Last Updated on July 5, 2021 by Tina
With the successful rollout of the vaccination in many parts of the world, many countries are starting to ease their restrictions. Countries in Europe such as Spain and France opened to vaccinated travelers from outside the EU. In Southeast Asia, Phuket in Thailand reopened last July for fully vaccinated travelers who are from low and medium-risk countries. The rest of Thailand will reopen in mid-October to fully vaccinated travelers from all over the world. Though travel restrictions may change due to the new variants of the virus, we are now seeing hope that things are slowly getting better. Now is the perfect time to prepare for your post lockdown overseas trip. Here are some things you can do to prepare for that.
Get vaccinated.
If you have access to the Covid-19 vaccines, get vaccinated. It protects you and the people around you, and it helps the world to start to move forward. Also, it is possible in the near future that vaccination is necessary to fly internationally. Some countries like those mentioned above will let you in as long as you are vaccinated.
Check that your passport is still valid.
Is your passport expiring soon? Most countries deny you entry if your passport is not valid for at least six months. So better renew your passport now so that you are ready when the country you want to visit finally opens for leisure travel.
Related Post: Philippine Passport Renewal: A Complete Guide
Decide where you want to go.
Know what you want to achieve in that vacation so that you could narrow down your choices. Deciding where you want to go will make planning your trip easier. But you also have to consider some factors when deciding which country to visit such as flight availability and if it will require you to undergo quarantine.
Do some research and plan your activities.
Now that you know where you are going, it is time to research what activities you can do in that place. You can check out travel blogs for this. In the coming days, I will publish travel guides for some of the countries I’ve been to in Southeast Asia and some places in the Philippines so watch out for that.
You should be aware that not all businesses will be open or they may have shorter operating hours. Tourist attractions may have restrictions. Prepare an itinerary based on this. An itinerary helps you maximize your time during the trip and makes it easier and faster to get from one tourist destination to the next.
Research your costs.
With the itinerary that you have prepared, you are now ready to make an estimate of the cost for your trip. Research the costs at the style of travel you want. Are you planning to stay in luxury hotels or in an Airbnb property? Are you seeing the sights on your own or joining a guided tour? Are you going to eat in posh restaurants or fast foods?
Start saving money for travel.
Now that you have a rough estimate of how much you’ll be needing for your trip, it’s time to start saving. Write down all your current expenses and determine which of these are unnecessary expenses. Think of ways to cut back on your expenses. Sell stuff that you no longer need. Look for a side hustle so you’ll have extra income. If you are really determined, saving for that trip wouldn’t be that hard.
Choose your accommodation carefully.
Since you have already prepared an itinerary, make sure that the accommodation you book is close to the places you are going to visit to save on time and transportation expenses.
And with the current situation, make sure that you can cancel without penalty in case there are changes with the travel restrictions. It will be best if there is an option of paying on arrival. It will save you from a lot of hassle of requesting for a refund.
That’s it. Now it’s time to plan your trip! Have tips to add to this list? Feel free to share in the comments below.
