As avid travelers, we take several things into account when selecting our next destination. Here is our guide…

First question to ask, do you know where you want to go? Or do you just want to go anywhere? These questions will dictate your selection process. Let’s start with “ I have no idea where I want to adventure off to”

If you don’t have a preference, then the following tips can assist…

Search Instagram, YouTube  and/or other platforms! These platforms serve up destinations you never knew you wanted to travel to. You can use these sites to actually view a place in advance, real-time and from a real-perspective.  

Check out known travel vloggers vlogs/blogs! There are some very popular travel vlog influencers that can peak your curiosity, too. Some of our favs are Black Travel Movement, The Passport Abuser, We Work to Travel, and Lydia Dinga… to name a few

Use google flights! Google flights homepage will have a snippet of ready-made destinations. These are usually flights that are currently popular and/or cheaper than usual.

Secret flying app! Right now this is only insightful for citizens of every other country, but the United States. However Pre-Covid, this site reported out error fares, cheap round-trip fares and/or discounted fares.

Or use our Jetsetin’ Jai and Travelin’ Tat blog to gain some inspiration :) 

 

In addition to the above, below are some tips for planners who have or don’t have a destination in mind.

 

First and foremost plan in advance! This saves time, money and patience. Pre-Covid, we would plan our vacations at least 7 to 8 months in advance. Since we experienced restrictions and cancellations due to Covid, we schedule a vacation about 4 months in advance.

Finding a flight! Hands down use Google flights to view fares 9 months in advance. You can see exactly when is the cheapest time to travel to said destination! This also serves as a budget pro tip! You can snatch some cheap flight deals by looking at a month’s view. Also, you can spread out the financial burden if you book in advance. Booking the flight guarantees your travel. Then the next month you can book your accommodations. Then gradually as your travel dates approaches, you can book your excursions. This way you are spreading the wealth and not shelling out a huge lump sum all at once!

Be flexible with your travel dates! It should be pretty well known by now that traveling on popular days is more expensive. Travel on a Friday, Saturday and/or Sunday are typically higher in price. If you don’t have any date restrictions you can find a cheaper flight. This rings true for day and month! Each destination has peak and low tourism seasons. Of course, traveling during peak season will add several more bucks, than travelling in the off season. If you are looking to travel to the Caribbean, we suggest going at the end of hurricane season (June to November). Or early to mid-December, is typically slower time of the year for Caribbean tourism. Traveling when there is a famous event occurring, generally increases the flight cost, too. Traveling to Jamaica during dream weekend the price of flights and accommodations is significantly higher.

Look into flying out of other airports! If you rather save money over convenience, then look at flying out of another highly trafficked airport. For instance, Caribbean or South American flights are cheaper leaving out of Florida. If you are not a Florida resident, consider flying from your nearest airport to a Florida airport. We have saved upwards of $500 USD for one trip by doing this.

Book on a Tuesday! Fares are typically cheaper on Tuesday in the wee hours of the morning.  ​

First thing first, we are not rich by any means. We just plan and budget each trip accordingly. 

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Space out your purchases! We gradually book or purchase things (items or activities) for each trip we plan. Typically, we buy our round-trip airfare first. Secondly, if this is a multiple city/country trip, we purchase those flights next. If the airfare is cheap enough, we purchase ALL of the airline tickets in one full swoop. Once airfare is knocked out we plan to purchase our accommodations. Again we usually plan vacations 9 months in advance. This gives us ample time to budget along the way. Generally, we like to book airfare and accommodations NO MORE than one month apart. Also, we do not wait until the last minute to book either of these. This way we solidify all of our major purchases well in advance. Also, we won’t have to scurry at the last minutes trying to find a place to lay our heads. Or won't be left with crumbs when it comes to places to stay. Airbnb occasionally offers split payments. Therefore, you do not have to pay for everything up front. Any chance we get, we utilize that option. This way we have enough money to book more than one accommodation in one sitting. Gradually, we book activities and other things as our trip approaches. Generally we are in no rush to book activities because they don’t fill up that quickly. Unless, you’re Team Lab Borderless and everyone and their mama is trying to go. Activities like those we book, as soon as, possible. As far as spending money is concerned, it's pretty straightforward. We set aside money every paycheck for our next vacation. 

Create an itinerary via excel or word document! Trust!  This will save you time and money. When we create itineraries for each trip we include everything discussed on this page. We add every monetary amount for everything. This way we know where our money will be spent. 

We keep domestic travel to a minimum. Yes, we travel domestically. However, we’re not in ATL or LA every other month. Or if we travel domestically we search for flight deals. To add, we don’t believe in spending $500USD on a trip to LA, when we can go to Dublin for $480USD. 

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Lastly, we would like to eliminate the notion that international travel is expensive. If you follow some of our tid bits, you can see flights overseas are pretty cheap. Same with cost of living. You can tour the world for the low, as long as, you plan accordingly! 

 

Check out our “plan with us” page to see our itinerary for our upcoming vacation!

Yes, sight seeing is immeasurable. However, sometimes getting dirty with a fun excursion is memorable, too. Yes you should know already, planning is key for activity purchasing, too. 

 

Sightseeing! You might not believe it, but we plan sightseeing, too. The main items you need to be aware of are: 

Distance from location. That could be your hotel, a different sight, or current location. Knowing the distance helps you decide the mode of transportation and sometimes the day, in which you should travel. For instance, if the landmark is a couple hours away from the city, then that sounds like an all day affair. You would need to plan accordingly.

Cost. There are such things as admission costs, tour costs or sometimes no cost. Once again, this makes you aware of how much money you are slated to spend.  

Hours. This is a no brainier. Although some sights are public, they might not always be offered to the public anytime of the day. 

Excursions! Would you like to snorkel in Phi Phi islands? Surf on Macao Beach? Or get a traditional Hamman massage in Marrakesh ? Sounds very enticing, right? These are just a couple activities we’ve partook while abroad. Hands down all of this takes planning. We try to do something new on each vacation. We garner inspiration from Instagram, bloggers, TripAdvisor, viator, or just brainstorming among ourselves. Once you find an activity that peaks your interest. We suggest researching the activity and finding multiple companies that offer the excursion prior to settling on one company. For instance, would you like to surf in coral filled terrain or a beach that has prominent sea life? It's a NO for us! So we made sure our first time surfing was on the pretty sanded beaches of Macao, Dominican Republic.

Good food on a vacation is a must for us! To ensure we make it worth while we plan our food choices in advance, as well. Prior to any vacay, we scour the world wide web, instagram, youtube, netflix and any other platform for good eats. The internet is literally at our disposal. Mainly we use the internet to find menus and additional details about the restaurant. A good menu is key. Since Tat has diet restrictions, this ensures we both find something on the menu we will enjoy. Also, the menu provides insight to food pricing. We don’t want all of our money being spent on food, so we like to know the price range in advance. This also serves as a pro tip for budgeting. When we budget, we include how much money per day we potentially will spend on food. Secondly, we look on the website for dress code restrictions (if any), reservations required, and most importantly hours of operations. This last one is very important because other countries don’t offer the same dining hours as in the USA. For instance, in Italy and Spain, siestas or breaks during the work hour are prominent. This means places of business, including restaurants shut down during this period of time. Thus, you need to know these details in advance. 

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Instagram, youtube and other social platforms can give you insight to delicious food options in each city. Hashtags are very useful. #foodindubai #foodinlondon #foodintulum this is the typical hashtag we use. Influencers vlogs on youtube are helpful too. Majority of the time they recommend good spots to try. A tool you might not have thought of is Netflix! Netflix offers mass food series and movies. Some of our favorites are Streetfood, Flavourful Origins, Breakfast Lunch and Dinner, and Bourdain Parts Unknown. These series can give you actual restaurants to try. Or they can give you cultural food you must try in that region.