Want some unique travel tips to help you think about different ways to book, stay and participate? Here are five interesting ways to travel you may have not thought about when trip planning your travel in the past. It may just spice up a future trip, or at least get you to think about how you travel in a different and new way.
Unique Travel Tip 1: Plan An Activity Other Than Sightseeing
Going to museums and other typical tourist stuff isn’t the only way to travel. If you like to be active, you might want to do something like the New York City marathon, take cycling tour in Europe, or walk one of the “Great Walks” in New Zealand. If you have a normal fitness level but you’re not an athlete, there are easier ways to do active travel.
For example, you can get a helicopter to carry your pack when doing multi day walks. Many of these types of options involve a bit more advance planning than your typical tourist trip, but can be very worth it.
Unique Travel Tip 2: Try a New Stopover
Sometimes people have trips they take yearly e.g., you immigrated to a new country and travel back to see your family once a year. In these cases, you might not have much choice about the destination you visit but you can vary other factors. For example, you could try a different destination as a stop over.
Unique Travel Tip 3: Splash out on Business Class
Expanding on the point above, you can sometimes take advantage of very cheap business class fares. You can also use miles for business class and you’ll typically get more value out of them this way that using your hard earned miles for economy.
Websites like Flyertalk and The Points Guy have detailed trip reports with photos so you can see exactly what you’ll get. Different airlines, and sometimes different aircraft on the same airline, can mean the difference between amazing and mediocre premium class experiences. If you’re going to treat yourself, do you research rather than assuming any business class is the same as any other.
Unique Travel Tip 4: Travel with DifferentPeople
Going on trips with just your spouse and children isn’t the only option. If you’ve never traveled solo, you might want to take a solo trip. If you always visit family, your family might be interested in all going on a vacation together.
The reverse is also true. Going to visit extended family or friends from college can be some of the most fun trips. We love to visit people but still stay in a hotel. This gives the best balance between privacy and spending time with people without imposing. You’ll the person you’re visiting will plan your activities for you, so this is a huge bonus as it saves a ton of time and energy you’d usually spend travel planning.
Unique Travel Tip 5: Change Your Trip Duration
Short trips are very different from long trips and vice versa. If you always take two week trips, try a few long weekend trips. If you only take short trips, look into whether you could take a sabbatical or work remotely so that you could spend a month or more in a destination.
Long trips are great when you want to rent an apartment or house rather than stay in a hotel, and live like a local. Short trips are great if you want to go to a National Park, or do a short city break that’s only a short flight or drive away.
Kim & Clark Kays quit their jobs for an uncertain trip around the world. Originally from St. Louis, they relocated to Chicago after getting married in 2005. After working for five years in middle school and the Fortune 500, they realized there was more to life than the 9-to-5, so made the crazy decision to exchange money for time rather than the other way around.
Their hobbies include fighting over writing styles and searching for gelato. They think food, beer, architecture, and photography are some of the best things about travel—especially when combined. Their travel blog, To Uncertainty and Beyond, includes long-term travel tips as well as humorous anecdotes from their journey through Europe and Asia. They invite you to experience their journey and learn from their adventures and mistakes.
