Things to keep in mind before traveling...

Rise and Shine to all the future travelers out there!

Today I was thinking how to organize all the things that implies my love for traveling, personal experiences and recommendations... as you may figured.. this is something that it could not be wrote in just one post, I like to explain things very neat and not let anything missed.

So for today I'm writing about the first steps you need to keep in mind before you get there basically, this is more about my personal recommendations based on all the times I've traveled either with my parents or friends, so yes this traveling theme is quite long because they are so many points to cover.. so as first things first , I'm doing this list for all of you,  please take it as a special recommendation before you get to your dream destination!!

Later on I would be launching the second part of this post which are the 10 main destinations you should meet before anything. 

The things you need to keep in mind are basically all above, please take note!

1. Setting your budget is fundamental whenever you are planning to travel to a national or even international place, you need to settle your priorities, speaking right from my experience when I'm traveling I always try to leave all my expenses previously paid, I don't like to travel with too much money I mean bills and coins because they are a lot of pick pockets so I need to feel secure that if something happens I don't going to be left homeless or without a car or anything so it's also a organization matter.

Try to investigate before you are setting your budget because many countries are usually more expensive from where you live, for example if you are travelling to Paris and you are in America, they are many expenses that are going to appear sudden, for example if you want to go to a restaurant such as Angelina or Laduree in Champs Élysées you have a certain price for staying at the restaurant  and another price way more cheaper for taking the  order to home.

So my recommendation is to settle a budget and add an extra amount for occasionally expenses that you don't saw coming or you just dismissed while you were planning.

- Very Important: please make sure of not leaving your purse at any moment!! Personally I always travel with this little kangaroo bag inside my pant or skirt or whatever I'm wearing but it's inside my clothes literally, it always carry my passport, credit card and I'D and it's like no way possible that someone could rob me.. in this cases I don't trust anyone!

2. Transportation these could work very different while you are in Europe or in America, that is because in Europe it's more easy to just take metro as 90% of people do, because first you save time( a lot of time!) and obviously money and second, in Europe you are not going to find that often places to park as in America, you usually need to park your car on the streets sometimes it's not that secure, so please if you prefer buy metro tickets!!

In America it's a little bit different sometimes it turns out better to rent a car, that obviously depends on the destination, except for New York city, the first time I traveled to New York we decided to rent a car, Worst Decision EVER!! the traffic in New York it's horrible, first and second we needed to park our car very far from where we were. So basically if you want to save time take the metro I don't like it much, but now a days you also have Uber option which I recommend, it only depends on the state you are going and obviously: your budget.

The situation completely changes if you are going to Miami, having a car there is a MUST! yes, I personally don't recommend to take buses, because they make you expend a lot of time due to the many stops you need to do before reaching your destination, but this is obviously an option that works totally if you want to save some money.

So do the research first, because sometimes we think we are taking the best option that works in our country, but we are doing the contrary, so use Google! please.

3. Culture could often change if you are travelling from one continent to another, so comprehension is a must and please if you don't manage well the language please make sure to download all the translator apps because you are going to use them!

In case of knowing perfectly the language use it as an advantage, knowing people from different countries  is part of the plan when you are discovering new places.. this should be the fun part too!

From where I stand right know I think that is very essential to live a life in a wanderlust mode, so when I visit these places, I always try to speak with people that is native on that city,

I usually tend to ask for recommendations, obviously I previously do a certain kind of list of all the places I want to meet when I get there, so when someone tells me one place that I have already on my list then is must going.

4. Landscapes and all the special places as monuments or patrimonies are a must when you are visiting a new city, here it is very important your organization, whenever I travel I always have schedule of the day, which contains all the places, restaurants and things that I must do in one day, so basically I make sure of never forgetting any of them because usually they are thousands of places you want to go, so try to organize on a paper or by notes on your phone all of these in order to accomplish all of your destinations.

5. The research part and the places you guys resort are very important so make sure of having them while you start planning your trip:

-Booking your flight it's the first step, now a days there is a lot of competition around companies but I often use expedia.com

-For your hotel accommodation and also if you need to rent a car, use booking.com; they have excellent rates, I personally think it's probably the best.

-Trip Advisor is one of those apps I love the most, you could see ratings, best places and other interesting things when you are trying to meet different places in one city, so you must have this app.

6. Basic Recommendations:

- Try to pack very lightly, we are sometimes a little shopaholic so don't missed the chance to buy a lot of items at your destination.

- Make sure to pack basic medicines, with the weather changes you could have the risk of catching a flu.

- Before you are leaving to the airport make a check list of all the documents you will need! You could always forget something..

P.S. This may sound random, but please if you are paying with your credit card make sure the site has a padlock next to the https, frauds on internet now a days are very common.


I hope this is useful for you!
With love, Laura.