Deciding how you want to travel is a difficult thing. There are plenty of horror stories about people who haven't planned effectively and ended up running out of money, stranded somewhere strange and far away. Then again, it's hard not to turn your nose up at people who plan too meticulously, for it seems like they've somehow 'missed the point' of travelling.
There is a great imperative to plan financially. You need to get a good idea of how much things are going to cost you, including transportation and living costs in each area. Once you have figured out how much, you need to increase your budget still, so as to cover yourself if something goes wrong. You should also have some money spare for unforeseeable opportunities.
On the other hand, you should not plan everything to death. There are lots of reasons for this. Perhaps the most pragmatically important on is that nothing ever goes to plan, so if you have a meticulous plan for a large trip, it is unrealistic to assume it will hold up. Through unforeseen circumstances you will end up diverging from your plan, and if you can't cope with that, your travelling will become riddles with stress.
The other reason is just the fact that the purpose of travelling is to wrap your head around new experiences. It seems back to front to plan where these experiences will be, and what form they will take, before you have even visited the places you are planning to see. Because of this, you need to allow plenty of wriggle space in your plan, so that your experience retains some spontaneity.
In order to reconcile these contrasting tips, you need to compromise. You should make a skeleton plan, giving yourself vague ideas of the amount of time you want to spend in each destination, and scoping out several routes between each one, just so you know how much it will cost. Then, you should stop planning, and start travelling.
There is a great imperative to plan financially. You need to get a good idea of how much things are going to cost you, including transportation and living costs in each area. Once you have figured out how much, you need to increase your budget still, so as to cover yourself if something goes wrong. You should also have some money spare for unforeseeable opportunities.
On the other hand, you should not plan everything to death. There are lots of reasons for this. Perhaps the most pragmatically important on is that nothing ever goes to plan, so if you have a meticulous plan for a large trip, it is unrealistic to assume it will hold up. Through unforeseen circumstances you will end up diverging from your plan, and if you can't cope with that, your travelling will become riddles with stress.
The other reason is just the fact that the purpose of travelling is to wrap your head around new experiences. It seems back to front to plan where these experiences will be, and what form they will take, before you have even visited the places you are planning to see. Because of this, you need to allow plenty of wriggle space in your plan, so that your experience retains some spontaneity.
In order to reconcile these contrasting tips, you need to compromise. You should make a skeleton plan, giving yourself vague ideas of the amount of time you want to spend in each destination, and scoping out several routes between each one, just so you know how much it will cost. Then, you should stop planning, and start travelling.
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