It can be so overwhelming getting ready for a trip, whether it be short-term or long-term. You feel like you have a million and one things to do and no idea where to even start. I hope this guide helps you get your trip organised, so that you can relax and start getting EXCITED!
Number One: Decide a destination
The first question you should ask yourselves is where? What continent? What country?. Once you have decided where you want to go, you can then start to research your chosen destination and get planning. When I left for my long-term backpacking trip I was going to be travelling a lot of different countries so I just chose the general region of south east Asia (which I highly recommend if this is your first long-term solo trip).
Number two: decide on the duration of your trip
Once you have an idea of how long roughly you like to go for, you can then come up with a daily budget and calculate it for your duration. Deciding how long you’d like to go for also allows you to figure out main places you’d like to visit, or excursions you’d like to take. Maybe you are visiting a country for one month and have 10 parts of the country you like to visit, you know you only have time for roughly 3 days in each location, and so on.
Number three: when?
If you have read my blog on India, you will know I completely missed this part out, and suffered the consequences. It’s a good idea to figure out when you want to go for a few reasons, one being climate. Once you have found out what climate you can expect, you can then pack accordingly. Possibly a little obvious, but if you’re like me ( a do-er, not a thinker) then you’re welcome. Another good reason to figure out the ‘when’ is tourist season. Find out the peak season for when tourists and other backpackers visit the country. You can then join them, or avoid them, depending on your preference. Also once you have picked a date, you can book your flight! To me, booking my flight was the hardest part. I think because once you book the flight it’s like a done deal, omg it’s booked I’m actually going.
Number four: money and budgeting
Now it’s time to do a little research. For me, the main things I researched were the cost of a dorm bed, the cost of the meal, bottle of water. These are your main spenders on the daily. For example, I went onto www.hostelworld.com and researched hostels in let’s say Bangkok. I then Took all of the prices from the front page and calculated the average cost. I would then go onto google maps and look at various restaurants and look at the average cost of a meal. Also YouTube became my best friend. I learnt that on a rough estimate, whilst backpacking South East Asia a good budget would be roughly £30-£40 per day. And that would cover; accommodation, food, transport, tours, partying, scooter rental etc. Basically for you to live like a Queen/King.
And there you have it. Plain and simple, no need to stress. These are the main points you need to get clear and the hardest parts and over and done with. The finer details, such as ‘what are the best things to see and do’, ‘what goes in my backpack’ you can worry about at a later date!