Don’t we all have a dream of going on a perfect holiday someday? Maybe even every year! Be it your dream holiday is going abroad or exploring the incredible India any vacation means a considerable cost and needs some amount of planning and saving for most of the families.
More and more Indians are daring to plan holidays abroad. Europe, USA, exotic islands, you name it. But unless you are a mining lord with unlimited resources and you have not yet been imprisoned (ahem!) you will need some planning and saving to assure a stress free holidays for your family.
You might have also noticed from the past experience how holidays always seem to work out to be double in cost than what you originally thought. This is not surprising really, as on top of your flight tickets and accommodation, you have travel insurance, airport parking, local transportation, entertainment, sightseeing fees, food & drink, sun cream, books, buckets & spades and much more. Our wallets just seem to always be more relaxed when traveling and the credit cards seem to get swiped much more often. Darn plastic!
The very good news is that with a bit of careful thought, there are ways for anyone to afford and enjoy a great holiday without over using the credit card or declaring bankruptcy at the end of it. The secret is very simple: planning and saving. Let’s look at few basic rules to follow towards the path of great holiday:
Plan Ahead
The sooner you start planning and saving for your next holiday the better. Ideally you should be thinking about next year’s holiday this year! Visit the travel agent and get online to begin researching where you want to go. Once you have an idea of what sort of holiday you would like and where you would like to go, start working out how much it will cost. Brainstorm of all the hidden cost that might surface. The more detailed your idea of what you want to do and see, the more accurate the cost planning. All the prices are online! Every monument you want to see will usually have a website with all the info you need. Most of them you can book online and even pay in advance. If you are renting a car (lots of options and clear prices) and know the route you just plot it in something like Michelin route planner and out comes the cost estimate of fuel, tolls, road tax, etc.
Book early
When you are happy with the destination that you will enjoy & can afford, get it booked, especially if you are using low cost airlines where an early booking means cheaper flights. The bigger the cost, the bigger the opportunity to save. Airfare is one of these big costs and should be the first one on your list to book and lock it. Then you build everything around it.
Start saving
Begin saving for your holiday each month, so by the time it comes to flying away, you will have already paid for it and will have plenty of spending money. Putting away money monthly doesn’t seem to hurt as much as taking big chunk at a time. If you are disciplined and determined then you can save the holiday money in your normal account. If you don’t trust yourself entirely (I know I don’t) then have a separate account where you monthly deposit some money for holidays – a standing order from your main account to pay into the holiday saving account is not a bad idea. In my case it is making my husband transfer money to my account at the beginning of the month. I am standing and it is an order! :)
Buy holiday essentials before travelling
Holiday essentials such as beach towels, sun cream, mosquito repellants, snorkels, flip-flops, etc. tend to cost more in tourist-trap resorts compared to home, so you can save money by buying before you leave.
While You Are There
Set yourself a daily spending budget and stick to it. Especially when traveling with kids! It is wise to simply make it clear to them in advance what their limit is. You definitely won’t avoid all the nagging and pleading but you will avoid some. Just imagine! So many new things to see and, of course, buy in kids eyes.
Also look at cutting down on your food & drink costs by buying meals from local shops and supermarkets, rather than eating in restaurants every day. Just imagine that a coffee in Venice, Italy or any other super popular place for that matter can cost up to 1000 rupees in a very average coffee shop. They lure you in with live music and simple setting and then at the end even the live music part ends up on your bill. Most of restaurants in tourist areas will have prices displayed in front of the entrance – it is a good idea to have a look before you enter to see if it is within your budget.
To conclude I want to say that planning a holiday is just as fun as actually going! I love planning ours. All the details, costs, researching about what to see, reading reviews, recommendations, involving all family members – it’s just super fun. They are expensive so not as frequent as we would want them to be but where there is a will, there is a way. Someone needs to want to go - some sort of holiday driving force in a family needs to exist. That is important. The rest will follow.
One last thing I want to stress again is that when traveling with kids it is really important not to pack the daily schedule too much and to include free play at playgrounds and kids friendly places. Kids should not be rushed for it can bring out the worst in them. Keeping them happy, rested and pleasantly entertained is the key for them not to ruin your holidays. Yes, the holiday has to revolve around them entirely and only then you will achieve stress free holidays.
Plan, save and enjoy exploring the world!
