As I sit here in my freezing cold hometown of Rochester, New York, sweeping away all the holiday spirit, it’s time to start planning my next big adventure.
Living in Brazil over the past year has made me incapable of dealing with the cold any longer than absolutely necessary, so I’m ready to get moving!
While I don’t know the next destination or timeframe just yet, I wanted to go through the planning process with you to show the steps in going from travel dream to departure.
For this trip planning, I’ve turned to Amadeus.net to help organize my ideas and travel information as it pertains to the next adventure.
Step 1: Choose a Location
I’m thinking about leaving Latin America for a little while to experience a completely different culture and continent.
I have heard great things about Vietnam, Indonesia and Croatia over the past few months so I want to compare those countries first.
Thanks to the help of Amadeus.net tools, I look at the weather and basic information all in one place.
Step 2: Visas and Regulations
Secondly, I compare visa information and travel regulations for each place, including how long I can stay and how tourist-friendly each location is.
I don’t want some place that is too tourist-friendly, but something secure enough where I have someone to turn to if necessary.
For this type of information, the best place to look is the travel.state.gov website (if you’re American).
Step 3: Evaluating Costs
Back to Amadeus.net, I can look at the currency and conversion rates of each place and then search online to get an idea of cost-of-living in each place.
Croatia is the most expensive of the three potential places, so I take that into consideration as I pick the next place.
Step 4: Transportation
What does it cost to get there? How easy is it to travel within the country?
For the cost of flying, it’s easy to find and compare prices with Amadeus.net search tool and then I can look at travel blogs from fellow travelers to see what the bus/train system is like internally.
Step 5: Living Arrangements
My goal has always been to “Travel Deeper,” and in order to do this, I like to find an apartment to settle into for at least a few months.
For availability and cost, I search on sites like AirBnB, Craigslist and Couchsurfing to get an idea of local living arrangements.
For me, it is the most important aspect of the trip. I have had such great success thanks to the amazing roommates I have had throughout the years while traveling.
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It’s going to take some more research and decision making before I decide on my next adventure, but thanks to the tools of Amadeus and skills I’ve developed from travel, I’m excited to figure out what’s next!
This process is all part of the fun!
