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Tips for cheap holiday travel
4 December 2007
With the winter break coming up, it might be the right time to take a trip abroad. The same fears attached to international travel still apply: Can I afford to leave the country? Do the people there speak English? Can I survive without a guided tour?
Coupled with some smart planning and a little preparation, a holiday trip can turn out to be fun and affordable as well as safe.
Dave Rudel and Lisa Baum, study abroad coordinator and adviser respectively, used their own travel experiences and those of the overseas-bound students they advise to provide students with 10 travel tips (in no particular order).
1. Get some travel insurance, "especially for medical service," Rudel said. The procedure for acquiring insurance and rules on how it works differ from country to country, so a bit of research is required.
2. Do some research on the destination. Rudel said guide books such as "Lonely Planet" are ideal reference for a student tourist because, unlike Internet sources, they can be accessed anywhere. Baum said a good guidebook can be just as helpful as an expensive guided tour.
3. Do not over pack luggage. Learn what your real essentials are. "Take out everything you need," he said, "and cut out half of that." The reason is it simply becomes physically exhausting to haul around luggage, especially if you're backpacking.
4. Know how matters of money work in the country. Baum said to avoid money exchange shops or desks, even the ones attached to big-name hotel franchises, who tend to overcharge on exchange rates. She said the best rates usually come from airport exchangers. Rudel said he mostly uses his ATM card and a small amount of cash in the local currency when abroad.
5. Bring duct tape. "You can 'MacGyver' anything with it," Baum said. It is an affordable way to repair torn luggage and temporarily patch up clothing and shoes. Duct tape can also serve as a safety tool. "You can tape the door shut if the place you're staying at has bad locks," she said.
Source : http://media.www.thespartandaily.com
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