How to plan a serious trip

I know you’re thinking about travel, who isn’t? It’s about time to leave our quarantine bubbles and get back out there. You may not be ready or feel the world isn’t ready for your trip, but it’s never too early to start planning! When planning a big adventure, there are so many things to think about. Having gone on two huge continental exploring trips, I have a lot of experience in this arena.  
It’s good to read about your travel destination in terms of safety. What’s been happening there lately? Is it generally a safe place? One thing you can do is register your trip and length of stay with the U.S. Embassy in the country you are visiting. They also have wonderful updates to tell you if there are natural disaster alerts, brewing political unrest, and other potentially dangerous news you need to be aware of.  
That being said, most people don’t travel on huge backpacking across the world kind of trips. So your family and peers may try to influence you with their fear. There’s nothing wrong with that, unless it prevents you from taking your trip. Some situations are cause for re-evaluation, however even post-pandemic, it is extremely safe to travel to most places in the world!
After you’ve done your preliminary studying, begin a budget. I generally recommend looking at your minimum monthly expenses and multiplying that number by how many months you’ll be there(or dividing it for weeks) to give you an idea of what to save for. If you are staying in hostels, your stay will be cheaper than average monthly rent. However if you are taking many flights that might make up for that savings. If you’re on a tight budget, consider sleeper car trains or overnight buses, where you can get a night’s stay and travel in one! This is how I got to travel to seven different countries on a very limited budget!
Once budget is locked in, decide on the most important tourist destinations you don’t want to miss. Then keep time and space available to experience local non tourist culture so you can enjoy what’s real about the place you are heading to, not just the well worn path.  
Also, if you are traveling somewhere where the local language is foreign, consider doing a crash course in the language. Even if you are strapped for time, know the basics so that you can make sure you are safe and taken care of anywhere you go! Please reach out if you need help planning your trip. I love giving advice and have helped many others in planning their epic adventures!

Happy planning!

Brittany
World Traveler & Spanish Conversation Coach
Vamos Denver