Grail Seekers Travel Guide One of the great joys of life is travel.  Getting out of your frame of reference on occasions can be good for the soul.  Travel also gives the Grail Seeker the unique opportunity to do some research.  Whether it’s a simple pilgrimage to a site that’s important to your investigations, or actually going to a musty archive; a well thought out plan can make the difference between success and failure.    This handy guide is not a vacation guide.  Vacations are for those that want to sit around a beach, read pulp fiction, and sip on fruity drinks with umbrellas.  There’s nothing wrong with that.  With this is a guide, you should be able to not only travel with a purpose, but you can sip on blender creations as well. Travel Sections: Overseas Travel: UK Travel Guide

Before you even start thinking about budgets, vacation times, or transportation schedules, write down what you really want to do.  Beginning your plans with the “I can’t afford that”, “I won’t have time for this”, and “I can’t get there from there” will only succeed in sinking all of your plans.  You’ll find if you start from the perspective of what you desire most out of a trip, you will find creative solutions to make it happen. 

 

Home issues

You’ve gotten time off work and figured out the dates you’re going to be gone.  Before you do anything else: make arraignments to take care of your dwelling, pets, kids, mail, newspaper, and transport to/from the station/airport/rental car place.  These issues can needlessly suck up time and money if you wait until the last few days to take care of.  You might as well go ahead and square these mundane details away to begin with.

 

You’re going to take who with you?

Nothing can tube a trip faster than having a bad travel companion.  Do not plan a major trip with someone that you haven’t at least gone on a road trip with.  They might have been your best friend since you were 7, but anyone who has read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas knows people can change dramatically when on the road.  Just make sure you’re companion is up for the same level of adventure you are and you should be fine.

 

A destination is like a date

You wouldn’t ask someone out on a date without finding out a little about whom they are and their background.  So don’t do the same thing when you travel.  Find out about the culture, weather, public transportation, basic traffic laws, and entry requirements (if traveling abroad). Every place you go is different and might need a unique plan to get what you want out of your travel experience.  

Tours are for the weak

I've often wondered why anyone would take a tour package in an urban area.  You get stuck with folks you don't know (often smelling  like day old cheese), and you are told when to do everything.  This is not my idea of travel.  If you book a tour package, you're at the whim of the tour guide.  Don't do it.  Surf the web and find the places you want to go to and explore.  With a little research you can find out all the information about any place in the world. 

The only exception to this rule would be if you are traveling to some hot zone.  If your plans include somewhere that is experiencing civil unrest or requires special knowledge of a wilderness area, then by all means a tour is the route to go.  My only suggestion in these situations is that you arm yourself with as much knowledge as you can before leaving.  What happens to you if the tour guide goes on an all night bender and doesn't show up for work the next morning...

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

Assuming you’re not going to the corner store, you’re going to have to get there somehow.  This means shelling out cash and making reservations.  You’re goal here is to minimize the time and money spent on both endeavors.  This means you have a choice, you can book everything yourself, or go through a travel agent.

 

I have never gone the travel agent route.  Unless your cousin Larry is in the industry, you’re probably going to end up with plans being inflexible and more expensive than doing it yourself.  With all the travel sites on the web, there’s no reason not to book yourself.

 

You’ve got quite a few choices out there:

Yahoo Travel, Expedia, Travelocity, and Orbitz type sites: The major internet travel sites are give you the same service and prices.  Unless one of these sites is running a special, then every time I’ve run transportation they’re the same.  Use these as a last resort, but check them first.  You will have a “pricing baseline”.  Also, from time to time they do run some good last minute deals if you’re traveling on the fly.

 

Cheap Tickets  and any other site that has Cheap in their name sites:   Cheap Tickets is a reputable site, and their pricing can be less expensive than the sites listed above.  My Dad has given me a few valuable pieces of advice in my life time.  One is never by a car from a place that “will tote the note” or has “e-z credit.”  You can bet that the same principle holds true for transportation.

 

Priceline: You’ve got a couple of options with Priceline these days.  You can sill do the “name your own price” route or you can choose your price.  You’re going to get the best rate with the choose your own, but you’re up to the whims of the Priceline gods for departure times.  I’ve had better luck with rental cars on Priceline than looking for airfare.  No matter what, it seems that booking with Priceline a month or more out or with less than a week left till travel yields the best results.

 

Airvalues.com: By far this is the best rates I’ve seen when booking at least a month or more out.  They pull from a slightly wide pool of airlines than most other sites.  I’ve booked my last two trips to Europe with these folks and saved a couple of hundred dollars off the major players.

 

A couple of other things to consider when flying:

Security: Check out the Department of Homeland Security site for regulations on what you can and cannot carry on to a flight.  Most of the TSA rules will apply to anywhere you’re flying throughout the world.  You’re going to take a carry on with you even if you really don’t need it.  Have a day’s change of clothing, your travel documents, medication, and gadgets with you in your carry on.  If your main luggage gets lost, you’re not going to be without everything when you hit the ground.  Also, remember you’re going to have to take off your shoes and go through a metal detector. 

 

When to leave and come back:  The airline industry is awash with flight delays.  While you might not be able to control connecting flight times, you can minimize their impact on your plans.  Print out a layout of whatever airport you’re flying into.  If you have just a few minutes to make a connecting flight, this will make it easier to locate your departure gate.  Most airports have some type of layout available on line.

 

Also, try to fly back with at least a day to spare from going back to work.  Most work places don’t like to hear, “Gee I’d love to be back at work today, but I’m stuck in Cleveland.”  Plus this gives you a day to decompress and do laundry…

 

Operator, we have a problem

The concept of an Operator comes from the Matrix movies.  The Operator was the person that monitored someone while they were in the Matrix and was able to give assistance when an operative got stuck.  Just like the movie, having a trusted individual back home to give you back up while traveling is helpful.

 

This person is someone that you can call up and get info, book extras, and be a contact to let everyone else knows you’re ok while on the road.  I don’t know how many times I've called my wife to play Operator.  While in Los Angeles a few years back, I heard Elvis Costello was playing at UCLA.  I called my Operator and had her get me tickets dropped at the will call.  Also on that same trip, I ended up in an unsavory part of town.  The call then was, “I’m at the corner of X and Y, help navigate me out of here quickly”

 

You get the idea.  Make sure this person can be trusted with your credit card info and has a job where they have a net connection throughout the day.  Believe me, it will save you time when you’re on the ground and if traveling alone you have a virtual travel buddy.     

 

Plan, we don’t need no stinking plan

Well you really do.  Before I leave the house, I have a travel packet that I keep with me.  This sounds like the Felix Unger method of traveling, but it’s really not set up to be inflexible. Your travel packet has all the info you’ll need to complete your trip start to finish.  Here’s what I put in my packet:

1. Contact info: Actually record e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and any other contact info for people back home.  Yes I know you have all that info in your cell, PDA, and laptop; but these things aren’t always working or accessible.  A piece of paper is very user friendly.
2. Travel Particulars: This should include flight, rental car, etc conformation numbers, gate info (if available), maps of the facilities you’re traveling to, and a map of how to get out of the facility you’re traveling into once you get to your destination.  Mirror all of this for the hotel you’re staying at.  Cutting and pasting a map into your travel plan is a time saver.
3. What’s the Daily Plan?  I always pick at least three things I want to do/see each day when I’m on the road.  This helps to keep you focused on what your original travel goals are, but should give you enough flexibility to get into adventures you see along the way.  Include Mapquest instructions and maps to and from your destinations points in this section.  When working this section up,  check out opening/closing times for the places you want to go.  There’s nothing worse than finding out the museum you wanted to hit on Monday is closed.
4. Where is Your Safe Zone? If you're traveling with someone you need to put a bolt hole plan into your travel packet.  This is especially true if you're traveling overseas. If you get separated,  there's a natural catastrophe, civil unrest, terrorist event, etc; you need a rally point and an exit plan.  I know this sounds paranoid, but something like this would be bad enough at home.  When in an unfamiliar city, it could cost you more than just a lost day.
   

 

Get out alive

Give yourself plenty of time on your last day to get to your egress point.  Since you’re in a town you might not be familiar with, estimate that it will take you an hour longer than you think and you should be fine.  Plan to keep whatever trinkets you’ve purchased on the trip with your carry on.  Just make sure they conform to carry on rules and regs.