How to Travel Autonomously
In this blog you will find ideas, tips and advice on how to travel independently.
But what exactly do we mean? What exactly do you want to do?
You want to be able to organize and plan trips and holidays avoiding any form of intermediary:
- Tour Operator
- Travel Agency
- Travel Agent
- Travel Consultants
do you believe that none of these professionals can be useful and you want to act in total autonomy by contacting directly the final suppliers of the services necessary for your holiday:
- Travel Vectors (Trains, Ships, Planes, Bus or Car)
- Hotels, Resorts, Villages, B&B and Guest Houses
- Restaurants, Street Food
- Tourist Guides and Local Agent
Why do you want to understand and learn how to travel independently?
Until recently, intermediaries were absolutely necessary to organize and plan a trip.
The information in their possession was an exclusive advantage that placed all intermediaries in the condition of being indispensable.
It was impossible to buy or book tickets for travel abroad and all the information necessary to find and contact the final suppliers of the necessary services was in the exclusive possession of the professionals.
Their advantage consisted in having the information, contacts and relationships with local operators. They obtained this information by going to their final destinations in person and making agreements with local operators.
Today you don't need them anymore!
Today the internet allows everyone to find, contact, arrange and pay for any service necessary for planning and organizing a trip or vacation.
What is the advantage?
Learning how to travel independently makes you free.
You will be able to decide every detail of your holiday and choose the final service providers that you will pay directly.
Paying directly also (but not always) means saving.
You can save money if the price you pay is lower than what a professional would pay (who resells the service to you after purchasing it on favorable terms).
You may pay more if the final supplier reserves a discount or a lower price for professionals than they apply to the final customer (you).
So think carefully about what you do if your aim is only to spend as little as possible.
After studying, collecting information, planning and quantifying the expense for your trip, also evaluate the proposals of the professionals before deciding how to proceed.
If, on the other hand, your aim is to be free and to decide and plan your travel experience in every detail, you are in the right place!
In this blog you will find everything you need for plan trips like a pro.
Information is the key!
The Internet has made us free.
Thanks to the network you can find all the information you need and contact directly the final suppliers of the services necessary for your trip.
The advantage that intermediaries had has been eliminated.
But information is not everything, be careful!
To learn how to travel independently, information is not enough!
You also need to have the skills to understand how to travel using the web and take full advantage of the tools and functionalities that the internet makes available to you.
Don't think it's easy! Making a mistake is a very likely eventuality. This time, however, you will not be able to blame theTravel Agency (which if you make a mistake will pay you back) but only with yourself (and you will lose money and vacation!).
Do not underestimate all the work required, plan every detail, evaluate all the possibilities and follow all the tips and tricks you will find in this BLOG.
What are the skills you need to have to organize your trips independently?
If you think that buying travel and holidays from a Travel Agency or through the intermediation of a professional is always wrong, read the blog articles collected in the category: "Where it is worth buying trips”And you will discover all the tricks and precautions to use when buying a“ turnkey ”trip.
Travel tickets? Is it always convenient to buy them online? Where is it? When? How long before the trip?
In the articles collected in the category "where to buy travel tickets”Of the Blog you will find everything you need to buy tickets and leave happy!
Do you want to travel sharing experiences (and expenses) with strangers or new friends found on the net? The articles collected in the category "like traveling by sharing the expenses”Are full of ideas if you want to look for travel companions to share your experiences.
But learning how to travel independently also takes a lot of practice and experience. The tools we have at our disposal thanks to the internet have eliminated the competitive advantage that intermediaries had.
But having the information isn't everything!
The professionalism of the Agencies is not to be underestimated and to be able to travel with the same tranquility avoiding their services you must be ready to
- carry out a long research work
- collect accurate and detailed information
- buy travel tickets without knowing in detail the conditions of sale or the clauses provided for in the event of inefficiencies or no departure (contracts are very long and indecipherable to non-expert eyes).
- contact the final suppliers of the necessary services, negotiate prices and pay (without being scammed)
- assume all responsibility (and risk) towards all participants and towards yourself: no protection, insurance (unless you stipulate them at the time of purchases) or reimbursement in case of disservices or scams.