planning – California Girl Going Global

Where To Go

The (obvious) first thing you have to do is decide where you want to go.

This can be easy or it can be difficult, and it depends on a range of factors. Some questions to ask yourself: How much time off do you have? What is your budget? Do you have a bucketlist? Are you traveling with anyone? What kind of weather do you want? Do you care about a language barrier? The answers to these types of questions can help you narrow down your search. If you do need some inspiration, Googling or Pinteresting things like “places to holiday in the sun” or “unusual holiday destinations” or “places to holiday on a budget” etc., etc. At the beginning of the year, I wrote this post all about ideas of where to travel this year, so if you’re stuck maybe it can help.

Personally, I have a bucketlist of places I want to visit. Some of these places are close, some far, some budget, some expensive. My bucketlist could be broken down into sub-bucketlists, if you will. For example, there are certain vacations that I want to put off taking until I have enough money saved up or am in a comfortable enough financial state to justify splashing out a bit – such as doing a long U.S. roadtrip, an African safari tour, or Australia. These are places where what I want to do will cost more money because of the exchange rate, the time I want to spend there, and the types of activities I want to do. Of course, there are ways to make each of these holidays budget, but I don’t want to. So, I will wait until I’m a bit older and have more money. In the meantime, there are other places on my bucketlist that make sense for where I’m at financially right now – Croatia, Spain, Thailand, and Austria.

So you know where you want to go – Great! Some questions to ask yourself once you’ve picked a place: Will you need a visa? Will you need vaccines? Are there travel advisories? Should you buy travel insurance? These questions aren’t fun ones, but they are important questions. Make sure to do the research about your destination so you don’t get turned away at the gate. Here’s a great resource from the British government that can help you answer these questions and more.

Stopped in Sedona, Arizona on my 10-day road trip from Ohio to California.

How To Get There

Now that you have picked a destination, you need to book travel.

It’s possible that this was part of the process for picking where you want to travel to. For example, the trains across Europe are convenient and a “green” way to travel, but they may take more time than flying. Are you going to drive? In the U.S., driving is the common mode of transportation (as most cities don’t have convenient public transport, some have none at all), but if you’re travelling in London driving doesn’t make much sense (public transport gets an A+).

If you’re looking to fly less (yay environment), then picking a destination closer to home may be better, or picking a destination that has good public transport is also a good option. If you have to fly but feel like you still want to do something for the environment, you could carbon offset your trip through companies like this one.

For booking flights, here is my guide. It varies depending on the time of year you travel – summer dates always cost more because it’s peak season. To get around this, you can book in reverse, meaning November – March is summer in the southern hemisphere so book warm vacations then to beat some peak prices.

Where To Stay

I usually book accommodation after I book travel. Some questions to ask yourself: Do I want to stay in a hostel? What is my budget? How close to X do I want to stay? Is there a part of town I should not stay in for safety reasons? What kind of experience do I want? Who am I traveling with?

Hostels will most likely be the cheapest option, they can provide a social space, and are great for solo travelers or small groups. They can come with downsides – loud roommates, dirty (with so many people using the facilities this can happen), cheap (you get what you pay for). I suggest looking at the reviews on Hostel World.

Hotels can be great and can range in prices. Hotels can also be dodgy – looking at reviews on websites like hotels.com and booking.com can help you weed out the bad ones. Hotels offer dining services and amenities (wifi, gym, pool, offices, printing, luggage storage, laundry, etc.), but can be isolating for solo travelers. For families or large groups, hotels are a great option.

Airbnb or home stays are also great options. Especially for groups bigger than two. In some places, Airbnb can be just as budget as hostels or just as expensive as hotels. Again, please read the reviews! So far, I have only had positive experiences with Airbnb, but that’s not always the case so definitely read the reviews. Also, more so for Airbnbs than hostels, you really tend to get what you paid for (relatively speaking per city).

Usually I do some research into all three options, especially if I’m traveling with someone/people. If I’m traveling solo, I tend to opt for hostels for the social aspect. Compare prices, amenities, locations, and reviews to get to the sweet spot for what you want to book.

Booked the Eiffel Tower in advance (saves money!).

What To Do

Some people are more spontaneous than others and don’t book anything ahead of time. Depending on where you are going, there may be some attractions that you have to book ahead of time, or that you will want to book ahead of time to avoid massive queues (like the Vatican Museums). In April, I’m going to a surf camp in Costa Rica – something I definitely had to book in advance, but I don’t have any other plans for my time there.

If you’re going for a specific purpose than obviously book ahead. Also major tourist attractions, I suggest you book ahead – such as the Eiffel Tower. Or, try to plan your days so you do the biggest tourist attractions in the morning to beat the long queues and then leave the rest of the day for wandering around exploring and being “spontaneous”. Or throw all caution to the wind, show up, and do you! It really depends on the type of traveler you are – Do you like to be prepared? Are you a planner? Do you want to pack in as much as possible? Are you going for only a short period of time? Are you going for quality or quantity? Is there anything you’re dying to do at your destination?

It also helps to be on the same page as anyone you are traveling with. For example, my best friend Emma and I went to Paris for four days – we are both planners and booked what we needed to in advance and made a general plan for the rest of the days to make sure we saw everything we wanted to. And we saw it all. That type of trip would have driven my boyfriend, Conor, insane. He is more the spontaneous type, doesn’t need to be awake at 7am every morning of the holiday, and likes to see what local gems we can stumble across. Both are amazing people to travel with. Knowing what type of traveler you’re traveling with and making compromises is essential to enjoying your holiday!

And there you have it – my ultimate guide to booking a holiday! Most of the time, planning my holiday happens in this order, but as you read the categories sometimes overlap or affect another. In order to keep track of everything, I keep everything I’ve book in a note on my computer (flight information, accommodation info and contact details, all confirmation numbers, and links to any websites) and flag any important emails (printing only what is necessary). I hope this helps you to have a great holiday!

Dana’s Do’s:

Read the reviews!
Understand the type of people you’re traveling with and adjust accordingly.
Book the big tourist attractions in advance.

All around enjoying waking up at 7am to beat the Colosseum queues.

Back in October, I wrote a blog, 5 Days In Rome in Under £300. This is the follow up to my trip to Rome in December and how I managed to stick to that budget along with a superstar 4 day itinerary (day 5 is travel only so I don’t really count it). Since it was my first time to Rome I enlisted the help of Lonely Planet and borrowed their guide to Rome from my roommate.

Overview:

Flights: £25

Hostel: £85

Restaurants: £122

Attractions: £30

Transport: £15

Total Spent: £277

Itinerary:

Day One: Thursday

Flight: London (STN) to Rome (Ciampino) – 13:20 – 16:45

After arriving at Ciampino, I booked a roundtrip bus ticket for £8 that would drop me off at the Termini metro station and in four days I would take it back to the airport. My hostel, the Beehive Hostel, was only a couple blocks from Termini so this made the most sense. It was also the cheapest option for transport and didn’t involve any additional stops or changes. I can be really terrible with directions and public transport sometimes so this was the best option for my own sanity as well.

I arrived to the Beehive when it was dark and had to wait only a few minutes to be let into the electronically locked door to reception. Linda, one of the owners, greeted me and took me through check-in. Much to my chagrin, I booked through HostelWorld, which was more expensive than if I had booked directly. For the future, I will use HostelWorld as a guide to find a great hostel, but will be contacting hostels directly to see if they offer a better price. If they don’t, I’ll book through HostelWorld, but otherwise I am a budget traveler. Throughout the check-in process Linda was very helpful, showing me places to visit on a map and the Beehive app which has all their local recommendations. In all, I would definitely recommend the Beehive for any travelers who are looking for a clean hostel with great service. The only downside was the lack of social life at the hostel, as I only met one person in the common room the whole time I was there. This could be because it was the off season for traveling. If you don’t want somewhere too social, this would be perfect. In all, I really enjoyed my stay and definitely recommend.

After checking in to my hostel and settling in the room, it was too late to see any attractions, and being my first solo trip, I went out to dinner at the restaurant next to my hostel – Ristorante Regina. It had the most delicious ravioli I have ever tasted. A great recommendation from the owners of the Beehive Hostel. Then it was off to bed for an early wakeup the next morning.

Day Two: Friday

Knowing the Colosseum and the Vatican would have the longest lines, I decided to put them at the beginning of two of the days. First up, the Colosseum because I couldn’t resist.

I would recommend getting to the Colosseum early – I arrived at 8am for an 8:30am opening time. I did not reserve tickets beforehand. The line for no tickets was already 100 people deep by the time the gates opened. I was the first one inside though so getting there early definitely paid off (I got in free with my ICOM card). I spent about two hours in the Colosseum, walking around each level and viewing the exhibits. One of the exhibits tells the entire history of the Colosseum from inception to present day. It was interesting to learn about its different uses, owners, and repairs. The entire place was full a feeling that’s hard to describe – like the history of it was seeping from the walls. It was really quiet in the morning which gave me space to immerse myself in the atmosphere and imagine what it would have been like two thousand years ago. As a previous classics student, I have been wanting to visit the Colosseum for years and it lived up to its hype. It’s an absolutely incredible feat of architecture, engineering, and culture.

As a solo traveler, I took some selfies, but also asked other tourists if they could take my picture. I’m usually selective when handing my phone over to a stranger. Typically, I pick someone who is about my age and female – female because other girls usually know how to take really great pictures and will get all the angles. In return, I take their picture so it all works out.

After the Colosseum, I walked across the road to Palatine Hill, my ticket from the Colosseum also got me into this historic site. There was no line at all at this point but behind me there were a couple hundred people in line for the Colosseum, further evidence of why you should do the Colosseum first thing in the morning. I walked through the ruins of the emperor’s palace first. There are a ton of plaques to tell you what you’re looking at. I also had the Lonely Planet guide with a map inside which helped me to navigate as well. The palace was unusually quiet for how late in the morning it was, but that made the experience more special. What a unique and odd thing to be wandering the site of one of the greatest men in the world history, imagine walking on the same mosaic tiles as an emperor. It was hard to wrap my head around that fact, still is. The grounds are massive so it took me about an hour to wander the whole thing, ending at the balcony overlooking the Roman Forum.

It took me a little bit of work to get down to the Roman Forum, but once I did, I was not disappointed. It was significantly more crowded down there with tons of school groups messing about. But that’s how the Forum is meant to be, busy and bustling with the daily crowd going about their business. I was once tested on the layout of the forum, having to draw it from memory and label every building. It was really cool to see that come to life and to remember most of the buildings, only needing the guide a few times. Have I mentioned yet that everything is massive? The scale of buildings and temples is unreal.

For lunch, I headed across the street from the Forum, Imperiale Ristorante. I ordered a delicious pizza and glass of wine. It was definitely touristy, but it was convenient and had a great patio so I could still marvel at the Roman Forum.

After that I headed over to the Capitoline Museums. The walk was gorgeous taking me past the Altar of the Fatherland.

The museum itself wasn’t as crowded as I expected. There was no line and most of the galleries were empty except for a couple people here and there. I enjoyed the quiet and relaxed feel – very different to some other tourists spots. I love Greek and Roman sculptures and art, so I really enjoyed this museum. It only costs 1 euro with my ICOM card – otherwise there is a higher entrance fee.

I walked down the road a bit to a small coffee and sweet shop called San Teo. I was recommended this place by the Lonely Planet guide, and as I’m a total sweet tooth and it was close by, I had to check it out. It definitely didn’t disappoint. The staff were lovely and kind and the desserts were delicious (I had three to hit the 5 euro card minimum, but so worth it).

After this, it was getting late so I took a bus back to my hostel. I wasn’t sure how the buses worked at this point and didn’t know how to buy a ticket. I assumed I could do so when getting on the bus – I was wrong. You have to buy a ticket from a shop or a station and then put it in the ticket machine on the bus to get it stamped. Technically, you could ride the bus without a ticket but if you get caught the fine is steep. So from then on, I bought my tickets at the Termini station in the morning.

For dinner on Friday, I went to Mama Angela Trattoria – another recommendation the the Beehive’s app. It was so good! I was sad to be eating alone only because I didn’t have anyone to share in how good the food was. I ordered bruschetta and popcorn fried gnocchi with a glass of white wine. The waitstaff were very friendly and recommended wine for me. They made me feel less awkward for sitting alone which endeared me to them. I would definitely go back!

Day Three: Saturday

A couple weeks prior to my trip, I booked a guided tour of the Vatican Museums, including the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica. I would highly recommend booking a guided tour. Mine started at 8:30am and the museum was already packed. When I arrived at the Vatican at 8am, it was pretty empty, so I was able to take advantage of that and get some fun pictures with barely anyone else in them. The guided tours are offered in multiple languages and are very thorough. In total, it was a three hour tour. We spent the first hour and a half walking through the museums, stopping at well known or historically important objects. My tour guide was very knowledgable and gave us a bunch of fun facts along with the history of the objects. The Sistine Chapel was breathtaking – luckily I was able to get a seat along the wall so I could relax and take my time looking up at the ceiling, mesmerised by the scenes. I would have loved to experience the Sistine Chapel with less people in it, but it was still cool. Next we moved in St. Peter’s Basilica, which was ridiculously big. The sheer grandeur of the inside took my breath away – I’m still astonished at HOW. But, that’s the Catholic Church for you – they really know how to go all out. Again, our tour guide took us around the most famous parts of it, stopping to see one of the Popes mummified and on display. A bit weird, but cool at the same time.

After the Vatican, I walked to Piazza Novona, passing Castel Sant’Angelo. I stopped for a tea and croissant at a little cafe on a side street near the piazza. There was a Christmas market on the piazza so I walked around that for a little bit, sat on a bench, and enjoyed people watching. I then walked to the Pantheon, and was again astonished at the sheer size of it! However, I was disappointed when I entered it, which is entirely my own fault for not Googling it beforehand. I am a huge Greek and Roman history buff, so to find out that the Pantheon has been completely converted to a Catholic church – no sign of any Roman gods or religion whatsoever. Disappointing, but at the same time, the only reason its still standing is because the Catholic Church saved it from destruction. I then went for lunch at a wine bar/cafe called Taverna Capranica- I had a delicious cheese board and selection of wine. It was a little off the beaten track, so not as crowded with tourists, but still close enough to the Pantheon to attract tourists.

After lunch, I headed over to the Trevi Fountain, another must see attraction. I’m sure you’re tired of this by now, but again it’s massive. It’s way bigger than I thought it was going to be! And so intricate. Really a spectacular sight to see. I asked a couple of girls to take some pictures of me throwing a coin into the fountain – I needed a couple of takes to get the shot I was looking for so I threw a couple of coins into the fountain. If you’re wondering, the money is collected on a daily basis and donated to a Catholic charity – about 3,000 euros per day. Crazy. I sat at the fountain for awhile, watching other people take pictures and interact. It was interesting and funny and a nice break from the long day I’d had.

I took the bus back to the hostel and rested for a bit before heading down to the common room. I met another American who was traveling with his brother. We decided to get dinner together at another restaurant recommended by the hostel – Bramble Bar and Kitchen. I had a vegetable pizza and glass of wine and we shared some bruschetta. It was delicious! (So good in fact I went back the next night). It was really fun, as my first time solo traveling, to make some new travel friends from my hostel. It felt like the last missing part of the ‘real’ hostel experience.

Day Four: Sunday

I had breakfast in my hostel this morning – taking a bit more time than the last two days since I didn’t have anywhere I needed to be at 8am. I then went to Baths of Caracalla – ruins on the other side of Palatine Hill across the street from Circus Maximus. These ruins used to be the massive public baths of Rome. You’re able to walk through the entire structure with great informational plaques detailing what each room was and the people that visited, along with the types of activities to do there. The ruins are more overgrown than some others, but there is still a lot of stonework and architecture to see. It was really quiet as well, which made for a really nice morning walk.

My roommate from London flew in on Saturday night with another friend and was planning on staying a couple more days, so I met up with them on Sunday afternoon. I headed to the Spanish Steps to meet them for lunch. Little did I realise, it was December 8th, which is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception and the Pope visits the Spanish Steps on this day every year to lay a wreath at the monument. We were a bit early for that so we went to lunch at a restaurant around the corner. I had some more bruschetta and pasta with, you guessed it, a glass of wine. After lunch, we wandered over to the road where the Pope was supposed to come down, but it turns out he had already passed and was up near the steps doing his thing. We walked up that way when all of a sudden a black sedan drove past us with the window rolled down and the Pope waving to us out of it. I was expecting the Pope-mobile, so this was a shock. We ran along the side of the railing to get a better look and some videos. It was crazy because the street wasn’t even that crowded with people dying to see the Pope. It was definitely a rush of adrenaline, and it will forever be my fun fact.

For my last night in Rome, I went back to The Bramble and ordered their chocolate lava cake with ice cream and a hot tea. It was so good – I am a total sucker for a chocolate lava cake and this lived up to all my expectations! After that, I packed up and set my alarm for an early wake up call to catch my early flight back to London.

Day 5: Monday (Fly Day)

Rome (Ciampino) – London STN: 11:10am – 12:55pm

I took the same bus back to the airport from Termini Station, leaving at 7:10am, getting to the airport at 8am. I did get to the airport a bit too early – 3 hours was too early for such a small airport. But at least I didn’t miss my flight. Better to be early than sorry, right? Also, the next bus time was 8:30am and I thought that was cutting it a little close since I had never flown out of Ciampino. Now I know better, and so do you!

In all, this was the trip of a lifetime! Rome has been on my bucket list for ages and it lived up to all its expectations. As for my first solo trip, I wasn’t totally scarred and would definitely travel alone again. I’ll be writing a whole other post about solo travel, so stay tuned for that. I hope I could help you plan your dream trip to Rome. If you have any questions, drop a comment or fill out the contact form! Ciao!

Dana’s Do’s:

Plan ahead for the biggest attractions like the Colosseum and the Vatican.
Ask the staff at your hostel/hotel for local recommendations.
Wear comfy shoes!

Tag: planning

How to Plan a Holiday

4 Days in Rome