You may be planning for an overseas trip soon or during the holiday season at the end of the year. It could be for work, leisure, holiday or even visiting family/friends.
Regardless of the reason for your trip, you definitely know that you have to do some preparations before you embark on your journey. This is especially true if you are traveling free and easy and don’t have the benefit of a tour agency to do the preparations for you. So for a list of things you need to do before you travel overseas, continue to read the rest of the article.
Plan Budget & Journey
One of the most important thing to do is to plan your journey and how much budget you need to allocate for it. This will include but not limited to how much you need and are willing to spend, the duration of stay, cities and places to visit, accommodation, meals, travel insurance and shopping (if applicable).
It will also be good to set aside some buffer funds in case you need to use it for an emergency or if you exceeded your initial budget. Once you are pretty clear about your plan, then you can execute some of the other things in the rest of this article and during your trip.
Book your Flight
Unless you are traveling by land or sea if your journey is quite nearby, then one of the next few things you need to do is to book your flight. Depending on the type of flight you wish to take or can afford, you can choose between a budget, economy, business or first class flight. Then go to the website of the airline company that can be found in your country to book your flight online.
It’s advisable to book a two way flight but if you prefer, you can also book an one way flight and then book your return journey when you are in the overseas country. Always try to book early for cheaper rates and to ensure that you get the flight and seat that you want. Alternatively you can use a flight booking site like SkyScanner to compare flight dates and prices. This is provided, that the airline companies you intend to use or compare prices have partnered with the flight booking site.
Book your Accommodations
This is another essential thing to do unless you are going to stay at a relative or friend’s house. There numerous hotels or homestays to choose from when you book online so you will be literally spoilt for choice. But do choose wisely when you are booking your accommodations.
Some factors to consider include whether the hotel/homestay has suitable facilities, is Muslim friendly, near Halal eateries, near mosques, accessible and reasonably priced according to your budget. If you will like a more comprehensible comparison including pictures and reviews, then Booking.com is a highly recommended service you should check out before making your accommodation bookings.
Travel Insurance
Booking a travel insurance, while optionally, is something that you should not ignore. While you may have taken all necessary precautions to avoid any misfortunes, you will never know when one might actually occur. Some of the misfortunes may include having your baggage misplaced by the airline crew at the airport, facing a prolonged delay of more than a few hours at the airport or even meeting with an accident while traveling.
Depending on the travel insurance plan you purchase, you will be covered and reimbursed for different types of misfortunes you may face when traveling overseas. If you are interested to get a free quote before deciding on a suitable travel insurance plan for yourself and/or your family, then check out WorldNomads, which provides simple and flexible travel insurance plans to suit your traveling needs.
Mobile Carrier Services
This next essential is also optional but one you may wish to consider, especially if you need to use your mobile phone constantly but do not wish to burn a hole in your wallet. You can check with your current mobile carrier service if it provides auto-roam services for overseas usage. If it does, then choose a plan with a reasonable rate for the duration of your travel overseas. Alternatively, you can purchase a local SIM card with a reasonable rate at the city you are visiting.
Halal Eateries
Whether you are in search of halal food in Singapore, halal restaurants in London,
halal food in Bangkok or halal restaurants in New York, finding Halal eateries near the cities and accommodations you will be staying at is literally essential for your survival. To avoid any doubts about consuming food from these eateries, it’s best to check whether they are Muslim owned or serve Halal certified food. Once you have searched and located these suitable eateries, it also helps to look for and if possible book accommodation nearby them for your own convenience.
Activities to Do
To avoid a boring and mundane stay at your overseas destination, it’ll be good to look for Muslim friendly activities you can engage in. These can include going on city tours and rides or visiting historical landmarks, theme parks, aquariums and much more. However, some of these activities may sometimes be quite costly so it’ll be good to look for offers and discounts before booking them. One such site which you should definitely check out is Klook, which offers numerous ticket bookings at discounted prices for activities, events or attractions in various cities.
Get a Local City Guide
One of the things you may wish to consider is to get a local guide to pick you up from the airport and bring you around the city you are visiting. The guide may even be able to recommend places or sites which you may not be aware of or can’t even find on the internet. One such site to find a suitable guide is ShowAround. However, do exercise caution when choosing a guide by looking through his/her profile, reviews and rates per hour before you decide to engage the guide.
Traveling overseas can definitely be a fun and relaxing time for you. But if you do not prepare and plan beforehand, you may encounter trials and tribulations along the way. So as outlined in the pointers above, do ensure that you take the necessary steps to plan ahead for your next Muslim friendly free and easy trip overseas.
