Wednesday 12 March 2014

My Dream Vacation for 2014




Source: Openclipart.org

I love travelling. Be it in India or abroad. Unfortunately neither I’m Paris Hilton with millions of dollars in my trust fund nor am I a travel show host who goes around fantastic, eye-popping places at the expense of the producer! On the hindsight, I do think I chose the wrong career; I should’ve have gone for media journalism and should have tried my hand either with food shows or travel shows. Coming back to present, being a lowly-paid corporate slave, going to new places for vacations is my dream; and I try to fulfill my dream by taking one annual vacation. The destination of my vacation, however, depends on the number of leaves I have and amount of spare money on hand (which usually doesn’t amount to much!).


Usually I take my vacations in August as during this month there’s no tourist rush due to ongoing schools and rains. I know it’s inconvenient to travel in rain but I love it for 2 reasons: the adventurous part of me starts jumping up and down just with the idea of potential challenges that could come my way, and low accommodation charges due to off season. Awesome reasons, aren’t they?

If everything falls in place, I’d love to visit Leh-Ladakh this year. As I live in Gujarat, going to Leh-Ladakh via train is impossible when the total duration of my vacation is hardly a week. So flight it is. However, to cut down my flight fare, I usually book the tickets few months in advance. Last year when I went to Goa for vacation in August, I had booked the flight tickets in March and had managed to save around 10K INR in the process.

The next saving avenue for me is hotels. Being a single female, I can’t stay in dirt cheap places but at the same time, I don’t need luxurious hotels. Usually I choose 3 star hotels that are safe for single females, offers basic amenities such as restaurants, TV, hot and cold water, laundry and things like that. Also, while booking the hotel, getting complimentary breakfast included in the tariff is quite important. This way anyone can manage to save around couple of hundreds per day.

When it comes to sightseeing, I prefer public transport to taxis. It’s not that I hate taxis but when you go for sightseeing in taxi, you miss out on experiencing local culture. Secondly, taxis are way, way costlier than public transports. So by choosing the latter, I’m targeting 2 birds with one stone. I know, I know, I am a born genius!

As I said before, I love food and one of my dreams is to taste all the cuisines available in the world. Hence, when I’m travelling, I usually prefer to eat local food at the regular local eatery as it gives me idea on the kind of spices and cooking techniques used. If possible, I even try to chat up local cooks to know their cooking secrets! Sometimes I do think when I visit the same restaurant again, the cooks avoid me for the fear of my upcoming barrage of questions! Cruel, cruel world!

Another way of saving money is to take homemade snacks with me. The other benefit of this habit is, even if I don’t like local food, I never go hungry. I always have something to munch on!

However, there’s always one huge expense: shopping. I know, I know…you all must be groaning and moaning about it but before you leave, read me completely. I shop but I shop for souvenirs. Buying designer dresses from the touristy place is stupidity and I believe I am not that stupid (if you think otherwise, please don’t enlighten me. I’m happy in my fake world!). So I end up hunting for good bargain shops where I can get authentic souvenirs that aren’t expensive!

So this is how I travel smart and wise! Do you have any other tips for my smart travel? If so, tell me right now!!! I desperately need to save some money!

This post was written for #TravelSmartWithSkyscanner held by Skyscanner in association with Indiblogger.in

30 comments:

  1. Great tips, Pankti! I use them too! We are born geniuses! :)
    Another tip I follow is- Never buy from Airport-Shops. They are costlier than even the Malls. I realized this at Bangkok. The same item is available on the footpath, Mall & Airport! :)
    Best wishes for the contest!

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    1. Yup....I have heard about it. Thanks for dropping by!

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  2. Nice tips for smart travel Pankti:) Best of luck for the contest!

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  3. Short and sweet and sensible post. Best of luck for the contest.

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  4. Nice post Pankti, packing homemade snacks is what I do too, for my little one. A baggage just for thepla, khakra and laddoos ;)
    Wishes for the contest..

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    1. It's fun to have laddoos while traveling *drooling* Thanks for your wishes!

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  5. Short and sweet. you do travel smart!

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  6. short and sweet. you sure travel smart!

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  7. short and sweet, you sure travel smart Pankti!

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  8. short and sweet, you sure travel smart Pankti!

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  9. Great tips for a smart travel.. I would make a list of check points and that also sometime helps to save unwanted expenses.. Actually I too prefer to spend on food - varieties of local cuisines..
    All the best for the contest Pankti..

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  10. This is a great post with genuine trips...I agree with the flight tickets part ... I too book months in advance when I go from B'lore to Guwahati...else it's so expensive that my heart comes in my mouth! All the best for the contest dear and have a great vacation!

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  11. Here's wishing your dream comes true.... :)

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  12. You're not expecting some touring free-bees from tourism companies after this, are you? Coz now they know you won't be spending anything :P
    and if you want to genuinely enjoy your holidays, just book a 5 star hotel for 2 days in your city only! It will be fun to be a tourist at your own place! :D You will save on air tickets as well ;)
    And your ideas, do enlighten me :P

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    1. LOL...my family is already a member of some fancy hotel and they do that when they want to relax without going through the hassles of traveling...unfortunately, I don't get a kick out of it :(

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  13. Very sensible, to the point, enlightening post. Beautifully penned. Supe.

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  14. Advice:- book hostels...they're safe enough for females... you'll save so much.
    Apart from that if you have mind to ride to Leh do contact me ;-)
    good luck for the contest :)

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    1. I'm not sure about hostels...I need bit of space. For Leh, I will hold you to it :)

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    2. a query: do you book 3 tickets for yourself in PVR/Inox? :-/

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  15. So did Leh-Ladhakh happen :)?

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    1. Unfortunately, no. But I will figure it out next year. ;)

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