5 Stress-Busting Tips for Making the Most of Your Holiday
The glorious, sizzling summer holiday season is upon us. Visions of beautiful blue skies, aperol spritz and liberty print dresses are now an actual living reality. But is the dream more romantic than the actuality? Holidays are amazing - who’s to argue they’re not? - but they’re also a source of great financial and organisational anxiety... That’s why we’ve put together a stress-busting list of tips to ease your holiday burdens.
- Make the most of elusive deals. You can save loads of cash if you bag a good deal. Start with the flights - the aim to book 6 - 12 weeks in advance (not earlier, but not later, either). There’s no short supply of flight search websites, and our personal favourites are Kayak and Skyscanner, but there’s plenty others worth checking out, too. Don’t forget about air miles and frequent flyer programs - you can read more about the benefits of opening a credit card for accumulating miles here. And if you want to keep airline costs at a bare minimum, pay attention to the lesser known airlines - they usually offer the best rates - and don’t fly direct. Finally, it’s worth signing up to a mailing list that sends you one-off deals directly to your inbox. Not only will this help save you time, but you’ll be amazed at the amazing offers at hand. Nomadic Matt and Holiday Pirates are great sources for scoring these deals.
Budget for everything - not just the nice bits. Once you’ve booked your flights and accommodation, it’s easy to think, ‘that’s it, I’m all budgeted for’. Nope, and nope. From travel insurance and roaming charges to hiring a car and paying for food, there’s a whole bunch of sneaky extra costs to holidaying. It’s best you figure all these out in advance, so as to avoid being shocked and totally out your depth in a foreign country.
Know the perks of hotels vs. self-catered accommodation. Again, it’s worth checking out last minute deals - Trivago and Expedia offer decent rates, and websites like Secret Escapes offer its members significant discounts. But it’s also worth considering self-catered holidays, especially if you’re travelling with family. Beyond the obvious Airbnb, there’s also VRBO - owned by HomeAway. And if you’re up for something a little more adventurous - Canopy & Stars offer an impressive selection of glamping holiday options.
Maximise your money with smart currency exchange. If only we had a penny for every time we were duped with foreign currency exchange, it would just about make up for all the money lost! Don’t make the same mistakes and exchange your money in the UK to avoid said conundrums. Also, it’s worth checking out the super handy app called Revolut. It offers so-called interbank rates on currency - the rate in which the banks lend to each other. Once you’ve got it on your phone, you can spend online through an electronic credit card, you can apply for a physical card that can be used to pay abroad.
Read up on insider’s advice. There’s no shortage of travel savvy bloggers and Instagrammers, so why not get inspired and learn from the most experienced travellers. Some blogs we follow are Jack Morris’ stunning Do You Travel and Hey Nadine.
Credit Image: Giphy.
