Thousands of people have already booked their summer holiday, with the spectre of something warm and ‘beachy’ helping them get through the incessant cold, wet days of winter. Most of these people will have had to save up hard for this trip, making cut-backs here and there, thus the few days overseas become inordinately precious.
It’s pertinent, therefore, to take steps which will enable you to maximise your holiday and not waste a single minute, unless you want to, of course, especially on those bug bears that should have been long behind you including any concerns over getting the right travel insurance for a single trip. With that in mind, here are some tips on getting the most out of your limited time away:
Read up on it before you go
You must have done a little research upon which your decision to visit said destination was based in the first place. Thus you’ll know you don’t need to rush out and buy a guide book to find out about a country / city / resort unless you particularly wanted to.
The internet is full of tips, advice and guidance, so find out a bit more about the place before you go. If you arrive pre-informed, you’ll know exactly where you want to go, what to see and where the best restaurants are. You can, in effect, pretty much guarantee yourself an amazing trip.
What’s more, you might be able to save yourself some money by booking excursions in advance and not via your travel operator.
Do something out of the ordinary – have an experience
While we all like to laze around the pool or relax at the beach bar, doing this every day is not maximising your holiday. Doing something a little unusual, however, might be. There will be opportunities afforded to you while on holiday that wouldn’t be so easily available back at home (nor seem quite so tempting), so why not have a go at something out of the ordinary and amaze your friends? Go on, paraglide. Or go zorbing. Or do that bungee jump. It will make the holiday one you’ll never forget.
Of course, it’s a good idea to make sure you’ve got adequate travel insurance before embarking on some experiences, lest you end up seeing out your trip from a hospital bed. Check what you’re covered for, to be on the safe side – you can imagine how expensive those medical bills might be.
Don’t overdo it
Your single trip holiday is probably about a fortnight in duration, at the most. It would therefore be such a shame to waste one or two days due to hangovers. While having a good time is apparently ingrained in ‘The Brit Abroad’ psyche, be sensible where possible. Eat a good meal before starting on the drinks, alternate with bottled water and when you’ve had enough, stop. Otherwise that’s going to be some expensive sick day.
Get friendly with the locals
No, not that way – try to speak the language. No matter how dreadful your attempts might be, local people will always appreciate the effort and you might find you receive a better service as a result. What’s more, demonstrating a genuine curiosity of your surroundings and seeking out the places frequented by locals could offer you an insight into and appreciation for the resort that fellow tourists don’t get. Asking questions could lead to invitations to dinner, family weddings, drinks after closing time, who knows? Your trip could be all the more enriched is you show as little interest.
I´ve had some of this trips and they are really fun, just like you say, don´t over do it with the drinking, many places you can travel have interesting tours that start in the morning and is not worth it to miss them or to be sick during a tour in a beautiful place when you´ll maybe never be there again.
Thanks Allan. I think the drinking you’ve hit on the (metaphorical) head – I’ve been skiing before, for example, and that’s awful if you indulge in too much aprés ski!