There’s nothing more exciting than exploring the world.
Unfortunately, most of us are limited to one holiday location for two weeks per year. You could always split up your year-long trip into segments if you have to work in the “real world”, but the point is that you should dedicate some serious time to exploring if you want a real travel experience.
Why not take the gap year you've always wanted to and have the trip of a lifetime?!
These time-saving and money-saving pointers should help you out on your mission to see the world in one year.
Make a plan of the destinations you want to see.
Everybody should have a bucket list and if you don’t have one, then it’s time to make one. This is your chance to go wild and make a list of all the places you’ve always wanted to visit and all of the things you’ve always wanted to do in those places. If you want to make sure you plan out your travels well then you need to account for everything you might want to see and do before you reach each destination. That way, you’ll be able to ensure that there’s time (and money) to do everything you want to do.
You should also do some research to find new places that you might want to see. There might be plenty of small and intriguing countries that you’d never considered visiting. Or perhaps there are towns and cities you should visit in countries you’ve already explored. This part of the planning stage is the perfect opportunity to let your imagination run wild and compile a list of everything you’d love to do on the perfect year-long trip. Obviously, you shouldn’t plan 2 years of activities (because you’ll end up being disappointed), but the most ambitious year-long plan can be achieved if you start planning for it early. The following suggestions should help you to save money and time so as to allow for everything you’d possibly want to see on your travels.
Calculate the financial logistics of your trip.
Of course, once you’ve made an extensive list of all the fantastic destinations you want to see, you need to start calculating the financial backing that’ll be needed to make this trip happen. Seeing the world costs money! Still, it doesn’t have to cost as much money as you might think.
First of all, you need to make a budget. You need to take a look at the different destinations you want to see and think of the things you want to do whilst you’re there. Calculate those costs, and think about when you want to hop to each destination on your list. What type of transport will you use? On what dates will you travel? These things all factor into the cost of your trip.
Of course, you might also want to look into lenders who could give you some financial support. If you’re wondering “are there any bad credit loans near me?” then you should do some research. There are financial options for people with all types of credit ratings. Just make sure that you only borrow what you can afford to pay back in installments.
Book flights during the off-season.
One thing which needs to be calculated in your budget is the date on which you travel. If you want to save money then you should be aiming to book flights to one (or more) destinations during the off-season.
Flights are often much cheaper during the off-season (Autumn and Winter), so it’s smarter to fit your travelling into those later months of the year. You’ll get much better deals. This often applies to accommodation, too, so it’s worth starting your travels at this time of year. You could even coincide it with the time you were planning to take off work around Christmas.
Use Airbnb wherever possible.
Accommodation is often one of the most expensive parts of travelling, but that doesn’t mean it has to be excessively expensive. You should use the internet to shop around for the cheapest possible accommodation options. And make sure you do this for every destination before you start your trip; that way, you’ll ensure that you’ve found the best possible prices in the best possible places as soon as possible.
Rather than opting for a hotel, you should opt for an Airbnb rental. Not only do they often work out cheaper than a hotel but you can end up with much more space if you rent a flat (and many hosts often leave food out for the guests, so it’s essentially the same service as you’d receive in a hotel). If it’s your first time using the site then you’ll get 20% off your first booking, so it’ll be even cheaper.
