First, you'll want to choose a place that you want to go. For some of you, this is probably easy. There might be one specific place you've always wanted to go, or maybe there are multiple places on your Bucket List. This may require some research. It highly depends on how much money you have to spend, how long you can be away from work, what dates you can travel, what kinds of places you're interested or completely uninterested in going to, and what trouble you're willing to go through to make the trip happen. Now, the price of flights and activities in your destination are based on the time of year you go, so you'll want to try to choose a country that is cheap to travel to during the time you want to go on your vacation, or vice versa.
Speaking for trips made from the U.S, trips within the U.S. and trips to countries very close to the U.S. are almost always going to be the cheapest options. You can pretty much fly anywhere in the U.S. for under $400 roundtrip. I have found that, from Atlanta, Orlando and Chicago are the cheapest fun destinations. You can usually fly from Atlanta to Mexico, Caribbean islands, anywhere in Central America, or Colombia for $400 or less, roundtrip. You can sometimes fly roundtrip from Atlanta to Quito, Ecuador for about $500 roundtrip. (Don't knock Ecuador until you try it. I had the time of my life there.) If you go to Mexico or any country in Central or South America, be prepared to rough it. It's not for everyone. I'm sure there are some places where you can stay in fancy hotels in all of these countries, but if you want to make the most of these countries, you need to live like the natives do, as much as possible. The next cheapest places from Atlanta that I've found, as far as typical flights go, are Nairobi, which is another place you'd want to rough it, and Istanbul. Both of these places require a visa, but they are decently-priced. The current Turkish visa is only $20. Flights to Rio de Janeiro, Moscow, St. Petersburg, & Beijing are usually about the same price as the ones I just mentioned, but all of these places require either an expensive visa or an expensive reciprocity fee, which jacks up the price a bit, but they are still often times less expensive options. Europe is usually expensive, but if you get the right deal, it doesn't have to be too bad, especially since most places in Europe do not require a visa. The most expensive places to visit from the U.S. are usually Asia, Australia, & New Zealand. And don't even get me started on how expensive it is to go to Antarctica.
Try to look through some deals and airline prices to see what kind of prices to expect for the places you might want to go, and that should narrow down your search and give you an idea as to which vacation destination you can afford. Have you found a potential destination? Great. The trip I'm going to use as an example here is a trip through South Africa, Zambia, & Zimbabwe. The reason I'm picking this trip is because, if you notice , the title of this blog entry is about your next BIG adventure. I want to show you guys that, while it is expensive to go on a big adventure somewhere far away, it's not impossible, and you can go for a cheaper price than what you probably think. First thing's first. Make sure you know what you're signing up for. What do those countries require of you before you can set foot on their land? Is the country safe for people from your country to travel to at this time? To answer all of these questions, check out the Department of State's website (http://travel.state.gov) for information on the safety of your vacation destination, as well as passport, visa, & vaccine requirements. All of these countries require you to carry a passport, but some might require that the passport be valid for a certain number of days, or even months, before you arrive in that country. Some of these countries require different kinds of visas, and you may be able to obtain those visas on arrival to your destination, or you might have to apply months in advance and receive the visas before you travel. If you have a layover in another country on the way from your home country to your destination country, then the layover country may require you to have a transit visa, even just to switch from one plane to the next. (I know, it's ridiculous.) So make sure this doesn't apply to you. You don't want to be stranded in a country that requires a transit visa just for you to get on the next plane to reach your destination. This does not apply for this trip, because I do not have any layovers in my flights! Make sure to carry all of your paperwork with you for the whole trip and keep it in a secure place, because if someone steals it, or you lose it, you may be stranded in-country until you obtain a replacement. If this happens, contact the U.S. embassy immediately. This paperwork includes your passport, visa, state-issued ID (or green card if you have one,) and proof of vaccination cards.
To find out how much your passport & visas will cost you, if you can buy the visas on arrival or have to purchase them ahead of time, how far ahead of time you need to purchase your passport and visas, and how to apply for your passports and visas, you can check out many different government websites, including websites for the embassy of the country you want to visit, websites for the U.S. embassy, & the Department of State's website. You can google pretty much all of this, in most cases too. Now, this can be confusing. Sometimes when you google information on visas for you to go from your country to another, a completely unrelated country's embassy website will pop up, so make sure you are not getting information on visas from the wrong country. If you are not from the UK, then make sure not to get your visa information from the UK embassy's website, for instance. They would only be able to provide information on how to get to -insert random country here- from the UK. Every country has different rules when you travel between your country and your vacation destination.
Vaccines cost everyone a different amount of money, and a lot of vaccines are difficult to find. Yellow fever is the most common vaccine and can not be found at very many private practices, but these uncommon vaccines can usually be found at urgent care clinics. They are very cheap if you have insurance that is willing to cover it. Make sure that, along with vaccines, if a country has a problem with bad diseases, you get ahold of pills that you may need to take in-country (Malaria pills in certain African countries, for example). You'll need to speak to a doctor before you go to any other country, and have him prescribe to you anything you may need believe you leave.
As for the countries I chose for this blog entry, here are their requirements, which I found by googling my questions (www.worldtravelguide.net popped up for Zambia, and www.projectvisa.com popped up for Zimbabwe,) as well as the Department of State's website:
1. South Africa -
*Passport must be valid for at least 30 days after date of departure from South Africa
*Visa not required if traveling for fewer than 90 days for business or recreational purposes
*No vaccines required
*No currency restrictions for entry or exit
2. Zambia -
*Passport must be valid for at least 6 months before entering
*Single day entry visas cost $20, single-entry visas cost $50, & double- or multiple-entry visas cost $80.
*Visas are available on arrival, so no need to apply or obtain them before leaving the U.S.
*No vaccines required
*No currency restrictions for entry or exit
3. Zimbabwe -
*At least 6-month validity of passport is recommended
*Single entry visas cost $30, double-entry visas cost $45, & multiple-entry visas cost $55
*Visas are available on arrival, so no need to apply or obtain them before leaving the U.S.
*No vaccines required
*No currency restrictions for entry, but you can not exit the country with more than the U.S. equivalent of $5,000 in cash on your person
***U.S. travelers are eligible to buy a $50 UNIVISA, which they can use to travel between Zambia & Zimbabwe without purchasing separate visas for these countries. In places like Victoria Falls, which lies between 2 countries, make sure to check and see if there are special visas you can buy if you're just going to be in that one area, because that can save you money.
Now, according to some Malaria maps I googled online, it appears that you should speak to your doctor about Malaria pills if you go to northern South Africa or anywhere in Zambia and Zimbabwe, as Malaria is a real problem in these areas. However, Malaria is a seasonal disease, so depending on when you travel, you might not need the pills, but it's always better to be on the safe side. Talk to the doctor about it, seriously. From the research I've done, it is advisable to take Malaria pills on this particular trip I have chosen as my example.
I already have a passport that is valid for quite a long time, but I will need to get the $50 UNIVISA in order to enter Victoria Falls, and I'll need to get some Malaria pills from my doctor. When I briefly lived in Ecuador for 2 months, I was able to get Malaria pills for all of that time for about $10. I'm not sure how much they cost now, but my current trip is scheduled for 2 weeks, so imagine it won't be anymore than $10.
Now, what do I want to do in these countries? Well, the high season for the best activities of these countries is from April to October, with September yielding the absolute best views of wildlife. So I'm going to shoot for a vacation in September, as the whole point of choosing these destinations is to see nature and animals, specifically Great White Sharks & African safari animals. In a lot of vacation destinations, you'll want to go in the off season, because that's when you'll see cheaper prices. However, it would be a darn shame if I went all the way to South Africa and didn't see much wildlife, because that is the whole point of the trip, so I'm just going to try to find a good deal for the on season. Besides, usually when it is summer form the northern hemisphere, when this is the hemisphere you're leaving from, flights are much more expensive. So I usually try to book my vacations in September or October anyway. In South Africa, I want to go to Cape Town for a Great White Shark cage-diving excursion, as well as Johannesburg for Lion Park and a safari through Kruger National Park. For Zambia & Zimbabwe, I want to take a Microlight flight over Victoria Falls, which is right in between the 2 countries, on the Zambezi River. All of these things are completely seasonal and weather-dependent activities, so I must make sure I'm going during the right season. Weather is difficult to control and monitor, since I need to book my trip far ahead of time to avoid any issues and higher costs, so choosing the on season to travel here will give me the best chances of seeing what I came for.
Now that you know where you're going and which time of year you want to go, it's time to pick a flight. Make sure to book your flight during the middle of the week. Today is Wednesday, so not only am I going to search for my flights today before the weekend price spikes come into play, but I'm also going to find a flight where I fly out and fly back in the middle of the week. Also, look through your options. Check prices when you're flying in and out on different dates. If you're doing what I'm doing and going to multiple places, check to see if it's cheaper to fly to the farthest city from you than to fly to the closest city to you, and things like that. Flights sometimes don't make sense. Check flights to your destination from different closeby airports, even ones that are a few states away. If the price is dramatically cheaper, just fly to that state for your flight to your destination. Most of the time, it's cheaper to book a roundtrip flight to one city, and then when you're bouncing from city to city, just make sure to buy a flight back to the original city you started in, so you can get onboard for your roundtrip flight back home from there. Sometimes, even when you only need a one-way ticket, the roundtrip tickets are even cheaper than the one-way tickets! Just be on the lookout for price spikes & drops. If you have time, monitor flights from day-to-day for a few weeks until you find a good price drop. Don't pass one up when you find it, thinking another one that's better will come by, because that's not always the case.
Check out the deals each airline and different websites are offering at the time, especially if you're not picky on your destination and/or which airline you use. Check out www.clarkhoward.com for special offers. You may want to sign up for alerts with this website, as well as various airline websites, if you have a few weeks or months to wait for the right deal to pop up in your email. I highly recommend that you download the Hopper application to your phone, and it will alert you of some incredible deals, and if you're looking at a flight, it will give you updates on the price fluctuation day-to-day, as well as whether or not prices are expected to rise or drop soon. Earlier this month, I found a deal for a roundtrip ticket from Chicago to Tokyo for $440. I live in Atlanta, so I could've found a roundtrip ticket to Chicago for under $200, which would have put my flights to and from Tokyo at around $640 roundtrip. That's incredible! Usually roundtrip tickets to Tokyo cost $1500-$2000. I tried so hard to make that trip, but I was due to start a new position at my job around the time I'd have had to leave, so I simply couldn't make that work.
The cheapest airlines with the best deals are usually United Airlines & Frontier. Frontier has some crazy hidden fees, though, so that jacks up the price often times, but I have always been happy with United. Delta is worth the small extra cost, because there are no hidden fees, and they are a great airline. Southwest can sometimes have some good deals, but their general prices are not great. The absolute cheapest airline is Spirit Airlines, but for larger trips that are farther away, you probably want to stay away from them, because they cancel flights often and don't have working phone numbers in many of the countries they have flights to. (Crazy, right?) I had a terrible experience with them on my flight back home from Peru. However, I have heard they are a good airline if you're flying closer to home and for a shorter vacation (meaning not backpacking through South America for several months). This shouldn't even be a problem for this trip anyway, because I don't even think Spirit Airlines services Africa. If you can't find a good deal, no worries! I'll direct you to the best websites to locate an inexpensive flight. And to help pay for the flight, if you want to earn some miles to put toward a flight, then open up a credit card with an airline. (Hint: You have to pay the bill.) There are airline credit cards that you can use in certain daily purchases, at the grocery store for instance, and still earn miles. Lots of airlines work together too, so if you have miles built up for one airline, you may be able to use them with a sister airline too. You would, of course, have to do all of this way before you book your trip, because it takes time to earn miles.
If you don't find a specific deal through a specific website or airline, the best websites to find cheap flights are www.cheapoair.com, www.orbitz.com, & www.kayak.com. You can check different airline websites for flights yourself, and sometimes you'll come out cheaper, but usually these 3 websites are the best at comparing prices of hundreds of airlines, even foreign ones you've never thought to check, and landing you with the best prices. I'm playing with flights right now, playing with different dates, different websites, & different orders in which I visit my destination cities. With all of this, the best flight I can find from Atlanta is a roundtrip flight to Johannesburg for $1,123.86. I don't know about you, but I don't like that number. That's too much, and it's unacceptable. So I kept playing around with more of the tricks I've mentioned, and I found a roundtrip flight from Chicago to Johannesburg for $730.46! Now, that's what I'm talking about! Wait, there's more. I wouldn't even have to fly to Chicago, because there is 1 stop each way on these flights, and guess where the stop is. ATLANTA. So that means I can just book this roundtrip flight, not fly to Chicago, and hop on and off the flights when they stop in Atlanta. I am basically going to book a non-stop, roundtrip flight to South Africa for about $730, just by playing around with the website. And what's more is these flights are with Delta, so I don't have to worry about any hidden fees. I get to take 1 carry-on bag and 2 checked bags for free on both flights. I found this gem on www.orbitz.com, by the way. And you would think it would make sense to just be able to purchase the flights from Atlanta to Johannesburg & back, but sometimes flight search sites don't work that way. However, if you are worried about taking up a seat on a Chicago flight that you won't be on, find out the flight information, and go onto that airline's website to see if it's possible to purchase the specific flights you want, so that you don't even book the Chicago flights. However, this usually is not possible, and even if it is, it may very well affect your flight price in a bad way. Flight prices fluctuate often, even drastically at times, so as soon as I find a flight I want, I need to book it, if at all possible. At the same time, I want to make sure my budget and expected spendings for the entire trip align before I make any commitments. Keep in mind that most flights are non-refundable.
And since this flight is with Delta, I'm going to do what I have always wanted to do and open up a Gold Delta SkyMiles credit card. There is no annual fee for the first year, so if I didn't like it or didn't make enough miles by using the card for it to be worth keeping it open, then I would just close it before the 2nd year starts. If I spend $2,000 on the card within the first 3 months of opening it, I get 50,000 free sky miles. (This is a limited time offer that is going on right now. Usually the offer is 30,000 free sky miles for making $1,000 worth of purchases on the card within the first 3 months). This is a very easy goal to attain. Once I use my card on groceries, activities, needs, and gas, I will just pay it off immediately with my debit card. I don't know about you, but my bills for 3 months definitely total more than $2,000, so I think I'm set to get those free miles. If you have good credit and a good source of income, then you should be approved for the card. With Delta's sky miles, you can trade 10,000 of your sky miles for $100 off of your ticket price. If I trade all 50,000 of my sky miles in for this trip, that will take $500 off of the price of my flight! So I only have to pay 230.46 for this flight!
Now, once I get to Johannesburg, how am I going to travel from place to place? As for Johannesburg, Lion Park is about 45 minutes outside of the city, and Kruger National Park is a few hours away. As for Cape Town, the closest place to shark cage-dive is Gansbaai, which is a couple of hours away. And then there's the whole getting between Johannesburg, Cape Town, & Victoria Falls thing. These places are quite far from each other. So I chose the latter 3 cities as my destination points, since they have international airports. On my research, I found that it is much cheaper to take a route from Johannesburg to Cape Town, to Victoria Falls, to Johannesburg. (I chose a roundtrip flight between Atlanta & Johannesburg, so I need to end up in Johannesburg for my flight back home.) Buses and trains are great modes of transportation, but in these areas, it's better to fly if your destination is far away. Not only is there some disease and unrest in these areas, but the terrain is rough, and these areas lack a lot of roads. Also, on my route, my destination locations are very far from each other and would entail 19+ hour bus rides, with several bus transfers sometimes. I'd rather spend the money on a comfortable plane ride. I found a Sleepliner bus for about $40 (http://www.intercape.co.za/), but it's a 19.5 hour bus ride. (Bus rides such as these will likely be shown in the currency of your destination country, not your currency, so keep that in mind. You can use Google to translate their currency to the USD equivalent.) On www.orbitz.com, I found a non-stop 2.25 hour flight from Johannesburg to Cape Town on 9/20/16 for only $66.50. Guess which mode of transportation I'm going to pick? The flight. To me, that's worth the money. Now, on to Victoria Falls! I wanted to travel to Victoria Falls on 9/24/16, and then to Johannesburg on 9/26/16 before my flight leaves to go back home the evening of 9/26/16. However, I found an extremely discounted price for my flight back to Johannesburg, which saves me about $200, so I'm going to switch things up a bit. I found a flight from Cape Town to Victoria Falls on 9/23/16 for $245.80 (www.cheapoair.com), and I found a non-stop flight from Victoria Falls to Johannesburg on 9/25/16 for $110 (www.kayak.com). If I had to pay for my roundtrip flight from home to Johannesburg in full, then my grand total of money for flights would be $1,152.76, which is less than what most people pay for just a roundtrip flight to South Africa, so that's good. But what is even better is that my roundtrip flight from home to Johannesburg will be cheap with my Sky Miles credit card, so my grand total for flights will only be $652.76!
Now let's make sure what I want to do in these cities aligns with the time I have there. In Johannesburg, my goal is to spend time at Lion Park, a big cat sanctuary, as well as Kruger National Park. Lion Park is about 45 minutes outside of Johannesburg, and all of the information I needed about the park and prices is on their website. Everything I want to do there totals $96.08. This price includes the entrance fee to the park, a game drive with a lion cub experience (where guests can hold and cuddle lion cubs,) a walk with lions, & a walk with cheetahs. Yes, I'm going to get up close and personal with these animals. You don't have to do that if you go, since there are plenty of other things to do in the park, including day and night game drives, but if I missed out on this opportunity, I would certainly regret it. Sidenote: From an environmentalist's standpoint, try not to visit zoos while you are abroad. If you love animals like I do, give your money to companies that work for the conservation of such beautiful creatures, not the captivity of them for human enjoyment. Sanctuaries, conservatories, & research centers are great places to support on your travels (and at home.) Other than this, it would be really hard for me to go to Kruger National Park on my own, since this area of the world lacks roads, and it takes several hours to get there from the city. Rather than die trying to get there myself, I have chosen to do a safari. For $370.75, I can go on a camping safari for 3 days & 2 nights. This is just about the cheapest option you'll find for a safari, and finding that is surprising. Safaris are ridiculously expensive. You can find cheaper safari options, such as this one on www.africanbudgetsafaris.com. There are a ton of areas and camps to see in this park, so if you have more time and money to spend, then I urge you to research the kinds of places you want to go and things you want to see while in the park, so you pick the right safari option for you. There is a small airport at the park, so if you want to go by yourself and do it the old-fashioned way, then have at it. That should only run you about $150 roundtrip at this time of year, if that. The park entrance fee is $19.06, a price which will probably be included in your safari if you do that.
Once I'm in Cape Town, I want to go to Gansbaai to go Great White Shark cage-diving. Now, you can make your way a couple of hours to Gansbaai in whatever means you desire and book a tour with a shark cage-diving company there if you want, but most of the time, you'll end up paying just as much money, if not more, as well as have to deal with the hassle of finding your way around a foreign country, than if you just book a shark cage-diving tour to Gansbaai from Cape Town. Such tours typically have options to pick you up from your hotel, transport you to Gansbaai, transport you back from there to Cape Town, and drop you back off at your hotel. And if you stay for more than a day, these companies will accommodate you. I like to not have to worry about anything on my trip if possible, particularly getting lost in a foreign country, so I will do a tour. I have chose a tour that is 2 days long, because seeing wild animals is completely weather-dependent, so I want to maximize my chance of seeing sharks. I have done my research and found a company on www.sharkbookings.com that will provide hotel pick-up/drop-off and transport me to Gansbaai and back to Cape Town. They will accommodate me in a 4-star Roundhouse Guesthouse for 1 night. This hotel option overlooks the Walker Bay Whale Sanctuary, so I get to see whales on my tour too! (That's ultimately why I picked this tour.) If you don't want to have to get your PADI scuba diving certification before you leave for your trip, which is upwards of $700, then you need to make sure the tours you take that involve water do not require this certification. This tour does not. The total tour cost is $141.97. (Remember, many prices are listed in a foreign currency, and exchange rates constantly fluctuate, so this price may change a bit, but at the current time, this is the price in USD for this tour.)
Once I get to Victoria Falls, I'm only going to have a limited amount of time to be there. The Zambian side's entrance fee is $20, and the entrance fee for the Zimbabwe side is $30. The Zambian side's falls will likely be dried up at this time of year, but Devil's Pool will be open. That is basically a natural infinity pool - a pool of water at the top of a cliff, and you can swim right up to the edge of the pool and look over the cliff. It's great for dare-devils like me! Also, I want to take a Microlight flight over the falls of the Zambian side. This is basically like a tiny go-kart that flies. It is completely weather-dependent, so things like this can get cancelled if the weather is bad. That's why it's sometimes a good idea to book an extra day or two for your trip there if possible, just in case the weather is bad on the day you want to do your flight, but if I'm going to be able to get to South Africa cheaply, then I only have time to be at Victoria Falls for one full day. The Zimbabwe side of the falls has the best viewpoints of many different sections of waterfalls, and these falls never dry up. Also, I have heard this side of the falls is great for restaurants and shopping.
Now, it's time to pick a place to stay in each destination! I am a budget traveler, and I like to meet new people, so I like to either stay in backpacker hostels or couch surf, if possible. The benefit of using these methods is saving tons of money (thus, being able to travel farther), meeting friends, & possibly even finding a travel buddy. If you are young, this is easy and fun. I don't mind sharing a room or house with other people, and it can even sometimes be nice, especially if you are traveling solo, like I often do. Couch surfing (www.couchsurfing.com) is where you find someone who lives in your destination and doesn't mind you staying at their home for free. People who have stayed with them previously rate them, so you can make sure to find a reputable host before trusting them not to murder you in your sleep. (Ha!) There is also a newer website called www.airbnb.com, where you can find someone who owns a house or apartment that they will rent to you for the time you are in that city. Sometimes that person lives there, and sometimes he/she just owns the place but doesn't live there. There are usually some good prices, although there are plenty of expensive options too. It's also really cheap to buy a tent and camp out each night of your stay. Sometimes there are house-sitting opportunities abroad, so keep an eye on those when they pop up. Also, I have traveled to other countries simply because I have family there, and they've been willing to lend me their couch for a few nights, so if that's an option, take it! If you are not comfortable with these ideas, or the opportunity hasn't arisen, then the following hostels for the destinations I've chosen for this trip sound great: Diamond Diggers Backpackers in Johannesburg for $10.50/night, and Ashanti Backpackers Hostel in Cape Town for $12.50/night. However, I have found a reputable couch surfing host in good locations in both Johannesburg and Cape Town. so I will stay with them for the nights that I'm not on my safari or cage-diving tour. It's hard to find a couch surfing host that is right near Victoria Falls, which is where I'd prefer to stay, since my time there is very limited, so for this location, I'll stay in a hostel. I've chosen Victoria Falls Backpackers in Zimbabwe for $18/night for 2 nights. The key is to make sure it's close to where everything you want to do is, preferably within walking distance, so you don't spend too much time or money on transportation. There is often times a city center, so research where all of the fun things to do in your destination city are, and then find cheap hostels or couch surfing hosts within a short distance of that area.
You won't always know exactly how much money you'll spend on vacation, but you can get very close by estimating costs and sticking to the budget you have made based on those costs (as best as possible). But you need to know what to expect. I might be taking some taxis, so I looked up how much a taxi ride would cost, in case someone tries to charge me more, because I'm a tourist and don't know any better. In South Africa, the meter should charge around R50 (approx. $3.44) when you get into the cab. After that, the cabby should charge you around R8.87 (approx. 0.61 cents) for each kilometer you travel. (Most, if not all, other countries measure distance through kilometers, apart from the U.S.) Therefore, a 5-kilometer cab ride should cost me around R94.35 (approx. $6.50). For Victoria Falls, the initial fare is around R50 as well, but the cabby should charge you around R9.89 (approx. 0.69 cents) per kilometer of your ride, so a 5-kilometer ride will probably cost around R99.45 (approx. $6.89). You can find all of this information on www.taxifarefinder.com. If anyone tries to charge me much more than this, I will decline the ride. Some cabs will take foreigners the long way to their destination, because they don't know the way, or how long the ride should be. Try to know everything about your ride before you take it. It helps to actually give the cabby a route, and make them go the way you want. A lot of people even discuss with the cabby how much the ride will cost (approximately) before agreeing to get into the cab. By the way, a taxi should be your last option for rides longer than about 10 minutes. Try a bus or train; they are usually much cheaper. You can even hitch-hike, although I wouldn't recommend doing it alone. There are some places where hitch-hiking is a norm, and people are used to picking people up on long stretches of roads and allowing them to tag along for the ride, but usually it is custom for the hitch-hiker to give some change to the driver as a thank you. However, in some cultures, paying the driver is seen as rude. I did this all the time when I lived in both Ecuador and Peru. In Ecuador, people didn't accept change in exchange for rides, because they were happy to help a new friend; however, in Peru, it was very much the norm to make a small donation if someone was gracious enough to let you tag along in their vehicle. Be careful where you pull these kinds of stunts, and make sure there are other people there with you, who you trust. And if you can walk it, walk it. This area of Africa is very safe and urban.
Compared to the U.S, South Africa's cost of living is much lower. By looking up the cost of living in your destination, you can get a ball park idea of how much money you will spend on food during your stay. If this gives you kind of an idea of what to expect to pay for food in South Africa, a gallon of milk currently costs R3.05 (approx. 0.21 cents,) compared to approx. $3.07 in Atlanta. Check out www.numbeo.com for information on the cost of living in your vacation destination. To keep prices low, you can buy groceries. Some hostels even have kitchens where you can cook your own food if you buy groceries. Some people like to dumpster dive, which is where you go to restaurants after they close and request the leftovers they are going to throw out that night. I have never done this, and it is illegal to do so in the U.S, but it's common practice in some countries. I like to splurge a little while on vacation, so usually I will allow myself $10/day for food. In a lot of countries, this is an overshot, and according to the cost of living in South Africa, this will probably be an overshot. But it's better to overshoot than undershoot, so you know you'll have enough money for your trip, no matter what. My budget for food on my trip is $100. (While I'm on my Kruger National Park safari, 2 days of food will be provided for me.) Again, I will probably not spend this much on food, because when I can, I will eat groceries; however, I do like to eat food at restaurants sometimes while on vacation, because foreign food is a part of the foreign experience.
You'll want to sufficiently plan for your trip before you leave. There will inevitably be some things you need to add to your budget and buy before you leave, whether it's an underwater camera/GoPro camera, an SLR camera, PADI scuba diving license, an *insert language here* to English dictionary, a rucksack, or a tent and other camping equipment. And don't forget your outlet adaptor! Inevitably your destination country probably does not use the same type of outlet that you do, so if you want to use technology while you are on vacation, you need one of these. There are universal outlet adaptors, but they work slowly, since they have to accommodate all outlet types. I am all set for this trip, as I have what I need already. I have a universal outlet adaptor, a rucksack, an SLR camera, & a GoPro camera, and the main language in South Africa is English, so I'm not worried about a language barrier. I thought about getting an underwater camera, but I probably won't do that for this trip. If you decide to get one, I recommend the Canon PowerShot D30. When in doubt, go with Canon! (This is coming from a freelance photographer.)
Itinerary:
9/14/16 - Fly out of Atlanta
9/15/16 - Arrive in Johannesburg at 5:50pm
9/16/16 - Lion Park
9/17/16 - Leave on safari
9/18/16 - On safari all day
9/19/16 - Come back from safari
9/20/16 - Fly from Johannesburg to Cape Town
9/21/16 - Leave on shark cage-diving tour
9/22/16 - Come back from shark cage-diving tour
9/23/16 - Fly from Cape Town to Victoria Falls
9/24/16 - See Victoria Falls; Take Microlight flight
9/25/16 - Fly from Victoria Falls to Johannesburg
9/26/16 - Fly out of Johannesburg at 7:50pm
9/27/16 - Arrive in Atlanta
Usually I recommend allowing some space in your trip. Not only are there sometimes some unexpected issues, such as flight delays or problems with your paperwork (passport, visa, etc,) but there also may be weather problems that delay your activities. Also, you want to plan to have open days on your trip to do things that you may not even know are an option until you get to your destination. And then, of course, some people just don't like a packed schedule. So, in most cases, I recommend allowing extra time in your schedule and not packing it this tightly, but the reason I did this is for 2 reasons: 1. I can't imagine my job giving me more than 2 weeks off in a row, but I wanted to make sure to hit all of these points and activities if I'm going to travel so far and spend so much money, and 2. I found such a great discounted flight price from Atlanta to Johannesburg, and unfortunately, that flight allowed for a little less time that I had originally planned. If you pack your trip this tightly, you will probably get pretty tired, but also, you may miss out on something you had planned. For this reason, as a general rule, I recommend not paying for any of your activities until you're actually in your destination country and about to do the activity. That's not always possible, as it is a good idea to make your reservations ahead of time, so you don't miss out on what you want to do while on vacation, but some companies will allow you to book the trip without paying until you're about to fulfill the activity. Following this rule will also help you to avoid scams where fake companies make you pay online before you leave for your vacation, and then when you get to the your destination, that's when you realize that company doesn't actually exist, and you have no way to get your money back.
Taking all of this information into account, I have come up with a budget for my trip. For flights, I will pay $652.76 total. For activities (the ones I have specifically planned ahead of time), I will spend $813.80. For my visa & Malaria pills, I will spend around $60. For accommodation, I will spend a mere $36. For food, I will try my best to spend no more than $100. This does not account for last minute expenses, unexpected problems that may arise, taxi/bus/train rides, souvenirs, traveler's checks ordered from the bank, ATM fees, & spur-of-the-moment activities I may decide to do. The total of the numbers above equals $1,662.56, but since I will likely spend a little more money on the trip, I will round to $1,900 for my budget. Again, it's better to overshoot than undershoot, even if you don't think you'll spend that much money. And in case there is some kind of emergency on your vacation, you want to make sure you have quite a bit of cushioning in your bank account as back-up before you leave. I know this number is daunting, but to be quite honest, I spent just about the same amount of money in Las Vegas last year. (I am not proud of that, and I would usually be horrified to hear of someone spending that much money on a domestic vacation. I just so happened to be doing very well with finances and went a bit crazy. No regrets, though.) But see, this is a very big trip. I am knocking 3 different countries and many activities off of my Bucket List with this trip, so I think $1,900 for this trip is a steal. And if you can't get the credit card I plan to get, or you simply don't want to go that route, remember I found an extremely cheap flight to show you what can sometimes be available. I found that flight for those of you who don't bother with credit cards. If don't get one, the total for this trip is still just $2,162.56, and I would round that to a budget of $2,400 at the most. Remember that, if you don't want to spend this much money, you can always cut the trip down to one country or leave out some of the activities that I want to do. Or you can always utilize some of the money-saving tips I've given throughout this entry, which I plan to splurge on. Also, it may be worth it to note that Africa is a very expensive place to go (when it comes to flights and safaris; other than that, it's a very cheap place), so if you want something cheaper, try Colombia, Mexico, or Costa Rica, which would be more like a medium-sized adventure. But for a "big adventure", this is definitely the way to go, and I would bet these prices are a lot better than what a lot of you were expecting!
As for money, I could always take cash with me and switch it out for South African Rands once I reach the Johannesburg airport, but it's not always safe to carry large sums of cash on your person. Travelers checks are a great idea, which you can order ahead of time from your bank. I usually just take my debit card with me and use ATMs to withdraw money throughout my trip. There is always a small fee each time I withdraw money, because the banks that run the U.S. are not common in other countries, so inevitably I will always withdraw from an ATM that is not associated with my bank, thus the fee. If you decide to do this on your trip, make sure to let your bank know you will be traveling abroad before you leave, so they won't freeze your account when your card is used overseas. And beware of rigged ATMs overseas. These will suck your card in all the way to read it, rather than leaving it sticking partway out, and they will steal your card information, so someone can steal money from your bank account. Realize that not all ATMs that suck the card in all the way to read it are rigged like this, but it's best to avoid these kinds of ATMs, just in case.
Before you leave, make sure to have your streets smarts in order. This is about being respectful of other countries and cultures and genuinely making things easier for you. Make sure to learn some of your destination country's language before you leave. You likely won't learn much, but knowing the basics will make you go far, and it will show the world that you respect their country and don't expect everyone else to know your language to make your travels easier on you. Also, try to learn some basic norms in your country of choice before leaving. There are some places that have strict norms that guide you on what to wear, and other countries just have certain hand gestures that are seen as respectful/disrespectful. It's good to know everything before you leave, so you don't insult anyone or put yourself in danger. For instance, don't be alarmed if someone greets you by kissing you on the cheek in South Africa, or if a South African native is direct and open if he/she feels offended by you. One thing I have to worry about when traveling abroad is that I am in an interracial relationship with a Hispanic man, and unfortunately, some countries look down on that. Fortunately, though, South Africa has a growing population of interracial couples, so I expect most people will be friendly and welcome to the idea if my boyfriend decides to tag along on this trip. And research what might be dangerous about the country you plan to visit before you go. If there is any kind of unrest in the country or any dangerous neighborhoods, you need to know these things before you get there.
Always, always, ALWAYS hide your passport and visas. Sleep with them under your pillow or in a locked safe at night if you share a hostel room with other people. Do NOT take this paperwork out for any reason other than to get into a country. Thieves are everywhere, and if you lose your paperwork or it gets stolen, you will be stuck in that country for quite some time until you can get the U.S. embassy to verify that you're allowed to be in that country, and to send you new paperwork.
Try to pack light! Most other countries have laundromats where you can either wash your own clothes, or you can pay someone to do it for you. It's always better to pack less than more, because you can always wash clothes if necessary. Also, make sure to leave some room in your luggage for souvenirs. I find it is easy to jump from country to country when I carry my rucksack, rather than suitcase, especially when I'm going off the beaten path. You really only want to carry a suitcase if you are going to one single place in a very clean, industrialized city, and you aren't planning on moving your luggage anywhere throughout the trip. Otherwise, carrying a rucksack on your back is much easier, and I happen to think it's simply an easier way to carry my belongings in general. Take all of the paperwork (passport, visas, proof of vaccines) you need with you! Remember to take your money, travelers checks, and/or debit card with you. Remember to pack anything you bought in preparation for the trip. Don't worry so much about packing toiletries, as you can buy those in your destination country. If you do pack toiletries, pack travel-sized ones. To stay economical, use some leftovers small travel-sized tubes from previous household items to fill with the shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, etc. that you use every day at home. Make sure to look up information about what your flight allows you to take on board. If they don't allow razor blades on the plane, don't take razor blades with you. As long as you put a lot of these things in your checked bag, they are not an issue, but some things you can not even check, so be wary of that. And for the love of all that is holy, don't forget your camera! Have a safe, fun, breath-taking, memorable trip!
