It’s 3:12AM on February 16 here in Vietnam and seeing as how it’s been a couple days since I’ve been able to post a new blog, I figured since my jet lag is still affecting my sleep, I would write one now. This blog post is going to be strictly about travel tips, websites, and iPhone and Android applications that I’ve used extensively when traveling.
Booking your flights
The first tip that I would like to give people, is to book your plane tickets early, but not too early, to receive the best prices. Studies have shown that you should look to purchase a domestic plane ticket around 1-3 months out from flying and an international flight between 3-5.5 months before the trip. Clearly more should be taken into consideration when booking flights. What website are you using? Are you booking directly from the airline? Do you use air miles? Are you doing a one-way trip and will be purchasing your return ticket later? Are you going during the peak tourist or vacation season? What day of the week are you planning on flying out? All of these can affect your prices.
Before purchasing my plane ticket for Vietnam, I saw that my original arrival time was going to be during the Tét holiday, also known as the Lunar New Year. If I had decided to travel to Vietnam during this holiday, prices would have been considerably higher than what I paid for leaving after the holiday ended. And I decided that, in the best interest of my wallet, it would be best to fly out in the middle of the week rather than a weekend. Flying out on a Tuesday or Wednesday is, on average, $73 cheaper than flying on a Sunday. So if you have the option, choose to fly in the middle of the week for the cheapest flights.
To get the best prices, shop around on various websites rather than booking directly from the airline. I have used various websites to look for the cheapest flights. My go-to first option is StudentUniverse because it gives me various prices on all of the carriers flying to my destination. While the name of the website has the word “student” in it, you don’t have to be a student to book a flight with them and they’re still fairly cheap compared to the other options. Another of my go-to websites is using Google Flights. While this isn’t always the cheapest option, this will give you more of the budget airlines that StudentUniverse won’t give you, such as RyanAir or EasyJet, and will give you prices farther in advance if you can be more flexible. I’ve also become extremely attached to Skyscanner. This website is amazing because it can also give you prices for the entire month, like Google Flights. The plus about Skyscanner is that if you’re open to where you’re going, just want to go on a vacation, then you can choose the destination as “Everywhere” and it will show you the destinations in order of the cheapest and you can decide where you want to go from that list. That makes it fun for people who want to just go.
One warning for all of these websites though is to always check multiple websites rather than choosing just one. You want to make sure that you’re receiving the best price for your specific days that you’re wanting to travel. The good thing is, that most of these websites and airliners will give you an option to pay a minimal fee and you’ll be refunded the difference if the price of the ticket goes down within a narrow window of days.
Tip number two, don’t be afraid of the budget airlines. Sometimes they’ll be better than the major airlines. I have flown with RyanAir (multiple times) and TAP Air Portugal (on this trip) and I’ve always had wonderful experiences all of those times. Many people are wary of these budget airlines because they have add-ons that are needed to fly easily with their airlines, but if you’re willing to pay a little extra for the amenities, then you’ll be perfectly fine. RyanAir requires you to either print your boarding pass before checking in at the airport or pay them a fee of around $25 to print the ticket at the airport. You’re allowed one carry-on luggage and you’ll pay between $10-50 per bag depending on the weight of the bags. This is one of the reasons why many people suggest not bringing a checked bag to the airport, but I rarely listen to this suggestion because I’m horrible at packing still. But even when I pay for all of the add-ons with RyanAir, I still only pay around $150 total (I usually pay a little extra to pick my seat and have priority boarding). That’s considerably cheaper than the $300+ you could be paying a regular airline and still have similar services.
Hotels vs Hostels
So I know that many people have heard horror stories about staying in hostels, but I have never had a single bad experience staying in one. I’m sure that there will be people who can come up with a story of a bad experience, but by and large, you won’t have a bad experience in one or if you did then it’ll be so minor that it won’t affect your entire stay. My arguments for the use of hostels are that they’re cheaper and you get to meet some amazing people in them. My first trip abroad when I traveled alone I stayed in hostels the entire time. The one time that stands out to me the most is when I was in Florence in Summer 2016 before my archaeology field school started and I was staying at a wonderful hostel close to the train station. I sat in the lobby area and made friends with people from various countries, US states, and cities. Two of those people were actually going to Florida Gulf Coast University, which is close to where I went to high school in Florida. We had that in common and bonded quickly. I also met two friends from England and Northern Ireland and we watched the EuroCup 2016 game with Northern Ireland and Wales and it was such an amazing experience to have with people from the UK. 
My main tip for looking at accommodations is to shop around. For booking hostels, I would highly suggest looking at Hostelworld (they have a website and app) because they give you cheap prices, guest reviews, and in-depth information about the rules for each hostel. I have always used Hostelworld when booking my hostels and have never had a bad experience booking through them. If you are wanting to book a hotel, don’t book directly through the website but look at websites, such as Booking because they will usually give you significantly cheaper prices. I also suggest just Googling “hotels in” and the location you’re wanting to go to and they’ll give you a lot of options with various price points. If I’m staying in a hotel rather than a hostel, I’ll usually do that first to see the options and narrow the prices down a little more.
Once again, just have fun when staying at places and keep your mind open. Who knows what you’ll find interesting until you do it. I was afraid of hostels before my first trip but they’re honestly not bad at all.
What to pack for long flights
So this is something that I had to do research on before my first trip because it’s not something that I’ve thought of before. When flying for more than 5 hours you can have noticeable changes to your attitude and this could be affected by your sleep, eating habits, and entertainment on flights. So these are just a few items I would suggest to pack with you in your carry-on to make the flight more comfortable:
- Your charger for your phone/tablet. Most airlines have charging ports for all seats now. Sometimes these charging ports don’t work, so that’s where item number 2 comes in.
- A portable battery pack. I have one that I almost always carry around with me and a second one that I use as a backup when traveling long distances. If the charging ports on the plane don’t work, a battery pack will come in handy for sure.
- A neck pillow. This is something that I have never used but I have always regretted not having one. When you’re on a flight, especially on that is more than 13 hours (like my trip to Vietnam), you want to be comfortable when sleeping. Have a neck pillow will ensure that you can get a little sleep while not hurting your neck.
- Snacks…these are a must sometimes. If you’re on a strict diet, it is highly suggested to bring snacks onto the plane that you can eat because sometimes the airline’s food isn’t the best or most nutritious. On that note...NEVER eat salads on a plane. I ate a salad heading to Italy my first time on Delta and I had food poisoning my first day there because of that salad. I refuse to eat salads on a plane ever again because of that.
- Sleep aids, such as noise-canceling headphones, eye mask, etc. are beneficial for a good night’s sleep. If you’re going longer distances though, I would suggest trying to sleep little so that you don’t have bad jet lag when you get to your final destination.
Miscellaneous applications
So I know that not everyone has the same type of phones, but most of these apps can be found on both iPhone and Android. Airbnb and Homeaway are good websites/applications to have if you have a group of people together who want to stay together and can split the costs. If you want to have a unique experience Couchsurfing is the way to go. You can use this app to find people in the city you’re visiting and can crash on their couch or extra bed. Usually, these individuals are extremely welcoming and will hang out/show you around when they have free time. This app is also 100% free and you won’t be charged to stay at their houses. So respecting their house is a must. It’s also nice to take something as a gift for your host, preferably from wherever you’re from. Uber and Lyft are applications that I have used extensively when traveling if the city/country I am in doesn’t have good public transportation.
Final thoughts
This blog post is considerably longer than intended, but I wanted to give as many tips to people for when they’re traveling. Having as much information as you can is ideal because you want to have a smooth journey. So planning everything ahead of time is what helps me. Sometimes situations arise where you can’t actually plan 100% of the trip, but if you can plan for 90% of it then it’ll make your life considerably easier.
My next post will be on more situational tips that I have accrued throughout my travels and things that I wish I had been told before going abroad as a tourist for the first time.
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