Long-Stay: Your Guide To An Extended Vacation

How to plan for a long-stay trip
Photo: Kirill Zakharov/Unsplash

Going on vacation is one of the most exciting times of year for a lot of people, planning a long-stay trip might be the highlight of a lifetime. The chance to have some time away from work and the other stresses of life is a wonderful one, and most people won’t want to waste it. Of course, though, despite wanting to get the very most out of their time off, most people won’t push their vacation to the limits.

By going somewhere long-term, you get the chance to explore it like never before. To help you out with this sort of adventure, this post explores some of the stages you’ll need to go through to make your long-stay vacation happen.

 

A How to Guide for Long stay travel
Photo: Jānis Skribāns/Unsplash

Stage One: Prepare Your Life

The very first area you’ll have to consider are the parts of your life already in place. You can’t shirk your responsibilities simply to go away, and you’ll need to prepare yourself before you go. Below, you can find some examples of the areas you’ll need to think about the most, along with the action you can take.

Work: Most people will have some vacation leave which they can take from work. You’ll have to talk to your bosses to take all of this at once, but this could cover the entire trip. If you don’t have any leave, you may be able to get some time off, though it probably won’t be paid. To make sure that you get the time you want, it’s worth trying to book it as early as you can.

The Kids: If you have children, they will also have some responsibilities which they have to uphold. School is very important to a young child, and your kid’s place will want to know if they are going to be gone for a while. Like your work, this should be booked as soon as possible, and you should be prepared for your child to have some work to do during their time out of school.

Family/Friends: Along with school and work, there will also be plenty of people in your life who will need to have some attention. You will have to let family members know where you’re going, along with the itinerary you choose for yourself, giving them an idea of where you’ll be all the time. Having a reliable way to keep in contact is also essential, as it can be hard for people to know if you’ve gone missing while you’re away.

Stage Two: Plan your Long-stay

With your life in order, you can start to think about the research you’re going to do for your long trip. Of course, unlike a normal holiday, you will have to do loads of searching around for this. There are loads of areas to consider, and you can find the most important of them below, though it’s also worth finding some for yourself.

The very first thing to start researching is the location you’re going to be taking your vacation in. Ideally, this should be a place with loads available for you to do, and some easy ways to get around. Rome, for example, is a great city for this, offering both history and culture before you even leave the city. Always make sure you’re choosing a location which you would like to spend several weeks in. Reviews and blog posts will help you, but it could also be worth finding someone with some good travel experience for some advice.

Once you know where you want to stay, you can begin to consider the accommodation you’ll be using when you get there. A lot of people will ignore this aspect of their break until the last minute. Of course, though, if you want the best place, you’ll have to start your search nice and early. For long-term stays, websites like http://www.propertyguru.com.my/resources/for-rent-guide/top-100-popular-condo-for-rent-malaysia can help you to find places which can be rented for several weeks at a time. This will be a lot more economical than a hotel or resort.

Along with a place and a room, you can start to think about the run you’re going to have while you’re away, choosing your activities and events. Websites like Tripadvisor are some of the best of this, offering reviews and top 10 listings of things to do in cities around the world. Having a good idea of what you’ll be doing when you’re traveling will make it a lot easy to fit a lot into your time. Of course, though, there’s no point in doing something unless you actually want to do it.

Finally, as the last area for you to research, it’s worth having a look at the documents you might need while you’re away. To go out of your home country, you’ll at least need a passport at the very least. A lot of the time, though, you’ll also need documents like visas and forms if you want to stay somewhere for a long time. This will be even harder if you plan to work while you’re away, as most countries are very strict about foreign workers.

A step by step guide to organising a long-stay trip
Photo: Matthew Smith/Unsplash

Stage Three: Make Some Bookings

In this stage it’s time to begin the truly exciting part of your planning; the bookings. There are loads of things you’ll have to arrange before you leave, and they all need to be done with plenty of time to spare. Below, you can find some examples of the essentials, though there are loads of other resources you might want to have with you.

Accommodation: The accommodation is the very first thing you’ll have to book, as your other arrangements will be based on it. Always make sure you have your leave planned, along with the other areas of your life, and then you can get to work finding the very best price. Hotel and room prices will vary on a daily basis. So, it can be worth using some tracking apps to try and figure out a trend to get the very best prices.

Flights/Travel: Once you have a place to stay, you will be able to book a flight, and this should be done as soon as possible to save some money. Websites like www.skyscanner.com can help you to monitor and find the best rates for your flights. The same principles can be applied to most forms of travel, with those which have to be booked when you arrive been very well planned. Along with this, most people will like to have some backup plans in place just in case this falls through.

Things At Home: Most people won’t want to take their pets with them when they go away. Likewise, even if you don’t have pets, it might feel dangerous to leave your home unattended for a month or two. To avoid these sorts of issues, there are loads of professionals out there who can visit your home each day to make sure things are alright. Along with the services of a dog walker or kennel, it’s easy to get this part of your trip out of your mind.

Stage Five: Get all your travel documents in order

Once the bookings have been made, you’ll be onto the last stage of your journey; the final preparations. This is possibly the most exciting time of all, and will usually take place just a little bit before you jet off. Of course, though, you have to make sure you get everything handled correctly if you want a smooth trip.

Your passport will need to be at least six months away from expiring if you’re planning to go overseas with it. Along with this, you will need to have your visas and other documents sorted, and this will have to be done from home. Your documents will be make or break when it comes to your vacation. Forgetting a single one could leave you unable to go anywhere, so they are incredibly important. Thankfully, as time goes on, more and more of this is becoming digital.

When you go to a lot of places, there will be strict medical requirements you have to undertake before you leave. Vaccinations are usually the biggest part of this, and you’ll need to be up to date before you’re allowed to leave the country. Along with this, though, you may also have to get protected against conditions specific to your destination. Malaria, for example, can be very hard to deal with when you’re on vacation. But, with the right preparation, you can build up a good resistance before you’re ever exposed.

Hopefully, this post will inspire you to start planning your own long-term vacation. This sort of trip can be a great way to refresh yourself for the year, giving you a very big chance to unwind and let your hair down. Not a lot of people realize, but this sort of adventure can even make your more productive at work. Having such a long break will fill you with drive and determination, making it much easier to work hard and succeed in the areas you enjoy.

Have you taken a long-stay trip? Where did you go and what did you do to prepare? 


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