Chapter 1: How to Plan Your Trip

CHAPTER 1: HOW TO PLAN YOUR TRIP

HELLOoooooo!

Today I am going to share with you some tips on how to prepare for your trip to any country you are planning to visit. As I have been to Korea and planned my trip to the country, I would mostly use the knowledge i acquired based on it. Additionally, I believe that these tips would be useful when visiting any country!

1. Confirm Your Vacation Date

It is important to confirm your departure date as it will ensure that you are aware of the following things:

1) The weather/season of the country that you are visiting. By ensuring that you have a set departure date, you will be able to gauge the weather that you will be experiencing during the time that you are there. It would be useful for you to check the weather of the place of visit to avoid any disappointment.

2) The national events/holidays that the country will be having. Since it will be a holiday for the nation, of course you would see families going out visiting the places of interest. Trust me, I have experienced that when i visited Korea. I reached there on 1st May 2015, which was labour day in Korea. on the weekend, on 2nd May 2015, I was shocked to see a long line of queue at the Gyeonbokgung Palace. Even the Volunteer Youth Corp that toured us around the palace said that was the longest line he ever saw people queuing for the tickets to the enter the palace. Another national event was Children's Day that took place on Tuesday, 5th May 2015. We were notified by Malaysian University Exchange Students we made at the palace. That left us with no choice but the change our itinerary as we planned to visit Lotte World on that day. (Thank you, Girls!)

2. Research, Research and RESEARCH!

Doing researches on the places you are going to visit is very important. Once again, it is to avoid disappointment when you are there. Check out reviews by people who have visited that attraction sites and consider their honest reviews. 

For those who are visiting Korea ( especially muslims who are looking out for halal food), you should check out Muslim Backpackers Seoul and budgettravel2korea for information regarding attraction sites, food and many more! I have gained a lot of useful information from them!

Subsequently, You can also check out Youtube videos of people who have been to the country that you are going to visit, to gain more infromation or to visit another nice place that many may not know of. 

Most importantly, do a research about centers in your country that provide information booklet regarding the country that you are going to visit. Usually they would provide for free. Even if it is not, It would not hurt to pay as it would be very useful for you before and during the trip. 

For those living in Singapore and are planning to visit Korea anytime soon, head down to Korea Plaza ( Church Street, alight at Raffles Place MRT station, exit D) to  get the free brochures as seen above! 

Lastly, visit the Korea Tourism Organisation page to enjoy discounts to attractions sites! 

3. Download Useful Applications

With the advent of technology, one cannot simply ignore it in their everyday lives. Hence, your handy gadget is useful to download apps that will be of good use when you are overseas. 

List of useful application:

1) translation app- Google Translate

2) Transportation app- eg. Subway Korea and Seoul Bus

Subway Korea App

4. Manage Your Expenses 

By managing the money that you have set aside for your trip, it will ensure that you do not overspend your money and to ensure that you always have enough money for the trip. Here is how I manage the money I have set aside (in SGD):

1) Flight: $900.00

2) Accommodation: $265 ( I rented an apartment under Airbnb and what i set aside was the amount I had to pay. the rent was divided among three person).

3) Attraction Sites: $200

4) Food: $150

5) Transport: $60

6) Spending (for souvenirs and others): $600

Here is the amount i set aside for my trip! It might be different for yours but I hope it could be a good guide.

Having separate envelops/wallets for each category (excluding flight and rent as you would have to pay before hand) would be useful to avoid over spending or accidentally using money from a different category. 

5. Activate Your Credit Card/Debit Card

You never know when you will run out of money. ( especially for places where they sell very affordable items).

ATM Machines that accepts foreign cards in Korea

We have come to the end for the this post! Thank you for reading! I appreciate comments.

See You soon!