budget

After planning for so many holidays, we at 2bearbear.com have decided to share some of the things to look out for to successfully plan your own holiday and vacation.

1. Plan early. This is especially so when you are going away for long holidays during peak periods. Planning early for your vacation can help to ease some of the last minute anxieties. Removing these anxieties can help to ensure your holiday will be a stress-free one. Not only so, here are some of the other benefits of why you should plan early for your next holiday or vacation…

   a. Better Prices for air fares / hotels.  Planning early can help you lock in the low prices especially when you know that you are travelling during peak seasons , summer vacations, special events. You might have noticed by now that when you travel during these peak seasons or special events, prices are radically higher closer to the season. If you book 2 to 3 months earlier, chances are you would have locked in a lower price. Of course there are last minute flights/hotels kind of deals, but you really know that these are good for off-peak periods.
   b. Personal arrangements.  Planning early can also give you time to make personal arrangements. For instance, you may want to lock in your leave period so that you can de-conflict the timings with your colleagues. Also, you can have time to ensure who is looking after the house/kids/pets while you are away.

   c. Anticipate. Of course, the best part of planning early is that as you go about your busy schedule each day, knowing that you will be rewarded with a well-deserved holiday not far from the horizon. In fact, studies have shown that one derives substantial happiness by the mere fact of anticipating an upcoming holiday. So go on, plan your next holiday early and start deriving the joy of happiness now! 🙂

2. Budget. It is important to tie down your budget early when you start planning for your next vacation. You will need to run through how much air fares, hotels, daily expenses (including that splurge on a posh dinner), souvenirs (all the toys,candies,biscuits etc for your kids, family and colleagues), transport and miscellaneous stuff cost.

These small little items can sometimes over run your initial budget estimate. And when you over run your budget, that’s when anxiety sets in to disrupt your holiday. Hence, it is always important to include all of these in your budgeting. The last thing you want on your mind when you go on your holiday is to always think about conversions and how much to spend/save. Before you know it, your holiday would be long gone and you might have to contend with the bills thereafter.

It is therefore wise to think ahead, if you’re only buying gifts for mum and dad, then stick to it. Enjoy the holiday and vacation knowing that you have planned ahead for the expenses along the way.

3. Know what you want to do. Unlike joining tour groups or programmes of travel agencies, the flexibility of planning your holiday is that you can pretty much go wherever you want and do whatever you want during your holiday. Having said that, it is always important to know what you want to do there.  This pretty much depends on your objectives.

Say for example, you just want to laze at the beach, then there is not much that you need to plan for except that sun tan lotion / UV protection. However, if you are going to visit theme parks, museums and famous attractions, then it is wise to pen them down and decide when you’re gonna visit them. Dont forget the transport time as well.

However, if you are unsure of what you want to do but still want to visit that country/location, you are pretty much recommended to visit the country/location with a travel group/agency for the first time. Thereafter, you can plan for a second visit on your own.

4. Things will go wrong (Murphy’s Law). It is always important to keep an open mind when you are travelling. According to Murphy’s Law , whatever  can go wrong will go wrong! Bottom line is – things will go wrong!

Can you believe that Kate and I actually landed in a wrong airport before?! But it is important to just pick up the pieces and embrace it with an open heart. Thereafter, we enjoyed a well deserved meal and continued to enjoy the rest of the holiday. On a smaller scale, you might have forgotten your shaver or even your mobile or lap top. It is not the end of the world, your holiday is still awaiting. Enjoy what you have planned! Looking back, it is just fun for us to recall the incident and the memory sticks with us. If it had not gone wrong, we would have just continued with our holiday without another memorial incident.

5. Enjoy! Last but not least, enjoy the holiday! Enjoy the thrill of anticipation and the holiday itself!

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