The Dos and Don’ts of Holiday Travel

With the holidays just around the corner, many people will be taking the skies to travel and visit love ones or just taking the time off to get away. But before embarking on your trip, here are some dos and don’ts to get you through a safe and jolly holiday.

Dos:

Plan your trips a least three months in advance. Six months is ideal if you have a budget and need to save for your trip. During the holiday season, Christmas and New Years are the two most expensive time of year to travel. With the high demands from consumers, prices on many airfare, hotels and car rentals are sky high during this time. But if you plan ahead you can always get good deals and great rates on wherever you plan to travel.

Make sure you have all legal documents. If you are planning to travel out of the country then you need to make sure you have all the proper documents and make sure they are all up-to-date. Ask yourself these questions, Do I need a passport? Is my passport up to date? Do I need to renew my passport? Do I need a visa to go into the country?  If you answer yes to any of these question make sure you get the proper documents at least three months in advance. It will save you a headache and being turn away from TSA when attempting to leave the country. Believe me I know from personal experience but Thank God I had insurance on my tickets and I was able to get reimbursed all my money back. So don’t let it happen to you and make sure that you keep all important documents in a safe and secure place.

Before you go on vacation, make sure you communicate with others such; as your significant other, family members or friend(s) where is it that you guys would like to go. When vacationing with others you must all agree on a destination that provides what you guys are all looking for. Communicating with one another will allow everyone to choose which hotel to stay, where to dine out, what activities to do and if you need a car rental or if you can use the public transportation (I would recommend public transportation because it allows you to mingle with the locals). But what ever works for you is fine.

Make sure you pack what you need and not what you want. Wherever you plan to travel to, make sure you pack what is needed. If you are traveling somewhere warm make sure you plan on packing plenty of swimsuits and lotion with the proper SPF. If it’s somewhere cold make sure you pack anything that keeps you bundled up such as; gloves, scarfs and of course a nice warm hat.

Don’ts:

Don’t leave valuable items in public. One of the top rules in traveling is to never travel around any country with your valuables. Make sure there is a safe in your hotel room so that you can store your important documents and jewelry. If the only identification you are carrying is your passport, ask the clerk at the front desk to make a copy of your passport photo. Keep the copy and carry it around and while keeping the original in the safe.

Don’t carry large amounts of money with you or travelers checks. Just like your valuables, you want to keep some of your money in the safe as well. In many foreign countries and some parts of the US pick pocket is an art form. Meaning these people will bring you into a conversation and before you know it all your money is gone right before your eyes. As the good old saying goes, “less is more.” Keep less in your pocket so that you can have more to spend for later.

Don’t tip. If you booked an all inclusive trip lets say for example Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic, in your all inclusive package deal they already included tips. However, if you feel like you’re in the Christmas spirit of giving than why not give just a little extra to the cleaning lady for keeping your room clean.

Don’t pack anything over 3.4 fl ounces in your carry on bag. Along with make up, soap, tooth paste and some foods will be confiscated by the TSA and thrown away. They best thing to do is packinng it in your check in luggage from preventing it from being taken from you.

If you are interested in booking a travel package to anywhere in the world contact Shawnick at

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Make sure you keep up with all of Shawnick’s adventures on her blog.

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