With the cost of  an exotic vacation now having become deadly expensive, staycations, where one remains either in your home town, or in your country, are becoming popular.  They need not be dull.  I guess that the old-fashioned term for this is “day trips”.  You have all the comforts of your own home, and you get to sleep in your own bed at night.

A nice house for a staycation
[Dr James Merriman House in Hilliard, Ohio, picture by Wdzinc, 10 July 2011]

The first advantage for stay-cations is that you are already at your destination!  No crowded terminals, long uncomfortable flights, or unfamiliar languages.  Since getting there and back accounts for most of the stress and a huge proportion of the costs, holidaying near home can be more relaxing, as well as cheap.  And you do not lose a day or two in travel at the start and at the end of your break.

Many people find it key to achieve the following before time off can be regarded as a vacation:

• Break the tyranny of chores
• Break from one’s regular routine
• See new sights
• Eat in new places
• Do new and interesting things

Factors that can spoil any sort of holiday

• Being unemployed (you do not have income)
• A threat of unemployment (you are scared of losing your income)
• Family debts (you already spent your money)
• The price of fuel
• The cost of transport

The common thread between all of these is a lack of funds, for whatever reason.  The good news is that one can usually still have a vacation on the cheap.

If you need a successful vacation at little or no cost then instead of money, you need to invest your time in doing some research and planning.  A number of people find this to be an enjoyable part of the break, and it can mean good quality time together for couples or families.

Though research is necessary, it need not be tedious.  There are very few places that are unremittingly dull.  If you live in such a place, and your research does not turn up anything fresh and new, then you will be left with no choice but to travel, unless of course you enjoy a very quiet holiday.  With stress in the workplace as high as it is, quiet relaxation is attractive to many more people.

Things to do, places to see

All too often you will find that the places in your home town that you would like to see are open and uncrowded when you are at work, so if you time your holiday at home correctly you will be able to take your time about seeing the sights, instead of feeling rushed.

The activities that you could indulge in depend on what is available locally at the particular time of year that you take your time off.  Local newspapers often print schedules of events.  A visit to your local visitor’s Information Centre may reveal things that you never knew were on the go.  Museums, galleries and other attractions may have special shows or events planned, particularly around the holiday seasons.

A number of hotels keep their event centres busy with shows or interesting activities.  Tasting various types of alcohol or alcohol/ food combinations is a perennial favourite.

If your town is host to a brewery you may find that there are organised tours, that culminate in sampling their wares.

You might want to try restaurants in a different part of town from where you normally eat, or a restaurant specialising in different cuisine.

Avoiding the traps

Chores, routines and the invasion of work can spoil ones stay-at-home holiday.  If you leave things to their own devices then it is almost an inevitability.  Planning is needed.

As far as chores go you have basically three options: leave them until after your break, schedule a specific and limited time slot each day, or swap around duties with another family member.  If you are saving enough money from staying at home then maybe you can get paid help.

To prevent your regular routines from taking hold, you need to plan temporary new routines while you are off work.  While you will not find it relaxing to run your schedule like a railway timetable, if you block out your day differently you may find it more pleasurable.  For instance, your bedtime may normally be constrained by the time you need to get to work.  When you are off duty perhaps your personal inclination is to go to bed later and get up at a corresponding time.  Or you would like to get up really early some days and watch the sun rise.

The ugly intrusion of work can be a problem.  While it may take a bit of acclimatisation, a lot of  people find that they do not truly relax until they drop off the network.  Some ideas for this include putting you mobile phone off, except for specific times each day.  Keep your Internet use to a minimum, so that you do not spend your time tracking events or data trends, your Facebook page, or Tweets.  The more you can reduce the number of things that you have to track mentally, the better able you will be to relax.

Have fun!

[*] The actual country of Romania has wonderful, unspoiled scenery and heaps of historical places and is worth a visit.  But that probably would not be a cheap holiday unless you already live there.

Very often when purchasing travel insurance travellers go on price, and sometimes on the reputation or brand of the company selling it.  However, which plan should you select?  There are comprehensive, visa-specific and non-comprehensive plans on the market.

Here are some guidelines based on a few factors to help you reach an appropriate choice:

• Destination
• Age
• Duration of your trip
• Sports
• Baggage

Destination

To a large extent the destination sets the risk level for the insurer and this affects the price.  If you are travelling to a country that is known for, say, kidnapping, you should choose a plan that covers this and covers it well.  Few policies include injury or death due to the acts of warfare or terrorists.

Some travel insurance policies are guided by the status of the destination country according to the British Foreign Office or US State Department web sites.  This is true even if the policy is issued in a third country and does not involve citizens of those lands.  If the destination is deemed a war zone then normal insurance will not apply.  (The insurers will reason that you have deliberately put yourself in harm’s way.)

If the place you may be travelling to is a tornado or earthquake zone then logically the policy you select should cover disruptions and damages, injury or death arising from those sorts of natural disaster.

Also related to the destination is visa-related health insurance.  Visitors from certain overseas lands that apply for an EU (Schengen) visa will have to offer proof of suitable insurance without which the visa will not be issued.  Medical cover for Schengen visa purposes is more expensive than regular cover.

Age

If you are over 85 years you will find it difficult to obtain suitable cover.  The age varies by company and can be lower, so shop around if this applies to you.  Senior cover starts from around 65 and goes up in steps from there.

If you cannot obtain cover then check out what your regular medical insurance scheme covers: you may still be okay to travel.

For younger folks there is student cover that applies to those taking gap years or extended holidays that will last a few months.  The maximum age for this varies from 29 through to 35 depending on the individual insurance company.

Duration of your trip

The longer the trip, the more pricey it will be, though the rate per day will likely reduce.  Here, one would want to shop around to find the best policy and the most appropriate company.  A less comprehensive policy will be cheaper, but read the small print and note the benefits and exclusions, so you know exactly what is covered.  You will find it gives greater peace of mind to have more extensive coverage.  The longer that you are travelling the more likely it is that some sort of medical emergency may befall you.

Sports

If you are going to be participating in dangerous sports such as bungee jumping, white-water rafting or paragliding, you will need to state this to the insurance company at the time of taking out the cover.  Such activities do not usually preclude cover but they affect risk and therefore the price and you will need to declare your intentions if you expect to obtain cover.

Some policies will not cover these activities at all and you’d be in a sticky situation if you’ve broken a leg while skiing to find that out afterwards.

Footnote: Baggage

Though this article is mainly concerned with medical insurance, you find that baggage insurance is frequently available as an option on the medical insurance, particularly if you are purchasing insurance online.

The amounts that are covered for lost luggage vary from one plan to another.  If you’re carrying expensive cameras and suchlike, you need to make certain that they are fully covered.  The best is if you are permitted to nominate specific items.  That way there is no uncertainty.

If you have expensive items you may find it better to include a travel option in your comprehensive insurance than to try include them in a travel policy.  All too often travel policies have a limit in value per claimed item, and it is low.  So your claim would be subjected to “averaging”, even though the total sum insured was correct.

Discreet luggage label

See stay safe at your destination part 1

• Before leaving your home country, get the local emergency numbers at your destination and save them on your mobile phone contacts list.  Also have the list on paper – if your battery is flat and the phone dies you still want access to the numbers.
• Don’t share your travel plans with strangers.  This includes keeping it off Facebook and other online places that are leaky about information.
• Keep your passport with you at all times.  While this increases the risk of it being stolen, it may help you if you have a sudden medical emergency, or police start shouting at you in a language you do not understand.
• Leave copies of your passport with someone back at home.  There is some dissent within our team on this one, though this is the generally accepted advice.  The idea is that this would help you get a new passport if your one is lost, stolen or damaged.  Will a simple photocopy be sufficient for re-issue of a passport – it seems doubtful.  (Please share your thoughts and experiences in the comments!)
• Leave behind a copy of your medical and insurance papers with someone trusted.  They can then assist you with claiming if necessary.
• The best place for booking adventure activities such as sky-diving and bungee jumping is through the local tourist information offices.  This is to make certain that you are using reputable companies who stick to the safety regulations.
• Reputable hotels frequently have information on tours available from reliable organisers, if you have not booked these prior to leaving home.
• It may be wise not to wear patriotic apparel or to festoon your gear with your country flag.  You may encounter someone who is bitter or resentful toward your country.  Ill-feeling can last hundreds of years in some regions.

The following tips include information from “Don’t Panic” by Helmke Hennig and Frances le Clus.

• Do not have your home address, hotel’s name that you are staying at, or your telephone number anywhere visible on your luggage.  You can get luggage tags that close, meaning that a casual inspection will not reveal who you are, where you are from, or your destination.
• If you accept a free drink or meal offered anywhere, do so very cautiously, as there are usually strings attached.  This is specifically true of certain types of bars in the Far East.  You may wake up naked, beaten and robbed, or at the least you may end up paying many times the going rate for a drink that you did not really want in the first place.
• Sometimes our best protection is our instincts.  If a situation feels wrong, move away as quickly as possible.

If you have money taken, well, it is only money.  If thieves take your camera or knick-knacks that you have bought then it is worse than just the financial loss – they are stealing your memories.

Passport with money - valuables

Tourists are more vulnerable than business travellers because when we tour we are more likely to get to places that could be troublesome.

Here are a some suggestions on how to keep safe and thus have happy memories of your travels.  Included in the list below are precautions for not unwittingly getting on the wrong side of the law whilst travelling overseas.

• Don’t dress like a tourist.  Do some Internet research on your destination to see what average people are wearing this season.  Try to dress to fit in.  For instance, in Turkey, nobody wears shorts in the cities, more especially women.  If you do, then you will stick out.  Stripy golf pants and sports shoes, or baggy track suits, go down fine in the States but mark you as “not from here” most other places in the world.  Hanging cameras from your neck says “mug me”.
• Take maps with you and avoid having to stop to ask for directions.  Asking for directions tells the person that you don’t know where it is safe.  You may find it useful to plan out the next day’s routes on the map the night before.
• Do not consult your maps in a public place – not only are you signalling that you are a tourist, but your attention will also be distracted.  Go into a shop or go sit in a restaurant and have a cup of coffee.
• If you are lost, ask for directions.  While this somewhat contradicts an earlier guideline, you do not want to be walking further into a dangerous area at dusk, for instance.
• Get local directions from the front-desk staff at your hotel.  They will know safe areas to catch public transport too, as well as the good routes.
• Make sure that all drinks ordered are opened and poured in your presence.  Better yet, get them in a sealed container and open and pour them yourself.
• Avoid being flashy or ostentatious.  Wear a minimum of jewellery, watches, etc.  Being classed as a “rich tourist” is even more dangerous than just “tourist”.
• Walk in a self-confident way and remain alert to your surroundings at all times.  Anticipate sources of trouble.  As obvious as it may seem, avoid dark alleyways!
• Keep a firm grip on your belongings.  Ensure that you do not have to put down your goods in order to use your hands.  A messenger bag with a clasp may be useful (if it fits in with the locals).  One of our correspondents travels with a messenger bag and a sports tog bag in his luggage.  If the one does not fit in, the other generally will.  If all else fails, get a plastic carrier bag from a local supermarket.  (Please, not Harrods – that marks you as having an abundance of money. Get a Tesco bag and nobody will pay you any attention.)
• Don’t carry parcels for anyone when travelling.  It would be very unfortunate if your holiday ends in an ugly jail for unwittingly being a drug mule.  Carrying drugs is viewed in a serious light in most countries and carries hefty jail terms and even the death penalty in some places.
• Before travelling, check what medicines are allowed through customs in the country you will be visiting, as some may be prohibited from being brought through their borders.  A common problem is pain-killers that contain codeine.  They are legal in most places but banned in others, like the UAE (where a woman was sentenced to 4 years for having traces of codeine in her bloodstream).  European travellers should not that codeine is also restricted in the United States.
• Be cautious about bringing medicines back with you.  You may have bought medicine at a pharmacy for an ailment whilst travelling.  It may be wise to dump what remains before returning to your home country – the ingredients could well be listed in a language that neither you nor the customs officials understand, and it may not even be in an familiar alphabet.  Avoid the hassle of confiscation, which may make the customs officials more interested in scrutinising every nook and cranny of your luggage.  Or indeed your own personal nooks and crannies.

The above are guidelines and can be practiced with different levels of caution depending on your destination.  Having a beach holiday in the Caribbean for example is very different to going on a cultural holiday in Italy.

Click here to go to part 2 of this article