8 tips for planning an international trip yourself

If you consult our cheap flight deals page regularly, you will find crazy prices on various destinations such as these examples of record prices for Europe ($247 round trip), Asia ($499 round trip) return), South America ($289 round trip), the Middle East ($399 round trip) and sometimes even Africa ($552 round trip).

If you’re one of those who haven’t yet had the chance to take a trip outside of North America (and obviously excluding all-inclusives because that doesn’t involve any organization), you are probably a little nervous about taking a trip abroad on your own.

And that’s okay! It’s something! But that definitely shouldn’t stop you . Like I said, if you ask anyone you know who has explored a new country on their own, they’ll tell you that it really is the best kind of trip. Without the slightest doubt.

if you are well prepared, it is really within everyone’s reach.

Nothing complicated. To paraphrase one of our readers , the billions of inhabitants of the planet in all countries eat, live and travel. So you are capable too.

So here are 8 tips to make sure you plan your international trip well We add an article every day on this blog, so we invite you to come back regularly to not miss the in-depth articles on the following points and many other tips.

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How to prepare for an international trip in 8 tips

It is certain that if you want everything turnkey, the trip all planned and organized for you, it is obviously doable. But it will cost you a lot more.

It’s like everything else: it’s not traveling that’s expensive, it’s when you want travel to be convenient (hence the fact that many believe in the myth that traveling is expensive, because we have about all have been accustomed to travel being convenient and to thinking it’s the only way to travel).

And what’s more, often organized tourist trips can in a way “sanitize” your experience and make you see only the tourist spots… and not live the local experience of a country.

If you want to live a real change of scenery abroad, do it yourself by organizing your own trip by following these 8 basic tips.

I’m purposely leaving out the flight ticket search part, our Ultimate Guide to finding cheap flights will be published soon and will be useful to you, but let’s focus on the rest of the more general preparations and planning as such in this article.

1. Do your research

If you don’t have the time/inclination to do some research and preparation, you won’t be able to fully enjoy an international trip.

You have to invest a little time doing your research on the Internet and preparing an itinerary according to your preferences above all, but also according to what the experts recommend.

In short, yes it takes time, but it’s really the number one advice to follow. Given the high number of elements to prepare, it will equip you better.

Obviously, there are people who also leave without any research, land in a new country without having prepared anything, and who discover it on the spot at their own pace, with the help of the locals or by letting themselves be carried away by their feelings .

If this is your first international trip, I might not recommend it, but possibly by following our advice, you will surely be comfortable doing this for a future spontaneous trip!

But in the meantime, doing your research is the basis of preparing for a successful trip.

2.Learn about security issues

Check on the Canadian government website if parts of the country are less recommended.

Let’s be clear: do not take everything literally, because it is written to scare the world and if you listen to the Canadian government, you will never leave your home. We’ll have a detailed article on that soon.

These are above all warnings for people who precisely have less experience of traveling abroad, who are not used to it. For tourists more than experienced travelers. To let you know where there is really no risk and where you need to use common sense and be more vigilant.

You can certainly visit places where the government says not to go (I did just two weeks ago) but if it’s your first trip, it’s definitely better not. Stick to the recommended countries, at least to start with.

The government does this so it can absolve itself if someone is unlucky and dies abroad (which, by the way, is a lot less likely than a car accident at home if you’re careful). That way the government can say “ we can’t be blamed, we did what we could: we wrote such and such a warning