Researching, planning and budgeting

 

Planning and researching our trips well in advance is our holiday style…we definitely aren’t the “wing it” kind of travellers. We like to have everything pre-booked and planned down to the last detail. With three young kids in tow it makes our life much easier when we are organised. Obviously things don’t always go to plan which we found out on our latest trip when we had to charter a small plane to get off an island in the Philippines! . When these problems arise we will deal with them and so far they are few and far between.

When we are doing a trip with a few different destinations there is a lot of planning like mapping out a rough itinerary, finding out the distance to each place and the easiest and most kid-friendly way to get there, costs and accommodation options.

One of our favourite websites for planning is Rome2Rio.This  site tells you how far away destinations are, travel times for every mode of transport and even rough costs for each, including taxis. It’s fantastic !

The other site my hubby uses religiously is Google Earth. From Google Earth you can get a rough idea on how much is around hotels etc as far as restaurants go, how far hotels are from each other – you name it google earth will show you! We used this recently when planning a trip to Vietnam with my parents. They wanted different hotel options to us so we were able to check the distance between where they wanted to stay and where we would be staying to make sure we weren’t too far apart.

Once we have our itinerary sorted and have initial flights booked we will work it how long we want to stay in each place, then calculate the travel time to each place. Then we can book our accommodation and organise our transport. In Europe we used the train to each country, it was relaxing , cheap and a great way to see the countryside. The Philippines we used a mix of ferries and domestic flights – a 40min flight on Cebu Pacific as opposed to a seven hour ferry was much more appealing!

Once everything is all booked and confirmed we will print off all our documents, make notes of what has been paid in full and how much is owing if we have only paid deposits . I’ll mark in my calendar when final payment is due …a lesson I learnt the hard way after a hotel recently cancelled my booking without notifying me the day before I travelled, purely because I forgot to pay the balance and they never chased it up or reminded me.

Before we travel I love to look up tour options, attractions and research what I can… printing maps, addresses of things I want to visit, and pop them all in the file for that destination. It makes managing your days a bit easier when you arrive, especially if your wifi isn’t great . We downloaded some awesome offine maps for Paris, London, Venice and Rome which were very useful when you don’t have  internet. Look up any apps for the place you are visiting as those can he helpful too and will often include maps.

 

BUDGETING

Before you even start planning you need to set a rough budget so you know your options. There’s no point in planning a three week trip through America staying at flash resorts if you have a budget of $2000. Work out what you can afford to spend per day  for the whole trip including food, transport, tours and accommodation and go from there.  If you’re travelling with a large family AirBNB can be a great money saver and can be much more roomy! When it comes to saving for trips we aren’t great at this – we tend to put it on the credit card and worry about it later  But when we have a trip coming up we will cut back on going out for dinners and lunches, and all those little unnecessary expenditures.

It’s always good to take a little backup money because you never know when you might need to pay $1000 cash for a tiny propeller plane to get you off a stranded island! Opening a savings account dedicated to travelling is a great idea –  set up a automatic recurring payment from your main account each week well in advance.

 

FREQUENT FLYER/REWARD PROGRAMS
I recommend signing up for a great frequent flyer program, so you can accumulate points with your credit card. Do your research to find one that will give you the best benefits with the least fees. We use our credit card for everything possible, as well as work bills and we have enough points for five of us to travel to America at the moment! Here is a guide I found useful on different programs. Groceries, bills, absolutely anything you can use your card for and transfer back. You’ll be so surprised how quickly it adds up.

 

CHEAP FLIGHTS

Sign up to every airlines VIP membership so you can get early access or notifications to sales on flights. The AirAsia Big Account normally gives you access to promotions 24 hours earlier than non-members and you can snap up some great fares. We recently got 5 of us to Vietnam in school holidays for $1500Aud which we thought was a bargain!

Apps like Hopper are great  and you can put in your preferred dates and destination and it will tell you when is cheapest to book or send you notifications when they are on sale. The only downside was getting notifications after we booked our Philippines with cheaper fares !

My friend Vanessa from Wanderlust Crew wrote a great post about how she flies for cheap or sometimes free which you can read here  and Evie from Mumpacktravel has written a post on skyscanner and great ways to find cheap flights here  which are both very useful articles.

 

MY TOP TIPS

  • Print maps for your destinations before you go and any other useful information including hotel addresses
  • Open a dedicated savings account which you can set up a automatic transfer from your main account
  • Take extra cash in case of emergencies, or ensure your credit card has enough spare
  • Sign up to airline VIP memberships to ensure your notified of flight sales

 

Everyone is different, some people like their travel plans flexible and are happy to book as they go, especially if time isn’t an issue. Some prefer to have all their plans and itineraries booked well in advance leaving no surprises. Some prefer luxury resorts, and other more traditional experiences like homestays. Whatever your preference , planning and researching is half the fun of the trip! Enjoy your next adventure – and let me know if you have any tips to share in the comments below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FIJI SHORE EXCURSIONS

We recently went on our third cruise on Royal Caribbean, this time on the Voyager of the Seas. We sailed from Sydney to New Caledonia, Fiji and back to Sydney. Our stops included Lautoka and Suva in Fiji and Noumea and Mare Island in New Caledonia. I have had so many ask about what we did on our shore excursions in Fiji so here it is !

LAUTOKA

We pre arranged a tour through Micks Fiji Tours & Transfers for our stop in Lautoka. We chose to visit the Garden of the sleeping giant, mudpool, and do some local shopping. The tour guides met us at the ship dock, and we had a aircon minivan to fit us all (we had a group of 4 adults and 5 kids). The guides were fantastic but my only disappointment was that they didn’t speak fantastic English – we were met with stares and simple nods when we asked certain questions, which when you want to know as much about a place as possible, it was a bit disappointing.

 

GARDEN OF THE SLEEPING GIANT

The Garden of the sleeping giant was beautiful and definitely worth a visit. It was formally a private garden of the american Actor Raymond Burr but is now open to the public. It contains more than 2000 varieties of  Asian orchids and Cattleya hybridsm, aswell as amazing lilli ponds, and much more. We didn’t trek too far as we had 5 kids to lug between us all, but the scenery and rain forest was absolutely beautiful and the kids had a great time. The entrance fees cost us around $30 AUD for us 5.

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SABETO MUDPOOL

Who could resist the thought of covering their body in dirty mud ! Sabeto mudpool is a short drive from the Garden of the sleeping giant, and the scenery on the way is just beautiful. When you arrive and pay the fees (around $40 AUD for the family), you go over to the Mudpool where you cover yourself in a thick mud and allow it to dry.The therapeutic mud pool claims to be the perfect remedy for self-cleansing or naturally beautifying yourself and I was told it can help everything from Ezcema,skin infections, rashes and much more. I actually had a rash that I get from sun cream etc at the time and I defnitley noticed an improvement!

Once the mud is dry you hop into the dirty muddy water and wash it off – this was a bit gross as you can feel the reeds below your feet but cant see them! I have a fear of not being able to see what I’m swimming in ! 🙂  Next you hop into the 37 degree hot spring –  The sulphur in the hot springs is believed by locals to have healing properties aswell, and it feels amazing – like a hot bath but with a much better view. My 2 year old refused to get out he loved it.

There are showers to clean any remaining mud after, ( I don’t recommend wearing white bathers I’m still trying to bring these back to white !) and some refreshments like watermelon, water and also massages are on offer. A great way to finish off the “cleanse”.

Defnitley recommend this as a tour we had a fantastic time

 

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We headed into Laukota city after this stop and had some lunch, there were a few restaurants there but a few we weren’t overly keen on dining in. We found a great place that had pizza, chips, fijian beer and vodkas which all up cost around $40 for us 5. Our whole day tour cost our family of 5 $75 AUD which we paid in Australian Dollars when we finished the tour. Thank you to Micks Fiji Tours for a great day !

 

SUVA

We hadn’t pre arranged a tour at Suva but knew there would be plenty of options at the dock once we arrived. I had decided I wanted to visit a waterfall so we found a tour that included this option. I cant remember the name of the tour we went through they were a small family run business and the lady who was our guide was just gorgeous – spoke amazing English and was so informative and funny ! Our first stop was the waterfall – I wish we went here last so we could have spent more time. It was AMAZING ! The walk down wasn’t too far (although coming back up the steps carrying a toddler it felt like miles), and I felt much better after our guide told us there was no snakes, and the government sprays all the jungles for mozzies (yes I have a bug and snake phobia!). We stripped off and were straight off to test out the rope swing. The kids loved it, the water was deep so no worry of them hitting anything, and a beautiful temperature. There is something about natural spring water, it is just so pure and refreshing. The 2 year old wasn’t keen on having a swim but was happy to dip his toes in. There is toilets there if required, and its defnitley a trip that is suitable for all fitness levels and ages providing they are ok with some stairs. I Defnitley can’t recommend this spot enough, I could have spent all day there it was just beautiful.

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After here we had a little lunch and and a drink at a beautiful place called Raintree Lodge, it had the most gorgeous scenery and the kids could feed the fish in the lake.

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LOCAL VILLAGE

We next were taken to a local Fijian village which was a great experience!. When we arrived we were sat down ready to watch the traditional dancing by the men and the Kava ceremony. My hubby and my friend both had a drink of the Kava (after the guide telling me how it can be so strong people lay there unable to move properly I swiftly declined). The kids were invited to dance with the men and my son thought it was fantastic leading the pack with them copying his moves ! We were allowed to wander around the village, try some traditional Fijian lunch and browse the little stalls. The village had their own community hall, had around 300 community members, and the houses each had surnames representing each family. It was a great experience for the kids (who now want to live in a village with the extended family!) and something I would love to go back and experience more of. The entry fee was around $10 FD for adults and $5 for kids.

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We fell in love with Fiji – the people are just so happy and friendly. Never without a smile on their face ! Defnitley somewhere I will come back and explore more of !

April xo