With summer in the near future, it’s only natural to start thinking about holidays. Whether your budget extends to a luxury trip to an all-inclusive resort in the sun, or simply taking advantage of the better weather to enjoy a ‘Brexit break’ closer to home, a holiday is always something to look forward, and your preparation can begin now! Starting to get ready for a holiday early – even if you’ve not booked yet – doesn’t just mean you’re organised and ready to go when it finally comes around, it can also help you live through the stressful run up to the trip as you anticipate the good times coming up.
Today we’re looking at all the ways you can get ready for a holiday so that when the time comes to set off you can be confident that you’ve done everything possible to ensure you’re going to have a good time.
Stocking Your Suitcase
If you don’t have a full summer wardrobe – and living in the UK climate, you can be forgiven for not having a large selection of warm weather clothes – then your holiday can turn out to be more expensive than you’ve budgeted for. Realising, the day before you’re due to go away, you don’t have the clothes to last a week in the sun, you’ll be forced to spend holiday money earmarked for sangria and sunloungers on t-shirts and shorts.
Making sure you stock up during the months leading up to your holiday spreads the cost, and ensures you can afford to upgrade your poolside wear from basic flipflops, to some comfortable men’s slydes.
Reading Up
A paper travel guide might look anachronistic in this age of tablets and smartphones, but depending on where you’re traveling and how long for, buying a paperback guidebook could save you money. Roaming fees can hit you hard, and it’s not always clear how much you’ll be charged in advance, meaning you have to wait for that dreaded post-holiday phone bill to see what the damage is.
A guidebook doesn’t need charging, doesn’t require data, and it can make some anticipatory reading in the weeks before your holiday, allowing you to identify the restaurants and attractions you’re most eager to try out upon arrival.
Getting Travel Money
Picking up spending money for their trip is one area where people make mistakes that can cost them – maybe not a huge amount, but if you consider that fees and poor exchange rates could cost you a drink, or a meal, or a bottle of wine in duty free, the impact suddenly strikes home.
Addressing this early means you can do the research to find the best place to get your travel money, strike on a day when the exchange rate favours you, and get the most fun out of your holiday budget.