How To Start Travelling

How To Travel:

If you are desperate to explore the world, go on a thrilling adventure, see beautiful scenery, then travelling is for you. It is an experience that you really can't compare to anything else, it is so freeing and filled with so many new experiences. You can’t get enough of it once you have been.

You might be desperate to go but have no idea where to explore, how to get there, where to stay etc. This is something I'll explain shortly. 

I loved watching YouTube videos of beautiful countries, amazing scenery, living out in the wild away from civilisation. Films like Avatar and Mamma Mia (even though they aren't real) really gave me a taste for the open air. Watching youtubers like YBS Youngblood and TV shows with Bear Grylls in really made me desperate to see these amazing parts of the world with my own eyes.

For Xmas my lovely mother bought me a travel booklet that had group trips in it at lots of different locations across the world. I read it and was hooked. It was the push I needed to just go and do it! 

Anyway, here are some simple steps you can take to understand where you want to go and who to book with.

Where To Go:

This is a very important decision as choosing where you go is going to influence what you can do there as well as what you see. Some countries offer it all, some don’t so you really have to define what you would most enjoy seeing. For me, I was hooked on Australia, the wildlife, the scenery, the white sandy beaches and lush warm weather hypnotized me to go. I loved the accents, the way of life and just the vibe of being in Aus.

Maybe you love Asia, maybe you love snow, maybe you love the sea, the jungle, different cultures; whatever it is there will be a country there for you, Choose what you want to experience and then use that info to find a country that offers what you want to see! For example, you love snow and skiing? Go to Canada or the Alps. You love surfing, go to Australia or Bali. You love boiling hot climates and amazing wildlife, go to Africa or Brazil. Follow what you already love and you can’t go wrong.

How to book:

For me I booked flights through a company called Trailfinders and whilst they might not have given me the cheapest flights out there, they organised everything and allowed the travel to the countries to be very stress free. If you want cheap flights then book through companies like Skyscanner that can find you super affordable deals. One company I haven’t used but would look at using in the future is an App called Layla which is like Chat GPT but for travelling.

Booking the Group:

If you are on your own and want to join a group of solo travellers then look through social media like Facebook which has many communities in the countries that you want to travel to. You can find buddies to travel with, or join a group tour all together (which is what I did). These tours can add more cost but they organise everything for you, makes the sociable side easier as you are travelling with strangers that you will get to know and it’s just a generally nice experience to be in a group, if they are a good group which they usually are. Being surrounded by likeminded individuals is a awesome feeling and the people on these trips really become great friends. The tours you pay for often include accommodation, travel, some meals and some activities with added extras purchasable once you are there. I would highly recommend if you were travelling by yourself and want to go with a group. 

One bit of advice, check the reviews of tour companies, some are really good, but you can get the odd dodgy one so just do your research. If in doubt, ask on the Facebook communities which is the best tour company for wherever it is you want to travel. Also, read what the tour provides! Whist my tour included a lot of added extras, yours might not so check that you are getting value for money.

Going solo?

If you want to go completely solo then fair play to you. There are many activities you can book onto when you are out there and you usually meet loads of people on those activities. The hostels you stay in usually have activities on like pub crawls, wine & cheese nights etc so there should be plenty for you to do. Making friends is easy if you put yourself out there, the first introduction is the hardest part but once you have asked to join that game or asked their name etc it becomes so much easier.

Accommodation:

This can be expensive depending on where you go. Hostels will become your best friend but can be harder to save money on meals, if you are planning on doing batch cooking, as you are moving around hostels a lot. One thing I would 100% consider, which I will likely do when I next go travelling, is buy a campervan. 

So many travellers buy a van, drive around the coast or around any area they want to explore and then sell when they go to the next country. You can buy them relatively cheap and they can save you a huge overall cost compared to if you stayed in a hostel all the time. Only negative is it will be harder to speak to people if you are living in a van instead of a hostel but as I mentioned earlier, you meet loads of people on the activities you do anyway so don’t stress too much.

Top Tips:

Do everything you can when you are out there. You don’t want to spend 12 months travelling or however long it is to come back home and regret not doing something. I did everything I could when I went travelling to Aus and I came back with no regrets and a brain full of amazing memories. Push yourself outside you comfort zone and you will grow so much as a person when you are out there.

Budget around £25 per day for food, travel, anything else etc. You can spend a lot less, or a lot more, but when I went to Australia I ended up spending around that. Bare in mind that isn't including accommodation costs. I will do a separate blog on budgeting at a later date.

Don't be shy! The one way you can guarantee that you might feel sad when you are out there is if you are shy. This doesn't mean you should become the centre of attention, I just mean push yourself out your comfort zone. Don't be afraid to go up to people and ask if you can join them, they will most likely say yes! It is the best way to make friends, be brave!

Challenge:

So, if you are serious about travelling I want you to start doing research. Work out where you want to go, if you are going solo or in a group, your budget, what you want to get out of the experience. Planning can be a very exciting part so go for it!

Travel is a beautiful experience that is a wonderful thing to experience whilst you are young. 18-30 Is the average age of everyone I met when you are there but if you are older that still doesn’t mean you can’t travel! Don’t hold back. As my previous post on Travelling showed, it is a brilliant, lovely thing to be able to do. We are so lucky that we are consciously able to understand the beauty of nature and experience these amazing adventures the world has to offer. If you need some motivation to go travelling, click the button below to go to my other blog on why you should travel!

Hope you enjoyed the read! Feel free to message me on Instagram with any questions, just click the button below!

SunTide