15 Best Travel Recommendations

Travelling frequently has enriched my life experience and led me to make more inspired choices each time.

When I remember the first trips, I remember a lot of luggage, wasted time, completely lost, broken or forgotten cameras at home, less inspired accommodations, that is all kinds of things that could have been avoided if I had prepared or better informed.

That's why I thought to suggest some tips to help you plan a successful vacation:

1. For holidays not exceeding three nights, take only a piece of small luggage with you in the form of a backpack/carry-on. Make sure you include at least one change of clothes and the most necessary items you need daily. When I think of a big suitcase with many items, I realized that most of the time, I don't end up wearing everything; therefore, it's a waste of energy to pack them and carry them at the end of the world with me. Especially if you travel in Europe, having a big suitcase while going by train or metro, it will be a huge hassle, going up and down the stairs.

2. Buy your plane tickets in advance with a few good months, preferably in January of the year you will travel (now is a perfect time, no?) as it's statistically proven that tickets tend to be cheaper during this month.

3. Another recommendation I have is to choose as a period for city breaks and weekends in the first quarter of the year, as I mentioned, airfares are cheaper. From April onwards flight tickets are becoming more expensive, unless there is a deal from certain airlines, but most likely you will not qualify for miles.

4. When choosing the hotel, whether you book the room directly from the hotel's website or from a reservation portal, collect information about the hotel beforehand, from those who have been there, the note given on the trip advisor, for example, is a good landmark. Poor accommodation will ruin your vacation.

5. Take with you both cash and a card. In certain countries, it's much easier to deal with cash and leave your card just for shopping or crisis. Never put the money with the card in the same place, and cash is good to have in two places. You never know what can happen, so it's better to be safe than sorry!

6. Take more money with you than you need. It is good to have at least one plane ticket, one night's accommodation, and food. You never know what can happen and you have to stay at the destination. You miss the flight because of the traffic jam on the way to the airport, or you get stung by a wasp and you find out that you are allergic…you never know, so it's always better to be prepared! If nothing happens, when you get back home, you can use the money to buy yourself a new trip.

7. When choosing a destination, check-in advance about the distance from the airport to the city. Sometimes it could be two hours transfer by train or bus. For a city break, it is a waste of time. At the same time, if you buy a low-cost airline ticket, the transfer may raise the cost a lot, so it would be actually cheaper and more efficient to buy a ticket with an airline that lands to the airport which is closer to the city. In addition, you have the meal provided in the plane and the check-in luggage included, and if you want to shop, especially for liquids, a piece of check-in luggage is useful.

8. Depart towards the airport at least three hours ahead of your return flight. The airport can be very big, and you have to walk a lot to the boarding gate, and for some big airports, you even need to take a train between different terminals. It can take you half an hour from the check-up to the boarding gate, so better to be relaxed in a massage chair, or do some last-minute souvenir shopping, then to lose the flight.

9. At the airport, always keep an eye on the monitors announcing the boarding gate. This can change! It happened to me while traveling to Greece, the flight was delayed, so the gate changed 4 times within 3 hours.

10. Buy travel insurance, even if you go to the neighbor country. You never know how suddenly you have an eye infection, or you feel dizzy, and if you go to a different country you and end paying a lot of money just for the consultation.

11. If you go with your family and take check-in luggage or even large hand luggage, mix things in luggage from one to the other. There is the possibility of getting your luggage lost and I do not think you will be comfortable without a coat if you travel to a colder country, or a swimming suit if you go to a warm country.

12. If you are traveling abroad and you need to buy train tickets for longer journeys, you should definitely do this as much possible in advance from websites such as www.omio.com or www.thetrainline.com You will buy them at even half of the price compared to the ones you get from the train stations minutes before departure, and on top of that you will skip those long lines at the station tickets counter.

13. Buy a city pass or a ticket for all transportation, depending on the length of your stay it can be 24, 48 or 72 hours or even a week. It saves time, and if you can do it online, you don't have to worry about losing the ticket.

14. Don't try to visit everything in one single day! Try to enjoy the walk and the landscape, and do not turn your trip into an under-clock must see all! Do not overdo it, take into account some relax time, and this will make you enjoy the destination, but also it will help you feel the freedom of traveling and not staying home.

15. Do not buy souvenirs from crowded places, because they are very expensive, 3-4 times more expensive. On the nearby streets you can find them at reasonable prices, or just try to find a local market. The unknown locations have the best souvenirs.

I obviously have many more recommendations, but it will come on a later stage, once you master these! The fewer problems we face, the better our travels will be, so help me out in planning my next trips, by telling me your tricks and recommendations.