Different ways to travel. Is it possible to make a list of all ways there is to travel? I would have to say no, it’s not. There are so many different ways to travel so listing them all would be impossible. But one thing that is possible to do is listing a lot of different ways to travel. So this is our contribution to what options you have while traveling.
Table of Contents
Booking through travel agents
Before, this was the most common way to travel. You walked into a travel agency and let the people working there know where you want to go and for how long you wanted to stay. And even if the internet has made each and every one of us become our own personal travel agents, it’s still a great way to travel through an agent. There is a feeling of safety when going through an agency. Once, we got stuck in a thunderstorm in Chicago and we really needed to get back to Sweden.
I called Inger at Big Travel and within 10 minutes, we were booked on another flight and we made it back on time. Having contact with a travel agency lets you know that you are safe. You don’t have to do any of the work yourself – just let them know where and when you want to leave and off you go! Our first years of traveling was mainly this way and we still love the “easiness” of traveling this way. The most important thing is to find a travel agent that you trust and we have Inger for all that!
Packaged holidays – The all-inclusive alternative
This is often a great option for people that want to travel and just relax on their vacation. They don’t want to have the hassle of finding restaurants and just want to have a nice and easy vacation. For those people, booking packaged holidays is a great option. There are a lot of big travel agents that sell packaged holidays (most of the regular travel agents have this option). In the all inclusive option, you have all food and drinks included in your package.
My sister often books all inclusive since she got kids. She loves the comfort of having everything at hand. They are picked up from the airport and driven to their hotel. Once there, they don’t have to leave the resort area for the whole time if they don’t want. They get all their meals at the hotel and can just relax all day.
Arrange tours – in different ways
This is probably the most expensive way to travel, but at the same time, it’s an awesome way to travel. You get to see a lot and don’t have to think about the main highlights in one country or destination – the arrange tour agency will make sure that you get there and that you will see everything. Whether you travel by plane, bus or car – you will be transported to all the highlights and you don’t need to worry about where you are going to eat. No, all of that is arranged so you just tag along!
We went on an arranged tour to Tanzania and it was I N C R E D I B L E. We got to see so much and each day was packed with activities. This is a great option for people that really want to explore a country but don’t want to do all the research themselves. The only downside is that this is a quite expensive way to travel.
Making your own bookings online using momondo
The sites online that guide you to better deals on flights and hotels are many. It might be hard for you to find the right one because you want to make sure that you trust the company that is showing you the best offers. We have tried several different once and now we have found our favorite “search-for-best-flights-and-hotels-site”. We use momondo when we go online to look for great deals on flights (and sometimes hotels). Their site is super easy to use and it’s also a super inspirational site that makes you want to travel right away.
And one thing that makes us like momondo even more is their 100 percent price transparency. That means that the price is not affected by our search history. No matter how many searches we make, the price is not affected by that – and that’s awesome! This company only use cookies to enhance our user experience and that is great. And lately, we have switched over from making the searches on our computers to getting the momondo app. It’s really awesome! You might also like to read our post on travel apps here.
Going on a cruise
Oh, how we love cruises! We had a period where we were only doing cruises and now we often talk about going on a cruise again. A lot of people say that cruising is expensive. We would say that it’s a really fair price compared to how much you get to see and explore. It’s like being in a hotel (that is floating). You unpack your things and then off you go. You eat onboard and just enjoy life while the ship is taking you to your next destination.
There is a lot of entertainment going on at all times and you get to see really high-quality shows and eat really good food. Relax at the spa or just lay by the pool. And for everyone that thinks that cruises are just for “old” people – think again. Cruises are for everyone!
Traveling by motorhome or caravan
Before, this was something that only “old” people did. Well, it was the prejudice of it. Today it has become cool and hip to travel this way. You get to be your own boss during the vacation and drive wherever you want. If you like, you can stay at a campsite or you can wild camp. This way of traveling makes the whole “getting to the destination” a part of the journey. It has now been three years since Mini and I moved into the motorhome permanently.
And we have not regretted it one second. We get to wake up to a new view whenever we chose and we are loving this. But, keep in mind that there is a difference between traveling by motorhome or a caravan as a vacation and living in it full time. We have never used a motorhome, just for travels – we moved into one straight away!
Traveling by car or motorcycle
Not the same as a motorhome but pretty close. You find small hotels or places to stay during your travels and you explore the places that you want at your own pace. When we had a friend (Ron) coming to visit us from America – went on a road trip with our car that we had then. The trip ended up covering 10 countries in Europe and we had a great time!
Keep in mind that some highways have a cover charge for driving there so be prepared to pay up. Or you just change the settings on your GPS to avoid toll roads. Overall this is a good way to travel and you get to explore a lot. A tip is to not book the hotels in advance because then you are stuck to the schedule and can’t stay a day extra if you find a great place!
Traveling by train
This is super hot right now. In Sweden there is even a travel agent that have started interrail vacations. When the talks about what flying does to the environment are constantly brought up – traveling by train is a great option. And one of my dream trips is actually to once take the Trans-Siberian Railway.
We have done an interrail vacation and it was great. It was a fun way to explore a place and to meet new people. However, it was not that funny when we got to share a compartment on the train with a guy watching youtube videos of people being stoned to death. Yes, that actually happened. Next time we might want to opt for our own compartment and not be sharing it with others!
Volunteer travel
We have talked about traveling this way but have not yet gotten around to do so. And I have mixed feelings about this way of travel because sometimes I’m not sure that “you being at a destination is actually helping”. Some of the volunteer travels will let you build watermills or houses and I believe that you need to teach the people to do that themselves. I like the saying: Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Some of the volunteering feels like it is more for you and your own feeling of satisfaction and not really there to help the locals.
However, I do think that volunteer travel can be a great thing and we would love to try it sometime. But instead of working with people, we will choose to work with animals.
So here we go. Different ways to travel. How do you travel? What do you think of the different ways? Please leave a comment!
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