Photo Credit: Pixabay.

Hurray! It's Christmas and new year season.

It’s festive period already and if you’re anyhow like me, sure - you’re already planning how you’ll like to spend this exciting moment. The visit to your home town, the thanksgiving, the shopping, friends and family outing, amongst others.  

Meanwhile a lot of people have been waiting for this epic period since the beginning of the year, the moment you get to forget about your tight schedules, work issues and disconnect from your regular lifestyle of going to work in the morning and coming back late at night - indeed this period is a period of relaxation for many people. 

No doubt, going for an extended long term vacation and traveling is one of the best ways to expand our perceptions, meet new people, visit interesting places and to have a new experience. 

As interesting as this may sound, there are a lot of things to consider when it comes to traveling otherwise the experience isn't going to be awesome as one may think. Because christmas/new year’s holiday period are among the busiest long distance travel period of the year. Infact, research shows that 89 percent of travellers are planning for thanksgiving road trip, which is an increase of 3.2 percent over last year. This shows that there ‘ll be a lot of traveling activities and the only way to have a splendid journey experience is by having an effective travel plan. 

Below therefore are ways to optimize your travel experience in these festive period.

1. Use traveling app to ease your movement

Majority of people will always want to travel to a new place, especially during a festive period like this - with children and loved once. Meanwhile traveling to a new place is not the problem, but how to map out some key places to make your visit lively; and you will not need to look totally like a stranger.

Howbeit, there are some travel app available to map out some key places which will help in finding locations of different places. I belief these apps will be of use especially for people visiting a new area.

Here are two examples of essential travelling apps you should have out of many

Citymapper: This app is meant to help with different locations in different country. It’ll help you to locate several places while travelling, no matter where you are. This app will help you get directions to restaurant, shoppings malls, hotel/housing accommodations and more for major cities around the world.

Tinder: One of the best app for hookups, a useful tool for meeting new people around you. Even if you’re new in an area this app makes it easy to meet someone closer to where you are and you can easily hookup.

2. Transport your luggage and goodies beforehand

Transporting your luggages and goodies beforehand will give you a rest of mind- all your essential needs have been transported, hence you can be sure you did not forget anything because you already have the list of the transported goods even before leaving your present home. Also, transporting your loads and luggage beforehand would allow you time to concentrate on other things and have full preparation for your journey.

Just the way some vehicle transport companies help to ship vehicles in a fast and reliable way, some shipping firms would help transport your goodies and your luggage before your travel date.

3. Don’t be afraid to ask for assistance

Traveling to a strange place is a way to increase your experience and a means to meet several people. A lot of people are even afraid to ask questions or assistance from a stranger, whereas 80 percent of new people you meet are ready to answer a stranger and give more detailed information, if the stranger ask in a reasonable manner.

Actually, asking questions has helped me a lot, I’ve met a lot of cool people just by asking them few questions -- especially if I am in a new environment.

4. Prepare your vehicle

A lot of people will prefer to go with their private vehicles while some will also plan to ship their vehicle ahead to make the journey more easier, so If you’re planning to use your own vehicle to travel, the worst thing you want to happen is to break down in the middle of your journey.

Hence, before you start your journey make sure that your vehicle is in the right state of mind, check if all your vehicle part are working perfectly and remember to top up your screenwash and engine coolant. Also, don’t forget to put some emergency kit in your boot just in case.

5. Establish the right time to travel

Whatever your mode of transport may be, timing your journey to have a perfect cool trip is essential. As we all know that there will be a lot of people planning to travel in this period of christmas/new year, which will cause a lot of traffic jams with long line.

However, it’s advisable to schedule your movement and know the right time to travel to enjoy the journey.

To round things up:

Traveling is one of the best thing that gives good memory and great experience, meanwhile, it can still serve as a bad experience depending on your preparation. How prepared are you for this festive period? Make the right choice to optimize your travel experience.

Please, have a splendid christmas/new year ………….. 🙌🙌