When you go travelling, you absolutely want to know that everything is going to go right. Even little things going wrong while abroad can be frustrating, and it can be hard to work out how to stop those from happening. The truth is that designing, planning and executing the ideal holiday is extremely difficult to do, if it is possible at all.
But if you are keen to try and make your next travels as flawless as possible, there are many things you can do to improve the chances of that happening. First, it is essential to understand the things that can go wrong, and what you can do about them. There are a few major categories which you might need to focus on here; let’s take a look at them.
Your Safety
There are a huge number of things that can go wrong on holiday, but the most important to avoid are those which threaten the safety of yourself or those you are travelling with. But how can you be sure that you are looking after yourself properly while you are on holiday? The truth is, there is only a limited amount you can do here, as elsewhere. You cannot, after all, control the weather, which is one of the most common causes of injuries on holiday. But you can take steps to ensure that you avoid such situations in the first place, and it is this which constitutes one of the most powerful things you can do.
Plan ahead. Check out where you are going. If it looks like that there will be some kind of unruly weather, simply don’t plan to go there. Many people are injured on holiday because they ignored the weather warning for that part of the world. It might sound obvious, but: never ignore such warnings if you care about your safety and the safety of your family. Planning ahead also means that you give yourself the time to check out what airline you will be travelling with. You would hope that an airline is always safe, but the simple fact of the matter is that some are safer than others, and that is something that is worth bearing in mind.
Similarly, it would be short-sighted not to take any first aid supplies with you when you do finally go on holiday. You can never be sure of what might happen, ranging from small bites and sunburns to more major events, and having at least some basic care items on your person just might make all the difference. This could be especially important if you happen to be travelling with children, who are often prone to experiencing injuries and illnesses while on holiday.
There will always be many other safety and health concerns wherever you travel, too. In many countries, it is advised that you do not drink the water, as it can often contain germs which will cause severe illness. Again, you need to make sure that you always check such details before you travel, so that you are prepared.
Staying safe abroad can sometimes seem like a real difficulty, as there is just so much to remember. But as long as you give yourself enough time to plan ahead, you should find that you are able to think of everything relevant to your destination. When in doubt, research the destination long before you go – all the information you will possibly need will be online.
The Timing
There are many ways in which how you time your holiday can affect how much of a good time you have. The better you understand this, the more effectively you will be able to time your holiday – and that is one thing that really can make all the difference in the long run. If we start with you and your own home situation, we can already see many things which you might need to take on board when trying to time your holiday well.
First of all, there are the usual possible nuisances which you will want to minimize the possibility of having. The last thing you want, for example, is to have your period while on a romantic trip away, so that is worth taking into account. Of course, you can’t easily plan for that, and bodies can be unpredictable, but with the right medication you can delay your period if you’re going on holiday
, and it might be worth doing so. Similarly, if you are feeling run down, it can almost be reason enough to consider re-scheduling – if that is not too much of a hassle in your case. It depends on who you booked your holiday with, and how flexible they choose to be.
It’s also worth considering the many routines you have at home. Clearly, if you want to take the kids away with you, then you need to think about when the school holidays are. However, such times can be the most expensive times to travel in, so you might want to try and be a little clever with where in the holidays you actually travel. By paying attention to the pricing of hotels and flights, you can work out when it might not be quite so busy. Nobody wants to travel when it is completely full of people, so this is worth thinking about if you want to make your holiday as close to perfect as possible.
Then, of course, there is the timing of the country itself. Countries around the world, including many common holiday destinations, will often go through periods of political or cultural unrest, and this is something which is worth keeping an eye on once you have a holiday planned. You don’t want to find yourself in such a sticky situation if you can at all help it, so pay attention and consider rebooking or rescheduling if it comes to that. Get the timing right, and you should find that you are able to enjoy your holiday all the more, so this is worth thinking about.
Your Enjoyment
Of course, all of this is to try and ensure that you are having as good a time as possible – but you will also need to think about that in its own right. What can you do to ensure that you experience as much joy, and as little worry, as possible on your holiday? The specific answers might well vary slightly from person to person and from family to family, but there are a few things which many holidaymakers will always have in common.
As we have seen, one of the best ways to keep stress at bay while holidaying is to plan ahead, and this is generally true for anything that you know you want to do, or anywhere you plan to go. However, it is likely that you will enjoy your holiday much more fully if you also leave a little something to the imagination. In other words, don’t plan out every single moment of the trip – for most people, this is the quickest way of removing all the fun from a holiday in one quick go. Give yourself some room to breathe instead – you will be glad you did.
Do whatever you feel is necessary in order to really get the most out of your holiday, and remember that it is yours. Ultimately, you can do whatever you like, so take it as an opportunity to treat yourself in exactly the way you would like to be treated. There might not be such a thing as a perfect holiday, but with the right approach and attitude you can come pretty close.