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I want to take a trip, but I don’t know where to begin. Can you help?
I sure can, feel free to email me at admin@roadmapsandrestaurants.com or fill our my Contact Form and I would be happy to help you plan your next adventure! We can talk through my different offerings, your budget, likes and dislikes and what you are looking for in your vacation to find the perfect trip for you.
Do you recommend a backpack or a hard suitcase?
Check out my post on the Top 5 Reasons to Travel with a Backpack. Travel backpacks come in a variety of shapes and sizes to fit your needs. I love my Osprey and highly recommend it to anyone who asks. It’s lightweight and fits way more than I think it can every time I go to pack it.
Do you stay in hotels or Airbnbs?
I usually stay in a variety of accommodations on my trip between hostels, hotels and Airbnbs. I love staying in Airbnbs because you can often find great deals in really unique neighborhoods that may be outside of the main tourist parts of town. Hotels often offer additional amenities like onsite dining, pools, game rooms, free wifi, and travel essentials like towels, shampoo etc. Hostels are great if you are on a budget or looking to make friends along the way. It really depends on what you are looking to get out of your trip, where you are going and what your budget is.
How do you find time to travel with a full-time job?
Being based in Belgium allows me to take weekend trips to new places all the time. Personally, when I used to live in the USA and travel outside of the United States, I liked to go for at least two weeks to order to get the most out of my trip but also my PTO but that might not be for everyone. Only have 4 days to spare but the urge to adventure? See if you can go somewhere within a days drive or a half-day flight.
Afraid you won’t have enough PTO to take the trip that you’ve had your eye on? Try sitting down and mapping out all of your PTO for the rest of the year. Have a three day holiday weekend but no plans? Where can you re-adjust to try and give yourself just enough time to slip away to the beach or the mountains?
What sites do you use to book flights?
I love using Skyscanner, Kiwi and Google Flights to help me figure out what and when the cheapest and most convenient flights will be. Sometimes you can save money but adjusting your trip one day forward or backward or even booking one way flights instead of round-trip flights. Another tip for booking cheap flights is to consider flying separate airlines each way and/or in and out of different airports if that is an option. I try to book directly with the airlines as much as I can, especially with the all of the crazy flight issues happening lately.