Advice for individual travel

Summer break time is just around the corner and usually that means travel and a change of scenery.

Popotniško združenje Slovenije is the organization dedicated to helping young people to travel in order to explore places near and far and broaden horizons in an independent way.

If choosing a summer break through a tourist agency seems like the best option for all who wish to have a change of surroundings and relax than individual travels bring a lot more than just a change of scenery. Getting to know other cultures, tradition, habits, cuisine and much more.

Today we can find most traveling advice on-line, although for some exotic places printed guides (such as The Lonely Planet) are advised. There we can find general descriptions and sights, as well as practical advice.

There is no common rule, how to prepare yourself for a journey, but there are some general guidelines that apply for every traveler.

What to do prior to individual travel, to have as little problems as possible:

1. TRANSPORTATION:

Once we decide upon the destination and stops along the way (for the way there might be more important than the final destination) – especially with round trips, we need to decide upon our mode of transportation. Usually the transport is the most expensive part of the journey, especially if traveling to far off places, thus we need to pay attention to the way we travel.

While traveling in smaller groups around Europe (3-5 people) a car is still (despite all environmental incentives) the cheapest way to get around. But if a single person or a couple is travelling railroad would be cheaper, with all the discounts that could be got. The most interesting are probably the night/sleeping/trains, where the price might be higher, but you save on costs for hotels and arrive to the centre of the next city rested and early in the morning.

To travel to longer distances within Europe airplane is cheaper than other modes of transport, especially with numerous budget airlines.

Traps while choosing an airline: Unlike classic airlines, which include (usually 20 kilo) luggage, in-flight snack and drink and take you to renowned airports (with good communication to the city) the budget airlines fly to remote airports, all food and drinks have to be paid for and only hand luggage is included in the ticket price. The extra payment for the luggage is usually higher than the flight ticket itself. Since most tickets are booked online, we suggest you compare the final price (that includes all the taxes and luggage expanses) and everything we’ve selected during booking. It can happen that budget airlines get more expensive than the classical airlines, once we put the final price together.

How to find a good deal on a plane ticket: One of the many sites that can help you out is www.whichbudget.com ,but you need to realize not all airlines are mentioned here, which means there could be better offers out there (but not often). For faster search of connecting flights there are several sites, among others www.skyscanner.net , www.kayak.com … , that give you most connecting flights (if not all) based on which you can decide. And naturally every airline has their own web site (such as www.adria.si ),where you can find and buy a ticket.

What to look out for: Always read the conditions under which you’re buying a ticket. The lower the price, the stricter the conditions (when it comes to cancelation or date change) and so in many cases of promotional flights you cannot change anything and if you cancel the flight you lose all the money. The prices of tickets are not fixed, but they change daily, depending on the availability of the seats on a flight.

2. SLEEPING

There are over 4.500 Youth Hostlov altogether in almost every European, and most non-European, country that offer budged sleeping arrangements for young travelers. Most of the Youth Hostels are bookable by the www.youth-hostel.si , which is the official web site of the Popotniško združenje Slovenije. On this site you can also order a membership card for HI membership, with which you can stay in hostels world wide with some benefits.

Apart from the net, you can also get it at any HI hostel in Slovenia or at other info points for young travelers.

In a Youth Hostel you can safely, in comfort and usually near most of the attractions, spend the night. For comparison, here are some prices of a night (with breakfast) in a hostel at various locations world wide (like Vienna, Belgrade or Budapest). For 20-25€ you can spend a night in Paris, Nice, Venice… for under 30€ you can spend a night and have a breakfast in traditional expensive countries like Norway (downtown Oslo), Japan – in center of Tokyo, Manhattan (New York) and in many other high priced location. In certain Mediterranean or other tourist places (such as Sharm el Sheikh, Hurgada, Cairo…), or Istanbul you can even spend a night for under 15€.

If you go there out of season the prices will be even lower, but already these prices of Youth Hostels prove that even the most pricy countries (like in Scandinavia) are affordable

3. SAFETY

Before traveling we suggest you check out the official sight of the Ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve  (foreign ministry) and check if there are any dangers or security warnings in the country you wish to go to. Naturally you should keep the traveling documents, credit cards and money in places that pickpockets can not reach, for tourists usually represent the main target for these long fingered fiends.

Especially if you travel far away, you should always check where the closest embassy of your country or any other neighboring country (that handles your country in the region) is and have their phone number handy.

You should also check the health care centre if there are any precautions needed (like vaccination) before visiting a certain country. Some countries may even demand a certificate of vaccination before letting across the border.

And naturally we strongly suggest you have your travel insurance in order and valid for the country you’re planning on visiting. You can check that at the Zavod za zdravstveno zavarovanje Slovenije (health-insurance of Slovenia), where you’ll get instructions of how to react in various European and other countries with which Slovenia has a bilateral agreement. For other countries we suggest you check the web to find who offers the best insurance policies and we’re sure you’ll find several options.

For everything we’ve missed and you cannot find on our site www.youth-hostel.si or in our online magazine www.globetrotter.si you can contact us at info@youth-hostel.si .