I hope you’re having a lovely holiday period, whether it’s a time of year for celebration or a time of year for reflection on the year that’s been and the year ahead.
I feel like this is also an excellent time to share with you my top travel tips and tricks (try saying that 5 times fast 😂) and so I bring to you my 12 days of Tripmas! This was originally an email series for my subscribers, but I decided to post all 12 tips here as well as really, they’re valuable all year round.
And so, without further ado, here’s all 12 tips!
Tip 1 – Gift Sets
Check out the end of year sales for skin care, hair care and make up gift sets that are on clearance. These holiday day gift sets are even more heavily discounted now that Christmas is over and so not only can you pick up some great bargains in ready to go travel size sets that aren’t typically available throughout the rest of the year, but more often than not, they’ll come with a reusable pouch or case as well.
The thing I love most about these gift sets is that I then have travel size products ready to go so I’m not having to worry about decanting them into smaller bottles to get through airport security and those reusable pouches and cases come in handy for so many other things like packing jewellery or cables and even underwear and socks.
Tip 2 – Where to Start
One of the questions I’m most asked as a travel coach is, where do I even start? If you’re travelling on your own, it can feel really overwhelming with all the things you need to plan and book. Even picking a destination can sometimes feel super daunting because what if you choose the wrong one? (Side note, there’s no such thing as choosing the wrong one, but I know there’s a little voice in your head that tells you you will). And so I thought that would be a great tip for day 2 of my 12 days of Tripmas.
If you’re not at all sure what thing to do first, start with your why and not your where. If you know why you want to travel and what it is you want to get out of this trip, it gives you a solid foundation for everything else you’ll need to make a decision about to make your dream trip happen. It’ll help you decide on a destination, work out what you need to budget, and ignore other people when they want to weigh in with their opinions on whether or not you should even travel.
It doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just grab a pen and some paper and write down why you want to travel and what you want to get out of it. It can be as small as ‘I really, really want to eat all the cheese in Italy’ or as big as ‘I’m feeling really lost in my life right now and I want a change of scenery so I can figure out what’s next for me’. This list is just for you, so you can dream as big as you want.
Tip 3 – How to wrangle more time off
My tip for you for day 3 is how to try and wrangle more time off if you’ve only got a limited amount of leave each year.
The best way to do this, is to book your travel around a weekend, so you can stretch 5 days of leave into 8 days of travel if you play your cards right using a weekend before your leave and a weekend after (I always recommend leaving 1 day for rest on your return!). Even better is if you can work your leave around a long weekend, so you can use less of your leave days or stretch it out a tiny bit longer.
So grab a calendar now and see what public holiday long weekends you can work your annual leave around in your part of the world so you can get your applications in ASAP.
And for my self employed friends like me, you can still do something similar. I would recommend working around what times of the year are quieter in your business, so you can still stretch your leave out as long as possible without having to worry about working too much during your vacation.
Tip 4 – You don’t have to do all the things
I know we all scroll through Instagram and Pinterest and we see all the amazing photos and videos of people having awesome experiences on their trips and it seems like they’ve flawlessly packed 50 things into one day. And then you feel the pressure to have the same kind of trip.
Firstly, let me assure you that what you’re seeing on social media is usually the product of hours of planning to get just the right shot at just the right time and that behind the scenes, there’s a lot of exhaustion from trying to do too much in too little time.
So tip 4 for you is, you don’t need to do all the things. You don’t have to try to do 50 things in one day. You don’t have to take ‘instagram worthy’ selfies. You don’t have to take any selfies at all if you don’t want to.
Have a look back on the list you made with tip 2 about why you want to take this trip and what you want out of it and use that as a guide to what it is you actually want to do on your dream vacation. You don’t have to live up to other people’s expectations. You can do as little or as much as you want. And you can change your mind while you’re there too. It’s YOUR trip. Do what makes you happy.
Tip 5 – It’s okay to be a tourist
Now, I always spark so much controversy when I say this, so let me start with the most important thing, which is you have to be a responsible and respectful tourist. Do not go to a place where the local people have said they do not want visitors and always, always respect the culture and the customs of the area that you’re in. Do not go wandering onto sacred grounds or sitting on sacred monuments or doing anything you’ve been explicitly told not to do.
What I mean by it’s okay to be a tourist is, if you want to go to the Eiffel Tower, do it. If you want to do a Lord of the Rings tour of Aotearoa New Zealand, do it. If you want to see the world’s biggest ball of twine, do it.
Quite often in travel spaces, there’s a lot of shame for saying that you want to do touristy things and while I absolutely agree it’s important to immerse yourself in the local culture, I would also argue that you can still do so while visiting the ‘dumb touristy things’.
One of the best times I ever had was running around Hobbiton in Aotearoa New Zealand. This business would not exist if I hadn’t had an epiphany at the top of the fake Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas. And some of these ‘touristy things’ are monuments that have long stood the test of time and can inspire you to build something new in your own life.
So, if you’ve been feeling guilty about wanting to do the ‘dumb touristy things’ on your dream trip, let this email be permission for you to let that guilt go, as long as it’s a place where visitors are welcome and you’re ready to be a responsible and respectful tourist.
Tip 6 – Packing cubes are your new best friend
I’m sure packing is one of things you’re concerned about in regards to your dream trip, so let me alleviate some of that concern right now by introducing you to packing cubes.
Packing cubes come in all shapes and sizes and are designed to help keep your luggage organised and can even give you a little bit more room in your suitcase or backpack if you use the compression kind.
I only started using packing cubes about 7 years ago but I cannot tell you how much better they’ve made both my packing and the travel itself because it’s so much easier to find things in my suitcase now. I only have to take out the packing cube/s I need for that day rather than rummaging through my whole suitcase each time. It keeps everything neat and tidy and it makes it easier to pack dirty clothes away too as well as unpacking when I get home.
There’s so many different ways you can use packing cubes. I like to use mine to organise my clothes by types so I’ll have t-shirts in one, jeans in another, pyjamas in another, etc etc. Other people use them to pack outfits for several days together. Whatever way you decide to use them, it will keep you so much more organised than without them.
You don’t have to spend a lot of money on them either. Sure, you can get the fancy ones if you want, but one of my clients just recently grabbed hers at Kmart and absolutely loved them. At a pinch, you can even use different size pencil cases as an alternative if that’s cheaper for you! But have a look around, especially during the end of year sales, and see what you can find. Most department stores have a version of them now. I recommend getting a pack of 7 or so to start with as it’s better to have more than not enough!
Tip 7 – Making time to plan and book
Don’t worry, I’m not here to tell you you have to start getting up at 5am to make your travel dreams happen this year. If you can do that, more power to you! But I am absolutely not a morning person and so the only time you’ll catch me getting up that early is when I have to get to the airport to hop on a flight 😂
What I can recommend to you is this, have a look at your schedule and find time in your day that you can block off for yourself to work on just travel things. Even if it’s just 5 minutes, you’ll be surprised at what you can get done in that time.
It doesn’t have to be at the exact same time each day, but put a recurring appointment in your calendar for that time each day of the week so that it’s blocked out and make sure you keep that appointment with yourself every day.
If you’re really struggling to find time in your schedule, can you carve out 5 minutes before or after your daily workout or during your lunch break? Just a little bit of time each day that’s solely for researching your dream trip and taking action to make it happen. You’ll be amazed at how quickly even that little bit of time each day makes a difference.
Tip 8 – Don’t use AI to plan your travel
Please do not use an AI bot to plan your travel. I am begging you, please do not do this.
I tend to offend some people who use ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, any variety of AI bot for any number of things when I say this, but no matter where you fall on the AI use scale, I have seen some absolute horror stories from people who have been led very, very astray when they’ve used an AI bot to plan their travel.
From relatively minor things like having to pay for baggage at the airport because AI quoted them the wrong airline’s baggage limits or a tour they wanted to go on not running at the time of year they were travelling, to super major things like being turned away at the border because they didn’t have the correct visa or being detained because they were trying to bring products into a country where they were classed as illegal.
Unfortunately, stories like these are getting more and more common as people start relying more and more on AI to help them plan their travels. I know it can be especially enticing if you’re a first time traveller as AI makes it seem so organised, but those of us in the industry who are very experienced travellers are alarmed at the number of things that AI continues to get wrong in regards to travel, no matter how many times or different ways you ask it.
This includes the AI summary you find when you search anything in Google these days.
As someone who has been travelling for both business and leisure for over 20 years now, please believe me when I say all you need to do is use good, old, regular Google instead if want to plan your own travel. A very high percentage of the time, the results after the AI summary will lead you to legitimate, up to date websites, which is especially important if you want to travel overseas, so you can be sure that you’ve got all the correct paperwork (i.e. passports, visas, electronic authorisations, etc) and you know you’re not bringing anything that might be classed as illegal at your destination with you.
Google can also lead you to other travellers so you can look at their existing advice to see if it’s current and sometimes even ask them for their input. Or if you’re still not feeling confident, especially if you’re a first time solo traveller, you might want to reach out to a licensed travel agent or travel coach instead so they can use their vast experience and knowledge to guide you in the right direction.
Tip 9 – You don’t have to make friends on your solo travel
One of the top reasons I hear from people as to why they’ve been putting off booking the solo travel trip of their dreams is that they feel pressure to make friends while they’re on their adventure. I promise you, if all you want to do is enjoy the pleasure of your own company, you absolutely can and you’ll have an amazing time because of it. You’re not obligated to speak to anyone you don’t want to during your travels. You don’t have to make friends on your solo travel if you don’t want to.
You can change your mind too, so if you start out enjoying the time on your own but you start feeling a little bit lonely and decide you want some company, you can always join a day tour or a walking tour or look for meetups in the area on somewhere like Facebook or Meetup.
As an introvert and solo traveller, I’ve travelled both ways. I’ve met some of my best friends on my solo travels but I’ve also just enjoyed my own company, especially when I’ve taken a trip because I’m at a crossroads in my life and want to some time to myself to have a good think about the path I take next.
There’s no right or wrong way to solo travel. The joy and freedom of travelling on your own is about going your own way in whatever manner is going to work best for you.
Tip 10 – Always buy travel insurance
I don’t want to scare you but things will go wrong on your trip. Unfortunately, it’s inevitable. Sometimes they just turn out to be happy little accidents and not travel insurance worthy.
Sometimes though, they are a bit bigger, like delayed flights or lost baggage or medical emergencies and this is where travel insurance becomes oh-so-very important.
Please keep in mind that depending on the country you’re in, these things might not be covered by the airlines or the healthcare system. For example, in Australia, the airlines don’t have to compensate you for delayed flights or lost baggage. They only have to make their best efforts to get you on another flight or find your baggage. (Side note: this is another area where researching using an AI bot can lead you very, very astray!) This is where your travel insurance can cover you, so you can be compensated for any difference in airfares or clothes you need to continue your travels.
I don’t recommend any particular travel insurance company because it will depend on where you’re departing from and where you’re going to, but some things I’d suggest you look to be included in the policy are:
- Reimbursement of cancelled flights
- Coverage for lost and delayed baggage
- Medical cover in case you need any medical attention at your destinations, including COVID
- Cancellation policy if you become unwell before your trip and are no longer able to travel
- What the excess/deductible is for any claims you may need to make (you don’t want it to be so excessive that you end up getting nothing back from the travel insurer)
- If you aren’t travelling solo, ask if each person needs to have their own separate policy or make sure they can cover you if you’re the person paying for everything and your fellow travellers are reimbursing you (I once lost $6K because of a situation like this, so please learn from my mistake!)
This is by no means an extensive list and I am not an insurance or legal expert! So please, always shop around as there can be hundreds of dollars difference sometimes for the exact same policy. If you have a credit card, you can also check if paying for your travels with your credit card will come with automatic travel insurance. No matter which way you do it, always read the fine print, especially if you’re getting coverage from paying with your credit card! You don’t want to find out you’re not covered if you’re in the middle of something major going wrong.
Tip 11 – Start small
If the thought of travelling on your own makes you super nervous and feels too big, take yourself out to dinner instead. Or take yourself off to the movies on your own. Buy yourself a coffee at a cafe and sit by yourself at a table and read a book.
Solo travel can feel really daunting if you’ve never done it before and you’re not really feeling sure about going on your own. So take a small step instead. You don’t have to go on a 5 month sabbatical right out of the gate.
Start with something achievable like having dinner on your own in a restaurant. That will help you get you used to being out somewhere by yourself and you can see what feelings that brings up for you. Once you’re feeling good about that, you could try a weekend staycation if you’re still not feeling 100% about actually travelling on your own.
You can still have the big 5 month sabbatical on your bucket list if you feel like that could be your thing and just work up to it by taking smaller steps first. After all, little steps eventually add up to big progress.
Doing all these little things first will help you get used to your own company and help you determine if solo travel is indeed something that you want to do. You might do all these smaller things and realise that you’d rather travel with people and you can adjust your bucket list accordingly to look at group holidays instead.
These smaller steps will also help you work through any fears or worries you might have about people staring at you or judging you for being out and about on your own. I promise you, most people aren’t even noticing and those that are, aren’t really worth your time or attention. If they want to stare at you or talk about you under their breath, let them. You don’t owe them an explanation.
Tip 12 – Review your bucket list
For my final tip, I want to encourage you to sit down today and review your bucket list. This is for two reasons:
- To make sure your bucket list is your bucket list and not somebody else’s. Do all these destinations still set a little spark alight in you (and hey, if you don’t have a bucket list, there’s no time like the present to make one!).
- It’s a great time of the year to look seriously at which bucket list destination you might be ready to start crossing off.
Once you’ve reviewed your bucket list, I want you to keep it somewhere that is top of mind because the more you look at it, the more likely you’ll actually start booking that epic trip of a lifetime.
I hope all these tips have given a little more confidence and a bit of a nudge towards finally getting your bucket list trip booked! If you’d like more in depth help with finally getting your epic trip of a lifetime from bucket list to booked, click here to see all the support I have available for you.
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