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how to travel independently
It’s that time of year (usually in the dark winter months right after the Xmas season) when everyone seems to be planning their annual holiday. You scan the web pages of the big tour operators and decide on location, dates, and budget and in one swift mouse click, accommodation, insurance, flight, meals, excursions are all sorted. Why on earth would anyone go through the hassle of arranging all of this by themselves? Because independent travel gets you in touch with people of different backgrounds, can be tailored to your specific wishes and needs, is cheaper, more authentic, less bland and sanitised, whilst giving you a deeper sense of travel satisfaction. That’s why.
Also, why would you fly on a package tour that leaves at weekends, when usually flights departing early in the week are cheaper? Why would you stay in a hotel chosen not by you but by your tour provider? Why would you prefer to be surrounded by people with by and large identical backgrounds than you? Why would you restrict yourself to a one or two week holiday, when you really want to travel for 4 weeks (or when you only have a couple of days to spare?) Why eat in a three star hotel complex when the local cuisine has so much to offer? Why join fellow travellers on a tour-bus outing, when you can explore sights at your own pace and leisure? Why go to mass tourist hot spots when you long for peace and solitude? The list goes on and on. Apart from time constraints and convenience, there really is no reason to stick with tour operators. Today’s apps, travel websites and online booking services makes organising your own, tailor-made trip a straightforward exercise. Here are some thoughts.
Step One: Decide on the destination. I once met an English teacher from Cambridge in some backstreet café in the old town of Nicosia who let me in on his travel philosophy. His aim was to visit a new country every year, whilst also returning to a place that he had been to before. Rather intriguing: seeking new horizons whilst also reconnecting with his past. But most of us approach travel in a much less philosophical matter. If it is solitude that you are after, try the Mediterranean coast in late autumn and winter. Or head for Scandinavia; not too many tourists or indeed locals above the Arctic Circle or in the Russian borderlands of eastern Finland. Eastern Poland along the border with Belarus or Ukraine is also a place to get away from it all. The Balkans, away from the coast, remain by and large an undiscovered gem, in particular North Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Serbia or Bosnia & Herzegovina. In these places - alongside Bulgaria and Romania – your money will also stretch significantly further. Whichever location you decide upon, do a little research to get a better feel for the place. Googling ’10 best things to do in …’ is a good starting point, but there really is no substitute for a well-written and expertly researched travel guide. Everyone seems to have their favourite publication. Mine always tend to be Rough Guides.
Step Two: How long and how much? Seems obvious. Get a rough idea how much you have to spend on lodging, accommodation, transport, or catering, and figure out how long you can stay. The art of budgeting (or lack thereof) always reminds me of the time when I picked up the daughter of an American friend of mine on her first trip to Europe. Whilst wheeling her luggage to the airport car park she maintained in close mobile phone contact with her friend back in the U.S., offering a running commentary on proceedings and being blissfully unaware that her UK calls were not part of her unlimited US call allowance. 300 USD later, she realised that she had just blown her budget for two weeks.
Step Three: establish a rough itineraryThere are some people who really want to tick all the sight-seeing boxes that a location has to offer. My octogenarian Dad firmly belongs into that category. I still have traumatic memories of a family trip to Paris. I was a young and fit teenager back then, but for four frantic days, Dad chased us up and down the streets of the French capital until all of us, but him were physically exhausted. Looking at a travel guide now, we really seemed to have covered everything back then– including a one-day excursion to Versailles – although I can’t really say that there was much joie de vivre in the Staab household on that occasion. In fact I remember a massive row between mum and dad when my mother finally - on the last night - told my puzzled father that she just about had had enough. My Dad: master of the travel art form that elevates quantity over quality.The opposite end of the ‘what-to-do’ scale is occupied by another friend of mine and his approach on how to tackle big cities: Only ever visit one major attraction per day, but research it thoroughly and spend a lot of time there. That way you might not see nearly close enough to what a city has to offer, but at least you become an expert on those sights that you have chosen to visit. Whatever you choose, you might want to leave some room for flexibility. Yes, in tourist hotspots and in particular in high season, you might have to book in advance to secure a ticket for a specific museum or exhibition, but also allow yourself some time when nothing’s on the agenda and decisions on what to do can be made on the day.
Hotel Complexes, Morro Jable, Fuerteventura
- Step Four: Get Booking
- With the internet, anyone can be a travel agent. Booking transport, accommodation, museums, and other cultural attractions, even restaurants are just a couple of mouse clicks away. Here are some of the sites that I regularly use:
- Flights: For flight options, I always consult Skyscanner. You get a list of deals, some of them bookable through the individual airlines, but most of the time I end up completing the booking through the travel website Expedia.
- Other transport: In the age of climate change, please avoid flying if you can. I found the Trainline. as well as Rail Europe to be easy-to-use applications. Sometimes I even book a ticket, just after boarding the train through the DB Navigator app offered by German railway Deutsche Bahn. And should you need a rental car Holiday Autos scans the market for you and lists some very good deals.
- For accommodation I tend to rely on Booking.com, Home Away, or Hostelworld. Taken together they offer a highly comprehensive choice of locations and every budget level.
- If it is scenery and outdoor recreational activities that you are after, you might want to look at the fabulous App and website of All Trails. Just type in a location, and a range of hikes (with descriptions, GPS maps and reviews) pop up. It has been an indispensable guide on my travels.
- And if you would like to book excursions, museum visits or just want to see what a location has to offer, Get Your Guide might provide you with some ideas.
Step Five: Get CoveredTravel Insurance. Never leave the country without it. EU residents can take advantage of the EHIC card which offers reciprocal health coverage when visiting other EU destinations. The majority of British voters thought that this marvellous set-up is by itself not impressive enough to forsake Brexit, so instead the UK government came up with a so called GHIC – Global Health Insurance Card – which offers state healthcare either free or at reduced prices in Europe (which of course begs the question why it is called ‘global’ when in fact the scheme only applies to Europe; part of a range of semantic efforts to ‘get Brexit done’ I guess). Click on this link if you want to find out more.But even with a GHIC or EHIC, you might still be asked to contribute to the costs of being treated for a medical emergency. GHIC/EHIC also does not offer protection against damage to your possessions or indeed against theft of your credit card or phone. For peace of mind, I suggest you also take out extra travel insurance. Some banks (for instance Nationwide in the UK) offer travel insurance as part of certain current account packages. You might also want to check price comparison sites for the best deals.
Step Six: Get Packing Passport and credit card. Those are the bare essentials; anything else could potentially be purchased along the way. This might be a philosophy at the more extreme end of independent travel, but there is certainly an element of truth in this statement. Many of us have the tendency to plan (and pack) for any situation that might arise and bulging pieces of luggage is the inevitable outcome. I am always mildly intrigued by fellow travellers who embark on their annual fortnight in the sun, heaving 30 kg suitcases onto the check-in conveyor belt. How many outfits can you possibly wear in two weeks? In particular when you spend most of your time in a swimsuit? A lot, I guess is the answer, and any attire worn on more than one occasion might just look too tedious on social media. Call me hopelessly old-fashioned, but I tend to tick only a few boxes when selecting my clothing: something that protects me from the cold and the rain, and something I can wear when it’s hot and sunny; and all just enough to get me going for one week, before I need to find the nearest laundromat. And make sure that all clothes are in dark colours. They hide any potential stains from an uncooperative salad dressing and can all fit into just one washing load. But that’s just me. I used to carry maps, travel guides, books, tapes, a Walkman, camera, and rolls of film with me as well. Now this is all neatly packaged into a smart phone (although I still bring a separate camera along and draw a firm line at e-books). Your equipment list becomes of course more detailed, when embarking on a camping trip. I am a big fan of French outfitter Decathlon. Their price levels are very reasonable and should not set you back too much. A tent (maybe even a model with a black-out cover that keeps the sunlight out), a sleeping bag appropriate for the climate you are travelling in, a stove with gas cartridges, a torch (I prefer the miners’ ones, which you simply strap on your head) and you are set. My old bones require a mattress these days and I always bring with me a thick, pump-it-up one, as I find any sleeping mat just too useless. When travelling by car (as most people will do when camping), I also bring with me a cooler, which I can plug into the commonly defunct cigarette lighter. Mine also comes with an electric outlet, which is very handy when staying at a campground for longer. And lastly, table and chairs; absolutely vital (unless you prefer to eat standing up). Many years ago I picked up a contraption suitable for (just about) four people that folds neatly into the shape of a medium-sized suitcase. The thing has been with me for many, many years and is probably my most treasured piece of camping equipment. Grab the oldest pots and a pan from your kitchen, add cutlery and utensils (and make sure to include a sharp pocketknife, a lighter and the best tin opener you can find), pack salt, pepper, spices, and unperishable essentials (for some this is Nutella, for others oil and vinegar) and you should be set to go.Fora comprehensive packing list, which you can nicely tick off, check out this link. Go ahead, knock yourself out.
Step 7: Get in the Mood: Anticipation is one of the greatest joys there are.