |
Set Roles & Responsibilities
Here are some of the roles that you need to identify:
- Finance
Manager – the one in-charge of making sure that the daily itinerary is within
the allocated budget and keeping an inventory of all the bills and coins. You
don’t want to be stuck with so many coins after the trip unless you plan on
going back.
- Transportation Manager – the one who will manage the daily commute –
what mode to take, stations to go to, and directions. He/she will be in charge
of printing the maps, downloading the apps on their phones and making sure that
you can go back to the hotel every night. He/she can also be in-charge of the
itinerary scheduling.
- Diet Manager – the one in-charge of deciding what food to eat on
lunch, snack and dinner. When you go to the different areas, you will be
flooded with a lot of choices. One must be able to decide what to eat, unless
the other one has a suggestion or a particular craving. This is very important
especially if the area you will visit does not have a must-eat list. He/she
will also be responsible for making sure that you have water, snacks, and vitamin
supplements.
- Documentation Manager – most likely both of you will have individual
camera phones or camera to take pictures. Whilst this can be done by both of
you, it is highly recommended that one takes a picture of all the weird stuff,
while the other one takes a picture of the scenes and destinations and coufies
(couple selfies). This way, you get to have fun and artistic freedom on the
photos and save time in the process.
- Document Holder – the one who will always carry the important items –
passport, plane ticket, calling card of the hotel, hotel codes, in case of
emergency cards, etc.
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| Singapore, February 2013 |
Having clear roles and responsibilities allow
you to have fun and collaborate on making the trip really memorable and
meaningful, in a good way. As this is totally out of your daily routines, it is
best to set expectation.
These are some of
the tips I can share. For more tips on travel dating, please checkout www.ourtraveldates.com.
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| Puerto Prinsesa, September 2014 |
