Many people like to travel. A change of scenery, a change in the usual rhythm of life and surroundings, new acquaintances and impressions make travel to new places one of the best options for entertainment. In order to feel comfortable in any unfamiliar city and make even a small trip unforgettable, you should follow a few simple rules.
Where and why
You always need to determine the purpose of your trip first. It can be anything: a business trip or a business meeting, visiting relatives, sightseeing, going to a sports match or concert. In rare cases, a person simply decides to unwind and visit an unfamiliar city on the weekend or on vacation, which he read about in a book or learned from friends.
When the goal is determined, you need to buy tickets or prepare the car for the trip. Providing in advance that there is enough time for everything, you can buy return tickets, especially if the return cannot be delayed. This applies, for example, to weekend trips. In order not to plan the entire trip yourself, you can contact a travel agency, but getting to know the cities yourself is much more pleasant.
Where to stay
An important point in organizing your own travel is finding and booking accommodation. Naturally, if you are planning a trip to visit, you don't have to think about it, but in all other cases it is better to take care of an overnight stay in advance.
When planning a day trip, you don't have to look for an overnight stay, but then take into account the time so as not to miss the train or bus. If the trip will last longer than one day, you should think about a comfortable accommodation option. Thanks to the Internet, you can book a room or contact hotel representatives anywhere in the world, without even getting up from the couch.
For travelers, it is not hotels in the general sense of the word that have become more popular, but hostels - cheaper, but no less comfortable stops on the way. Most hostels are now themed, which allows you not only to find a pleasant place to sleep, but also to meet like-minded people or spend time before bed according to your interests: playing various board games or watching a movie.
What to take?
The presence and volume of baggage must be suitable for the purpose of travel. For a day trip, you do not need a huge baggage, which you then have to carry with you everywhere, viewing various monuments, photographing beautiful views or visiting interesting exhibitions. You can take a small bag with the most necessary things: documents, tickets, money, necessary medicines and cosmetics, a camera and a telephone.
When a trip is planned for several days or weeks, you also need to take a change of clothes, chargers for all equipment, wash accessories, a laptop for work. If the trip is planned for a long time - more than three months, it is important to think about clothes and shoes for another season. But in this case, most often they rent an apartment, and do not live in hotels, so bedding is also needed and, possibly, some household items (dishes, cutlery, alarm clock, etc.). All this can be discussed in advance with the owner of the rented accommodation or purchased on the spot.
What to do
It is always advisable to plan your trip clearly. It is better to plan even a simple walk along the central streets of the city in advance, so that later you do not run at a gallop in search of souvenirs or major attractions.
Upon arrival, you can buy a map of the city at any newsstand, which shows cinemas, parks, cafes, sports palaces, interesting monuments and, which is also important in the absence of a car, transport stops. Thanks to it, you can spend less time looking for the right streets or booked hotels. Although there is a saying “The language will bring you to Kiev”, it’s still better to buy a card so as not to be in the wrong “Kiev” that was needed.
If the purpose of the trip is a business meeting, you can envisage the possibility of walking before the meeting and visiting a cafe or bar after it. For a multi-day trip, you can plan a visit to some kind of cultural or sporting event.
In advance, on numerous forums or travel blogs, you can find out about the main attractions and interesting places in the city, read the poster of upcoming events (concerts, exhibitions, performances), read reviews of local residents and guests of the city about visiting cafes and restaurants. For those who do not think of traveling alone, on the same forums you can find a fellow traveler or a volunteer guide who will show the city from the inside.
