plan?? Odd word to use, that is........ (How do you plan your holidays?)

Member Name: Highwayman

Product:	How do you plan your holidays?
Date:	08/05/02 (31 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: planning? BAH!!!!!

Disadvantages: you might learn something

Planning holidays.

Strange concept, but here we go.

The are. of course, 2 kinds of holidays. The ones you are obliged to take (family commitments, usually) and fun ones.

Family commitment holidays are easy to plan - let someone else do it. The SEP method of planning holidays is one to be taken at every opportunity unless they are your idea. Which they never are.

Fun holidays are a whole different idea. I still can't get used to the idea that you have to spend money to go on holiday. It's something that Australians as a rule dont do (even when they travel to the UK). So its gotta be cheap, its gotta be at least a million miles away from the nearest venue that provides package holidays, and you've got to be able to get there without resorting to charter flights. These are the three main criteria.

Cheap, of course, could mean a UK holiday. I've had plenty of these over the past 5 years, and all of them have been value. I see no reason to chase the sun - it will only kill you. So first stop is the book of maps. Stick a pin in. Chose your place. Look it up on the net, find a cottage nearby. RING the owner - dont email, dont do online booking. Certainly under no circumstances use an agency. If it costs more than £100 per head per week, you're being shafted. Of course, you can always sponge.........

Work out the cheapest and quickest way to get there. If I can go by train, I do so. This, of course means using public transport when you get to the other end, but so what - let someone else do the driving - it's a holiday, remember?? If you want a car, hire one once youre there. You will always find a cheap care hire place where you are - phone the local garage. You wouldn't want to drive most of them 400 miles along a motorway, but they're fine for pootling.

Now...O/S holidays.

Choose somewhere untrendy, that no-one has ever written a travel review on. cert
ianly don't go anywhere where there is timeshare or tour reps. Lithuania appeals for this year, but then again so does Corsica. Look up flights on Cheapflights.com but phone the agent - don't book online. Look up hotels on the web, and phone them. Go to a translation website and write down what you want to say on a piece of paper. Of course, revert to English at the first opportunity. Book bed and breakfast.

One you're there eat local produce, talk to local people. Try the local beer and dont voice your opinion too loudly. Yes, it may be a diabetic goat's piss, but the locals might like it. Don't be trying to have an English holiday somewhere warm. They will only hate you and spit in your salad. Buy beer for people (or if in Chile, Pisco).

Do take the Michelin Green Guide ( if there is one for wherever you are). All other travel guides are pants, the Time Out ones especially. Learn to love the local tourist information centre. Try something you've never done before.

I guess what I'm saying is plan the basics, and dont let ANYONE plan anything for you. OK, so I've had Amoebic Dysenty in South America, and been robbed at knifepoint in one or three European cities over the years. This might not have happened if I'd gone on a package tour, but I DO know what I've seen and how to get back there. Because I travel the way the locals travel, I have made friends all over the world.

You can't plan that.

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