To be fair I guess we’ve all been there – where when we travel for the first time or the first few times for that matter we tend to focus our attention on the “wrong” things. We sweat the small stuff which in the grander scheme of things really doesn’t even matter at all. Don’t sweat the small stuff – focus on what really matters, which I suppose is something you would learn as you go along, but if you want some insider information from some people who have been doing this for a while then you can benefit out of learning how to make sure you fully enjoy every single destination you go to.

Plan well in advance

The more you talk about an upcoming trip with the right people, the more secrets about the destination you’re going to you will uncover. So plan well in advance, from booking a variable date ticket (all flight tickets cost way less if you book well, well in advance) to securing the accommodation. Even activities become cheaper if you book in advance, but this isn’t something you should readily jump into by simply running online searches.

If you can befriend a local and ask them to hand you the 4-1-1 then you’ll have the time of your life.

Give yourself ample time at the destination

I’ve been to month-long holidays and started panicking three weeks into the holiday about just how much of a short time an entire month turned out to be. So I guess the best that you can do is try to get as much time as you can to enjoy your destination. It helps to be able to take your time and ease into it.

Take your time to learn a bit more about the environment

If you’re clued up about something like the weather patterns of a known monsoon destination during monsoon season for example, you’ll know that it doesn’t necessarily rain the entire time, continuously. Furthermore, you will perhaps get to enjoy some destinations during off-peak seasons because everybody else thinks that the environmental factors aren’t too conducive for tourism, whereas all it really requires is for you to plan carefully. You’ll enjoy a place like Thailand for example if you can get there during low-season, when it supposedly rains all the time (it doesn’t).

Try to live like a local

Even if you’re perhaps visiting a known tourist town such as the likes of Patong maybe in Phuket, Thailand, there are indeed some locals who would naturally live there as their home town. Try to live like they do, if only for a little while so that you can uncover some of the places where they shop at what would naturally be much cheaper prices. Get a cheap rental car maybe as well so that you don’t have to hail a taxi to get around and perhaps rent an apartment instead of staying in a typical holiday destination type hotel, resort, etc.

The costs you’d be able to save could mean that you would be able to stay longer and really get to enjoy the destination fully.