Have I discussed research enough yet?

Goose
Sep 21, 2017
3 min read

My good friend Jacky gave me an idea for a blog post. She just recently took a trip to Scotland with a few of her friends. (I helped her find and buy a cheap ticket, so let me know if I can help you too.) Anywho, she told me to write about choosing between visiting a big city versus a quaint town, and honestly it all depends on you and what you like to see. It goes hand in hand with your personality, I feel. That's definitely the case for me. I think I am both introverted and extroverted. Although I do enjoy being around people and I am outgoing, I find that I spend most of my time alone or with a few select people. So when I get into a traveling mood, I ask myself what type of atmosphere I would rather be in. Some trips, I want to be in the big city surrounded with people and explore the popular attractions. Other times, I would much rather find a small town and live life like a local. And now the point, think about what you are interested in doing while traveling and start your research. This may seem redundant because I have written about both research and choosing destinations but I wanted to go more in depth.

Something to keep in mind is that if you choose a place that is fairly popular, be aware of the tourists. Consider the time of year you are going. Maybe pick a slower season or save that for another trip. In my post about Ireland, I talk about how busy it was at the Giant's Causeway. Honestly, it was kind of annoying just how many people were there and how it was nearly impossible to get a picture without any tourists in it taking pictures of their own holding up the peace sign. Then again, we were there the first week of May where the weather was perfect and it was considered the busy season. (Check out the Ireland post to see how I found small towns in Ireland.) Something similar also happened when we went to see the Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany. We waited over 30 minutes in traffic to park, then hiked up this huge hill packed with tourists, only to get to the top and all tours were sold out -__- . Buy tickets ahead of time! But again, it all comes down to research. Pinterest is great for that because you can find links to travel blogs and suggestions. I also do a basic search in Google for "hidden gems". As simple as that sounds, you would be surprised how many cool places you can find that way. But I digress. Like I have mentioned before, don't be afraid to pull open a map and just look to see what towns and small cities are around in the area you are headed to. Do your research on the town and if something tickles your fancy about it then go there! Next steps are to book your hotel stays and find transportation. Train systems and bus routes are fairly common in Europe and easy to navigate.

I know, I know, I am starting to sound like a broken record but that is just how important research is. And it is completely okay to not want to do research or even know where to start. That's when you ask for suggestions or recommendations. Booking a trip is much simpler than it seems, it all starts with your desire to go. Reach out if you are dying to head somewhere but just don't know where to start! Enjoy your weekends everyone. I may be posting again here soon. As we say in Urdu, phir melengey aka see you later!

Goose, out.