That feeling when you are all set and ready to leave home to go on your dream holiday is incalculable. You bags are packed and the taxi is waiting and then that wave of fear falls upon you. What have I forgotten? My passport? My plane ticket? Did I pack my favorite shirt? Was the hotel properly booked? Nine times out of ten, it’s all fine but that one can ruin any great holiday. So strap in and settle down as I guide you through planning your own special trip.
You might be used to using booking sites, travel agents or package tours. Though sometimes something is missing. The coach trip you booked doesn’t go to that place you really wanted to see or the agent doesn’t quite grasp your budget. So you think I’ll do it myself but you don’t know where to start. Well the first place to start is always location, location, location.
So together we are going to plan a trip, right here right now. Quick disclaimer, I mention a few websites during this article, I have received no endorsement from them and they certainly aren’t the only sites you can use, just my preferred ones! Now I’m not actually going to take this trip, sadly, as I have other financial commitments that currently require my attention. However, we are going to set ourselves a travel budget of £350, a spending budget of £150 (not including food), for a 7 day trip. So my first thought is when and where do I want to go? As I’m not actually going to take this trip I have the freedom to put flights to anywhere at any time in my search making this slightly easier. However, if you have a time and destination in mind just pop them into the search bar and you will come up with the best options for you. It is of course going to be cheaper for you if you have some wiggle room of dates, even more so if you are not too fussed where you go.
My first stop is going to be skyscanner.com. So I’ve popped in, Manchester as my departing airport, going to ‘Everywhere’, leaving in October 25′, returning the same month. I have also put two adults, because you have to treat the wife sometimes, but we will travel Economy, don’t want her to think we are made of money! Let’s see what we find!
Now I have it set up to show me the cheapest first so Ireland for £30 comes up and UK is £33! Somewhat amusing it cost me more to stay in the UK than it does to leave it, but that’s Ryanair for you. As lovely as £30 return to Ireland sounds, I’m going to scroll down to a country I have never been to. Soon we have Bulgaria, for £54, offering me £35 per night in a 4* hotel! Let’s investigate further. It’s going to Burgas – “Where’s Burgas?” I hear you say, good question! It’s in southwest Bulgaria on the coast of the Black Sea, obviously. Burgas it is!
Now I need to pick my dates, this is where the £54 flights suddenly rocket up right? Wrong. Because I’m going to go on the 14th of Oct to the 21st clearly to celebrate my 7th wedding anniversary on the 20th. So I pick those dates and sure enough, £56, damn they got £2 more out of me, but the wife is worth it. So I have my flights, now it’s offering me a 4* at £36 per night, was £35 a minute ago! Why? Well I didn’t search it on a private, or incognito web search. Rookie error, now all those little cookies are turning the tables and snacking on my finances. It knows I’m looking to go to Bulgaria, so the price will go up. I’ll also be getting adverts now for trips to Bulgaria for the next 6 months, you’re welcome. So remember to keep your internet search private when you are planning these things, that gives you the best chance of the prices not creeping up on you.
That being said, £36 per night at a 4*, could do worse, but could we do better? Lets have a look. A total of £252 for the both of us in a 4*, we might struggle, but we’ll have a look, of course we’ll have a look! So I had a look, turns out £252 for 7 nights in a 4* is pretty much the best option, unless I want an Airbnb type place, but I don’t want to cook for myself, I’m on holiday.
A few clicks later and that’s that, we are off to Burgas, Bulgaria. On the 14th of Oct spending 7 lovely days on the black sea at the 4* Avenue Hotel Deluxe, booked through Skyscanner and Hotels.com all for the grand total of £308, not too shabby and means I have £42 more for spends. Cheaper than the Nintendo Switch 2 (which is what the wife actually wants!).
So the trip is booked, now, what will we do there? What Bulgarian should we learn and are there any tips and tricks to bare in mind? Some simple Google searches later and we’ll find our Bulgarian phrases, ‘Говорите ли английски?’, for example, or ‘Govorite lee Anglian?’ to you and me. A quick look on Gov.uk and we know which areas to avoid for safety. A search on Tripadvisor for things to do brings up a wine tasting for £40 per person, a trip on the Black Sea for £35 each and heading into the Mystic Strandzha Mountains to get some fantastic photos and we are all set!
Booking and creating your own trip can seem really daunting. My advice is put as little limitations on yourself as possible. Maybe have a destination, time and one major activity in mind but don’t over plan or you’ll soon find you’ll over spending quick! If you are willing to be flexible on destination and activities, you may also be interested in holding out for a last minute deal. Booking the week before can mean you save hundreds on flights and accommodation, but it does restrict you to whatever is left.
One final tip from me: if you are someone who loves to see the sights, make a plan in advance. You don’t have to stick to it, but having the framework of a plan or the idea of one really goes a long way to figuring it all out. Keep a note of what you have booked, any booking numbers, timings and prices and take it with you on your trip so you aren’t caught short. And don’t forget that passport! Now I’m off to convince the wife she doesn’t need the Nintendo Switch 2!
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