Have you struggled with planning a budget-friendly and smooth trip? Join the club! There is certainly a gift to planning an international trip or even a road trip country. There are hotels to book, cars to rent (if driving), train or plane tickets, restaurants to budget for, shopping to plan for and of course activities! Not to mention if you are planning on visiting a country where you need a visa!
Planning for one person can be a strenuous task but planning for a trip with an infant makes for an even more stressful endeavor.
If you are like me, you went down to your neighborhood bookstore and made a straight beelined for the travel section, ran your finger along with the binding of each far off place those books could take you and finally selected your desired book and strolled up to the check out counter.
I don’t think that I could travel anywhere without having some sort of list, that is just my personality. I like to know what is around me so that way I don’t feel like I have missed anything. However, there is a delicate balance between being too structured in your travel plans and wandering around aimlessly and missing hidden local gems.
This is why I make list, top places to see but I combine that with an aimless sense of direction and between the two somehow I seem to find the best local hidden gems along with visiting some of the more renowned sights.
My latest travel endeavor will take me back to Asia. This will be my first time ever traveling to Asia without the assistance of the Navy, now I have to consider travel visas, ensuring my passport has enough time remaining before it expires, thinking about if my infant will need any paperwork, vaccinations for the two of us. It isn’t like traveling to Europe where the only thing required is a passport.
So we are heading to Laos and Vietnam, thankfully for this Alaskan, during their winter season. The last time I was in this area of the world it was just getting into their “spring” season which was still in the high 90s during the day with heavy humidity.
My first suggestion if you are planning a trip anywhere that is considered to be a third world country check the CDC website www.cdc.gov to see what vaccinations you will require to safely visit the country. Check the site early to ensure that you can receive all vaccinations well in advance before leaving on your trip since my trip isn’t until Oct/Nov I still have plenty of time to get all my vaccinations.
This is why I make a list, top places to see but I combine that with an aimless sense of direction and between the two somehow I seem to find the best local hidden gems along with visiting some of the more renowned sights.
My latest travel endeavor will take me back to Asia. This will be my first time ever traveling to Asia without the assistance of the Navy, now I have to consider travel visas, ensuring my passport has enough time remaining before it expires, thinking about if my infant will need any paperwork, vaccinations for the two of us. It isn’t like traveling to Europe where the only thing required is a passport.
So we are heading to Laos and Vietnam, thankfully for this Alaskan, during their winter season. The last time I was in this area of the world it was just getting into their “spring” season which was still in the high 90s during the day with heavy humidity.
I would suggest that if you are planning a trip to anywhere that is considered to be a third world country check the CDC website www.cdc.gov to see what vaccinations you will require to safely visit the country. Check the site early to ensure that you can receive all vaccinations well in advance before leaving on your trip, since my trip isn’t until Oct/Nov I still have plenty of time to get all my vaccinations.
Also do your research on whether or not the country you are traveling too needs a Visa to enter. There can be a long waiting process with your visas so it is good to get those taken care of ASAP.
More to come later from this Traveling Photographer…
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