Travel Tips: Why you need to plan extra time while traveling
Time, time, time… Time is always an issue during travels. We are late or early, stuck in traffic, stressed out… Especially if you are having a short vacation, time can be an issue every single day. You would think “I want to do as much as I can!”, and that makes sense since the amount of money you spent on flight tickets. However, don’t forget; vacation is about doing good for yourself and having fun. If you are pushing yourself too hard, it would be just the same as your everyday at work, just different location.
Here are five tips, regarding how to place your time in your travels. These are very simple, yet easy to disregard at the same time.
Pick up at the airport
If someone will pick you up at the airport, consider the extra time for baggage claim and customs when you arrange the time. Depending on what airport you are at and what time the flight is landing, the amount of time will be different. If you are picking up someone at the airport, try to be there early. Baggage claim and customs will take some time but maybe not as much as you think.
Walking takes time
It’s easy to guess how much time it would take by public transportation like train or bus. And it’s easy to disregard the moving time. As long as you are not staying at the bus/subway station, you have to consider the extra time for walking to the place. Especially if you have an appointment with someone at a certain time, make sure you have enough time for your transportation and walking time to the transportation. Rush hour is not just for cars and trains. Walking on the street during the rush hour slows you down.
Everything will take longer than you thought
You are in a new place. Everyday is a challenge and everything is new. As a traveler and explorer, we prefer to see a different view rather than the same one every day. So we use different streets to find places, and use new methods every day. How fascinating it is to look around at your surroundings while jaunting down the street? Hence, everything will take longer than we planed. It’s not about discomfort; it just means we are adopting something new everyday.
Plan less
Because of the same reasons above, there is a good chance that you may not accomplish your daily itinerary. I prefer to travel longer and slower, but there were times in my past that only allowed me to have short holidays. However, even for short holidays, try to plan less. Make a list of your priorities, and start from there. Going somewhere and doing something special is not the only thing you can do during your vacation. Hop and jaunt in your neighbourhood. You’d never know what you’ll experience. It’s good to have “I want to see as much as I can!” attitude, but it will wear you out.
Better be bored than sorry
Going to the airport is exciting. But waiting several hours at the airport can be the most boring thing ever especially if you are on the road for a long time and a trip to the airport is another routine. However if there’s only one thing you don’t want to happen, that would be missing your flight. Even if you are on a flexible schedule, all the rearranging flights and plans will not be fun. So, give yourself an extra hour or two for your trip to the airport.
Do you agree on that? Did you have any bad/ good experience regarding time planning in your travels?
I overestimate how long it takes me to walk anywhere and spend a lot of time waiting for people/fun activities to start!
A downside of over-careful travelers! 😀 Wish I could do that sometime. haha… I’m always right on time or slightly late… trying to fix that!
I know exactly what you mean. When we first planned out our trip we didn’t exactly account for all the time that goes into travel blogging 🙂 So we’re now taking it even slower than planned but loving every minute of it.
Though on some days like yesterday we have to spend nearly 24 hours on the bus just go to a place in time for Christmas! So I guess we’re still not experts at the whole planning thing 😉
This post is a sort of like a note to myself. 🙂 I forget a lot of times… haha!
Happy holidays! Hope you are having a great Christmas wherever you are!
i agree with everything that you’ve said, especially the last one… better wait than to missed a flight and pay addtl (unnecessary) rebooking cost 🙂
Agreed. Dealing with the airlines are not so much fun.
This is precisely true! I always allow an hour or two a day whilst travelling. You wanna take it easy when you’re travelling. Great post Juno!
Yes, great post! And of course, if you are an hour early then you can just relax!
Time is gold! You never know what will happen during one of your travels, better get extra time than sorry.
I wouldnt say its board, I think that the feeling of waiting in an airport when everything is done and you are just sitting waiting to board is a great feeling. The anticipation and excitment really hit at that moment, I would actually encourage people to be early do this for that reason and to enjoy the moment!
Great tips, so true that you need the extra time. I am always running late, and I always forget things everywhere because I end up in a rush!
Same here. Happened a lot to me too. I need to take my own advise! 🙂
Really practical tips. I agree that less is more. I have started to do really minimal planning, to make sure I can enjoy my trip. Otherwise I feel oblige to tick off all the points on the agenda…..
Diana
What can i say? I’m the guy that is always late at the airport. And I always promise myself ‘that’s it, this is the last time I do this’, but then it happens again.This is one of my 2012 resolutions by the way, so let’s see…
I always put an allowance to my time in traveling. Due to bad experience in travelling and that’s the reason. I had been left by an aircraft via Cebu, Philippines. It was a waste of time, money and effort. It ruined my entire day. Now I do some planning and 2hrs before the flight I must be there in the airport. Thanks for your great tips they are very useful.
Well most of people can relate this thought, In my case every time i take traveling to have a kind of comfort in my part and never be bothered of some reason such shortage in time.
I can certainly relate to this. With friends and family spread out all over, I frequently travel but hardly ever leave enough time to get through the airport without feeling very stressed out and having to run! I must learn to leave plenty early to set the journey off on the right foot.
Juno, I give myself TOO much time – I’ve ended up waiting at Incheon Airport for 7 HOURS once (I was told the immigration office would be super busy with 2 hour queues to get my re-entry visa…it took 5 minutes) and another time at this tiny airport in southern Turkey for about 5 hours. That was awful.
Yes, I’m a time freak, and I wish some of my friends would follow your advice here!
Awesome tips! We call this extra hour “the lost hour.” We always allow ourselves a lost hour when entering a new city – and we always use it up! -Veronica
Better bored than sorry – wish I could say I was on the ‘bored’ side of this more often. The only time I’m bored is when my flight is delayed, because I’m almost always cutting it close.
going on travel with lots of your mind to do is really time consuming. These are practical tips and thanks for reminding us. very helpful.
I like your ‘plan less’ advice! Matt and I made the mistake to jam as many things as possible on our trip to Paris. Well, everything that could go wrong did and we were pretty disappointed with our week there. Now we know, plan 1 thing a day, take it easy … being at your destination is already an adventure!
I’m overcautious and tend to arrive for international flights four hours before the schedule departure – what a dork I am! I don’t really mind the airport, but I wish I could be a bit less cautious!
Great article! I am soooo extra cautious with all of this, but like James it again leaves me waiting around ha.