Travel Destination Considerations: 4 Important Factors To Consider For Your Budget

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Just imagine: white sand, floppy hat, slight breeze or big sky, deep snow, top of the world view. Both beautiful and desirable travel locations, but with totally different trip offerings and itineraries. So what do they have in common – especially when related to your budget? Deciding on a travel destination is not only the first exciting step of the vacation process, but also the step that will most likely affect the stretch of your budget. Selecting a destination that is very exclusive and hard to reach will likely become more expensive, while more traveled areas typically come with additional deals to attract travelers. As we have been thinking through summer plans and upcoming trips, we created a list of the most important pieces when deciding on a vacation location. When planning your vacation, you must balance a several components including your travel personality, covid restrictions, setting and seasonality.

Destination Consideration #1 – Your Travel Personality

The first consideration for selecting your next destination is your travel personality. Do you love trying new things, finding adventures, and having experiences you couldn’t at home? Or do you prefer to find a comfortable spot, bring a book, and settle down to relax for the week? While we are frequently inundated with pictures of other people’s delightful vacations, we must be sure not to forget who we are and what we enjoy. If you know you are someone who hates the cold and doesn’t enjoy outdoor activities, then try not to be persuaded into a ski trip by the cozy picture of people enjoying hot chocolate in Colorado. Similarly, if you love the hustle and bustle of an action-packed trip itinerary, you may not want to plan a trip to an island in which the primary offering is the beach.

While this may seem like a simple concept, I believe it is easy for us to forget and be persuaded by social media. Certainly, traveling is meant to expand our horizons and can be quite transformative as we experience something outside our comfort zone, however, be sure not to forget who you are and how you would like to spend your time to best maximize your investment into a travel experience. Trying something new should be apart of your journey, however if that is not typically your personality, perhaps that “something new” is one activity within a location you are excited about, instead of your entire destination.

Destination Consideration #2 – Covid Restrictions

The second consideration for selecting your destination is largely dictated by the era in which we live and that is Covid. As each country has unique restrictions and entry requirements, it is important to analyze those before booking your trip. Do you have to be vaccinated or tested or show a vaccine passport or quarantine? These are all good questions to find out as they will largely play a role in your experience. If you are unvaccinated or have had a vaccine but have not been boosted, you may not be able to travel to certain destinations or will have to quarantine upon entry. Likely, adding a 10-day quarantine to your trip will bust your budget, so you might want to consider a different location. Unfortunately, a country or city can change their rules at any time so be sure to keep up to date even after your plans have been booked.

Trip Insurance

Similarly, even though it will be slightly more costly, I would highly recommend purchasing the “refundable” / “travel insurance” version of whatever ticket, hotel, or activity that you purchase, just in the event that you get sick before your trip, have a family emergency or are no longer able to visit due to the changed restrictions. While this might be more expensive up front, it will definitely be worth it in the end if you have to be refunded.

Resources

To find out about a country’s current restrictions, research government entry requirements or check out this interactive map published by Delta Airlines. This map allows you to sort worldwide by open travel, test & travel (or not), quarantine required (or not) or any other entry restrictions based on your starting location. It is updated frequently, so it can be a great starting point when beginning your research if you are open to going a variety of places.

Destination Consideration #3 – Setting

Accessibility

The next consideration to think through after narrowing down your options related to your travel personality and Covid is that of the setting of your vacation. Typically, areas that are more remote or exclusive will be more expensive due to reduced options of travel, while more populated areas might have deals you can capitalize on. For instance, Jackson Hole only features a couple of flights in and out of their airport a day, so deeply discounted flight deals are not as common. Similarly, as Teton County (including Jackson Hole) is the wealthiest county in the United States, lodging will not be inexpensive. Additionally, as the region is not as highly populated, there will only be a couple of options of each activity to choose from and you will need to rent a car to reach them. While these might sound like drawbacks from visiting, Jackson Hole is absolutely amazing to visit, and I highly recommend going out there for vacation (check out these amazing trip excursions available in the winter here!), but you do have to think through each component to be sure you maximize your time, energy and investment.

Group Size

If a certain remote location is on your bucket list but you want to decrease the overall trip cost, perhaps think of a group that would be open to going with you! As we had 8 of us within my family on our Jackson Hole area vacation, the costs were much reduced since we could split a rental car and VRBO. If you have a large party that can split the costs, making a trip to a remote location is far less of an investment. Or if there are only two of you, perhaps don’t mind spending more of an investment on your transportation, but once there, will spend more time hiking freely in the National Park instead of including as many paid activities. Either way, your setting will impact your vacation, so just be sure to think through how you are wanting to spend your time and what you want to prioritize.

Destination Consideration #4 – Seasonality

Avoiding The Crowds

The last major consideration to process through regarding your destination is that of seasonality. While sometimes the time in which you travel is not flexible (ex. school break, holidays, time off work etc), if you are able to be flexible with your time, I would highly recommend researching your destinations’ seasonal trends. For example, the peak times for traveling to Europe are the summer and winter months. That largely is impacted by school schedules, holidays, and sports capabilities (ex. skiing in the Alps).  That being said, if you want to have a more authentic experience with off season prices and are flexible in your trip itinerary, you might opt for a spring or fall time like March or October. Likewise, if you are considering the Caribbean, their peak times are December-February due to the reduced rainfall and travelers escaping their winter elsewhere. While you probably don’t want to visit June- November due to hurricane risk, finding a time in March, April or even the beginning of May will save you some money as well as give you reduced crowds.

Catches Of The Off Season

Now there can be a catch with going in the off season or on the brink of the off season. Sometimes, especially in more exclusive locations, stores will take their holiday breaks during the off season and not be open. When we were researching our trip to Jackson Hole, we found that their peak times were both the summer months and Christmas through April. You might think then that the best time would be to visit in the fall. During our research however, we found that while the prices were much lower, most restaurants, lodgings and activities had reduced hours or were completely closed for their “holiday off season”. Seeing this, we landed our vacation for the week before Christmas in which the prices were still much lower before their official winter season begins as activities were just starting up again following their holiday break. This was a great cost savings, and we were able to do most of what we wanted to do. We had a fabulous trip (you can read more about it here!), but these are considerations to research and take into account before settling on your vacation destination to help ensure you maximize your experience and your investment. It certainly would be a shame to plan a whole vacation and arrive only to find everything closed.

Final Thoughts

Planning and going on a trip can be so much fun and fill us with both new experiences and appreciation for the beauty, talents and unique lifestyles of other people. While planning a trip can initially seem daunting, with a little thoughtfulness and research, you too can take a trip you will never forget.

Happy traveling!

Chloe