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So its 2020, and you have decided that you really want to travel on your own this time. You have your destination in mind and you know when do you want to travel but now its time to do the booking and set your itinerary but you do not know where to start from? well you have come to the right place.
After reading this blog you will have a pretty clear idea on how to go about doing all the bookings and how to make sure that you have everything you will need in place. okay so in order to simplify this process i have broken down this entire tedious process into 6 very simple steps.
If you don't know already, i had gone for my solo trip to Ladakh in 2019 and for that trip i had followed these 6 very simple steps, so for better understanding i am going to take the reference of my Ladakh trip and explain you these 6 steps to kick start your planning process right away.
1) DECIDING THE LOCATION
so starting from the scratch, the first step has to be in deciding where do you want to go? this might be in terms of if you want to travel solo or in a group of backpackers? you want to travel domestic or international? you want to see the mountains or the beaches? you want to go to a warmer/colder place? and many more.....
once you have firmly decided your location you can then you can set your moves in that direction and make some actual progress.
2) SET YOUR BUDGET!
Every destination can be either travelled like a tourist or a traveller. by this i mean every destination could be explored and enjoyed with a very high budget or a low budget, you would not go wrong either way.
usually when it comes to solo backpacking trips ranging in about 5-8 days my budget personally would be around 10000-15000 excluding the flights. A lot of factors come in between like your month of travelling, your location itself, your budget (obviously), your mode of travelling etc etc.
For my ladakh trip i had gone with a backpacking company, and it was a biking road trip so i costed me quite a bit more, my trip was around 35000/- rupees delhi-delhi, excluding my flight tickets to and fro from hyd. so your budget will define everything it could be as low as 5000-7000 rupees or as high as 35000-50000.
3) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
There are a lot of companies which are competing in this business, i mean for example for my ladakh trip i had to research easily 2 full days to lock onto one solid company i want to travel with. for every destination the degree of competition may vary but proper R&D is highly needed. You are going to travel with a company you never have before so gaining proper knowledge about them is highly important. Also, these days the amount of activity and things each company offer vary a lot so depending upon your choices and preferences choosing the right company becomes essential.
Now there are 2 variety of people, who like to go full solo and want to do their own bookings or the ones that want to just go through a travel company. for both the kind proper R&D is highly essential.
4) MAKING THE BOOKINGS
Here comes the exciting part, because you have decided your destination, set your budget, did the proper research and development on what you want to do and how you want to do it, all you have left to do is make the bookings. After this point you are practically ready to leave for the trip itself but there are some small things left to do.
5) BACKUP PLAN
So sometimes things may not turn out to be the way you plan them to, so in that case you will need a plan B. now when i say plan B it usually focuses on the second type of people i talked about in R&D because all they have is themselves so a backup plan maybe something like an emergency contact number, or emergency medication, etc. Anything that can again get you back moving when you come through a hurdle is a backup plan.
In my case of Ladakh, my backup plan was just writing emergency contact numbers or a paper just in case i loose my phone or something and having some money in my secondary bag if i misplace my main one. other than that nothing else because i was going through a very reputed company.
6) PACKING THE BAGS
This is the part where everything is ready and the only thing left to do is packing your bags up and to leave the house and you are all set for an adventure of your lifetime. but something you should keep in mind is wherever you go, packing light and smart will always make your work easier.
pro tip:- use your notes and create a base packing checklist to use for every future trip, additions and subtractions could be made to that ahead depending on the type of trip. (a blog coming on that too later :p)
After this step you have practically covered each and every section of the planning process, from deciding the location, setting budget, creating a perfect itinerary with adequate research, setting a budget and making sure all your further bookings are within them, having a proper backup plan if anything does not go as planned and finally packing.
Travelling is something that is personal to everyone and it does not have any rule book. These six steps act as a base and they alone would suffice all your requirements, personalizing this list based on what kind of traveler you are and what are your needs and preferences would be all your choice.
for example, I am a travel/street photographer so for me having a whole another solid bag to hold my equipment which is worth Lakh's of rupees would be practical and logical but the same for any normal traveler would be illogical. There is no right or there is no wrong to this it is all based on personal preferences.
So this concludes the blog and i hope i helped in planning your next future trip process a little simpler and a little faster. hope to see you guys soon.
thank you!
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