Student’s Guide To Travelling Overseas

This article was written by Jeremy Cabral who is part of the team at Credit Card Finder, Australia’s most popular 100% free Australian credit card comparison website.

Students looking to travel overseas are often in a tight financial situation. Even if you supplement your studies with a part-time job you are probably looking for smarter ways to travel – ways that let you enjoy your trip while not having to scratch and scrimp your last pennies.

How to Let Your Hair Down Guilt-Free

If you want to enjoy a trip to a sun-soaked beach guilt-free you need to get your finances well in order before you leave home. A great way to do this with relative ease is by putting some money aside each week as early as one year before you leave for your holiday.

It would be foolish to travel with a credit card in tow but no money in your bank account. A sure recipe for financial disaster on your return home.

Handy Tips for Getting Cashed-Up

The following savings tips can help you acquire a nice nest egg for your next holiday. Most of us spend way too much money on things we don’t really need; expenses such as cups of coffee on your way home from uni, gadgets that go out of fashion tomorrow and clothes you won’t be able to wear in 6 months because you’d be laughed at.

Instead, why don’t you aim to inhibit those spending urges in order to save money for a better cause – your next holiday.

Consider Prepaid if You Suck With Credit

Prepaid cards are a great alternative to credit cards. You won’t end up with debt because you can only spend what is yours to start with. If you need extra funds on your card before you leave home you could ask your family to be paid in “cash” for birthdays, Christmas and any other occasion where you’d normally receive presents. If you do, load the cash to your new prepaid card, then keep it tucked away until you are ready to travel.

Consider Your Destination

Some exotic destinations make it very hard to stay fluid with cash. It is a good idea to research your holiday destination because you might need a combination of cash, credit card, prepaid card and travellers cheques to keep cashed-up.

Keep Your Documents in Order

If you are planning an overseas trip, chances are that you might need a visa to visit the country of your choice. The last thing you want is to be stuck at the airport in a foreign country because you failed to bring the necessary documents with you.

Check to make sure your passport is valid for a minimum of 6 months after your planned return home. Trust me, you won’t be the first student stranded overseas because his passport has expired.

If you are planning to do a working holiday you will need the appropriate International work visa. Plus you might want to check the following to cover all of your bases:

Where to Stay

Students love to bed for the night on the cheap. Thanks to a wide range of networks you can stay in comfortable and safe surrounds while mingling with like-minded people. Try the following for fun and to save money:

See the World While You Are Young

Travelling is one of the best education you can have. It will teach you respects, introduce you to other cultures and make you new friends in all corners of the world. Chances are high that you’ll come home a more confident, relaxed person and once you catch the travel bug it will accompany you for the rest of your life. Make the most of it!

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How Do You Get a Giraffe into a Canoe?

A free website can help holiday travellers answer their most pressing questions.

Litchfield, CT “How big is a canoe? Can I fit it in my hand luggage?”

Not a strange question to Luke Dudley, founder of LuggageLimits.com. In fact, there isn’t a luggage-related query that Dudley hasn’t heard or is hard-pressed to answer. However, travellers don’t need the Connecticut Algebra teacher close by when booking a flight, as the revolutionary free travel tool he designed provides answers to virtually any luggage question.

There are few things in life that are free and rarely does a tool so useful come without charge or a hidden catch, but that’s exactly what ‘Luggage Limits’ provides; a no cost travel implement that is breaking the mould for those weary of being a target for every increase from swelling fuel prices to hidden taxes.

Dudley, a seasoned globe trotter who relocated from leafy suburbs of England to Connecticut’s northwest corner with many stops along the way, recalls some of the luggage horrors he had.

“The changing scenery was beautiful and I loved waking up in a new country but the luggage was a different story,” he said. “When you relocate as much as I have, you soon look at your possessions in a new light, and I can’t remember how many times I’ve had to leave a bike or bulky items at the airport for kind friends to collect and forward to me.”

However, it was the students’ luggage at the boarding school where he teaches that highlighted a gap in the industry. The kids regularly needed to fly with sports or music equipment or just had lots of heavy bags and would often incur a fortune in baggage charges and the stress of last minute unpacking at the flight counter. He knew there was a better way.

This summer, the travel world watched with interest as he brought a truly innovative concept to reality. ‘Luggage Limits’ has made a fast track into the major players of travel with acknowledgments from Lonely Planet (the World’s largest travel guide book publisher) and it’s easy to see why. With no membership required, no fees and no hidden catch, ‘Luggage Limits’ offers essential travel information at your fingertips without having to wade through pages and pages of airline regulations.

‘Luggage Limits’ recently reached the milestone of featuring baggage information for 100 Airlines and is proving to be as essential to travellers as their toothbrush. With hundreds of web visitors each day, it is clear more and more people recognize that the start of every journey should begin with a trip to LuggageLimits.com.

Yet, the site is constantly evolving.

“As visitors to the site can attest, it continually adds information and includes more and more airlines,” said Dudley. “With the goal of having luggage details for every airline, it’s rapidly becoming a ‘one stop shop’ for all flight luggage information.”

So, do you know how to get a giraffe into a canoe? There is a website that knows.

Know your limits!

Travel SMART – Set Goals and Plan

To achieve the travel you desire you must set yourself goals. The goals need to be achievable. A goal, in order to be effective and drive people towards it, should have the following characteristics. The goal should be Specific, Measurable, Action-oriented, Realistic, and Time-constrained. In other words, it must be a SMART goal.

Be a SMART Traveller

1. Specific

The travel goal(s) should be specific. Detail is what matters. Avoid generalisations; get to the point and crux of the matter. Specify your immediate travel desires. Then plan to go after it. For example, take that tropical island, dream destination holiday: “I have always wanted to…” seems a little general when compared with “I will travel, with my family to Fiji for a holiday of two weeks within the next six months”.

 2. Measurable

The SMART travel goal must be measurable. This goes along with being specific. A goal defined specifically might already be measurable. The above mentioned goal stated intention, involved parties, location, purpose and a timeframe – all measurable elements. A measurable travel goal, like going to Fiji, with a family of four, including two children under the age of five, within the next six months helps you identify, plan, execute and track more efficiently and increase your odds of actually making it there! Considering the logistics in this fashion, makes it that more realistic to enable your family to take the planned trip of a lifetime, as opposed to just dreaming about it!

3. Action-Oriented

A SMART goal must also be action oriented. It cannot merely be stated. You must relate the goal to doing something, to indicate what needs to be done. An action verb will indicate what needs to be accomplished. “I will travel” is a good example of an action statement, stated intent and implies preparation and planning, will and persistence.

4. Realistic

For any goal to be motivational and get you committed to reaching it, it must be realistic. When a goal is not realistic and the person does not really believe it can be reached, then the commitment is lacking and the effort will not be there to permit the goal to be realised.

Choosing realistic goals are based on your present status. What jumps to mind right away, is whether and how you can afford it and make it happen!

5. Time-Constrained

In order for a goal to move people towards it, it must be time-constrained. A timeline needs to be associated with it. It will entice people to move towards the goal. The timeline set, will be based on the goal itself and the present status. Six months is stated here as a realistic timeline, leaving enough time to save, plan, book and take your well-deserved holiday to Fiji, OR anywhere else YOU have chosen to go!

The acronym below summarises the advantages of planned, goal driven travel for your inference and reflection:

S – Smart, well informed and structured
M – Memorable, kilometers
A – Advantage
R – Rigorous and regular
T – Thorough