On an adventure holiday, most of us travel on a tight budget and timeline. So wasting time during your trip is not a choice that you have. If you want to visit and experience a destination indeed then knowledge is your most significant friend. Just packing your bags and leaving for a destination without doing your homework is a sure shot way to invite unwanted situations.
Here are the basic 8 tips that you should research and know before you start your travel
1. Weather
You should always check what will be weather in the region where you are travelling on the dates that you will be there. This will help you to pack the right clothing for travel in that region. Check if there has been any calamity in the recent past due to the weather conditions during that period and what steps you could take to safeguard your interest. For, e.g., if you are travelling to some places during heavy monsoon, it is possible that there might be landslides or some major flooding happening in that region. If you would know that there is a possibility of such situation then either you can avoid the trip in that region during that time, or you can look for insurance which allows your airlift facility due to natural calamity.
2. Geography
Understand the geography of the region. Get a sense of how long it takes to travel from one point to another. Don’t rely on the kilometres shown on the maps. I had an experience where on the map it showed only 100 km, so ideally it should take around 2 hours to reach our destination, but the roads were so bad that it took us about 6 hours to cover that distance of 100 km. Luckily we were aware of that region, so we did not plan anything which was cut-to-cut to avoid last minute chaos. Besides this you should also know the various exit points from one area, this is helpful in case you get stuck somewhere due to some unforeseen problems.
3. Transport
Do proper research on the various public and private transportation available in the region along with the price for each. Understand what are the timings for multiple types of transport and plan your trip as per that. Try to use public transportation as much as possible because it will help you save money and at the same time you can have good cultural experience since you will be travelling with the locals.
4. Laws
Understand the fundamental law of the land this could be customary laws and unoffical laws. Official laws are easy to get on the Internet, like areas where photography is not allowed, or what kind of substance you cannot carry, etc. But when it comes to unofficial laws, then it becomes a challenge. For, e.g. when you travel to Iran, the unofficial law is that you should not talk to the locals in Arabic because they are Persians and speak Farsi and gets offended when you address them in Arabic. To understand the unofficial laws, you need to talk to the locals and understand what is the right approach while you are in that region
5. Healthcare
Most often than not you should carry your own essential medicines while travelling. Also, keep the prescription given by your doctor handy with you in some countries it will be difficult to get medication from the drugstore unless you have a prescription. In case you have some critical illness then carry the medical report during your trip. In fact, if an emergency happens to you, then doctors in that region can take a look at your medical report and decide what needs to be done. This will save a lot of time, which will be critical for you.
6. Chalk out your route
When you are on a long holiday and spending enough time in a region, it is imperative to know what you can do there. Because if you don’t have enough knowledge, you might end up spending time in one location while better things might be at some other place. You need to utilise your time to the fullest in the most productive way.
7. Money
Get to know the standard of living in that region and also how much minimum money do you need to survive a day. Find out what are the various options of getting money or paying in case you run out of it.
8. Food
Food is vital especially to people who are not good with experimenting when it comes to food. As a traveller, you will be surprised by the type of food people eat in a particular region, and you might not like the same food. So you need to check what safer options you can have and need to pack for it accordingly. When vegetarians from India travel abroad they usually carry all ready to cook meals, then Thepla and other Gujarati snacks are also standard with vegetarian travellers. Specific regions can also pose a challenge for non-veg travellers, so it is good to be prepared for it.
If you want to maximise your experience then ‘before you travel, research like crazy’. It is a different joy knowing what exactly to do next and where to invest more time to get the most out of the trip.