Whether you’ve recently graduated or will be soon, not all travel hope is lost! Without settling on dates quite yet due to lingering uncertainties, you can still start planning your grad trip! Read through the following steps to do just that.
- Determine whether you’re travelling alone or with others and if the latter, who those people will be.
- If you’re travelling with others, have conversations with them to make sure you’re on the same page in terms of what kind of traveller you each are (do you over or under pack, are you a backpacker who stays in hostels or do you prefer hotels), and what you both expect out of the trip.
- Take a look at your bank account and savings and have your travel partner(s) if applicable do the same. Create budgets respectively. Determine your financial limits, and take on the following steps with those restrictions in mind.
- Pinpoint destinations you can afford. Check out AESU, Bus2Alps, Contiki, EF Ultimate Break, G Adventures, Go Abroad, Go Global, and Student Adventures if you’re not sure where to start or if you’re looking for guidance, trip locations and ideas, or if you’re hoping to join an existing travel group.
- Settle on a location/locations.
- Determine the duration of your trip depending on how long you think you can afford to be travelling, what you’re hoping to experience and do.
- Create a rough itinerary: how many days you’ll spend in certain places, and jot down what activities and tourist attractions you’re interested in. Check out Guides Ulysse, foursquare, Lonely Planet, and Trip Advisor as needed to help you plan out your trip’s logistics and activities.
- Make sure your passport and credit and/or debit cards are up to date. If they’re not, renew them online.
- Make sure to keep your student ID handy for discounts, and use them in your reservations and during your travels.
- Once it’s safe to travel once again, check out airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia, Kayak, Sky Scanner, TripIt, Wander to officially book your trip.
If you still aren’t sure where to travel, here are some cheap vacation spots for 20-something-year-olds recommended by Student Universe:
- Sofia, Bulgaria
- Bali, Indonesia
- Ko Phi Phi, Thailand
- Kos, Greece
- Caye Caulker, Belize
- Cusco, Peru
- Cobán, Guatemala
- Budapest, Hungary
- Havana, Cuba
- Tamarindo, Costa Rica
- San Blas, Panama
- Kathmandu, Nepal
- Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka
- Bogotá, Colombia
- Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
While you may still be waiting for everyone around you to get their vaccines before travelling post-graduation, don’t forget that there’s a whole world to see at the end of the pandemic tunnel!