Written by Paige Tamasi
People often find themselves stuck between a rock and a hard place in December: not many people want to travel because of the crowds drawn to Christmas Markets and the insane wait times for transportation, but oftentimes December is one of the prettiest times to take a holiday —not to mention many people have to travel if they want to celebrate with their families.
I recently travelled to five different countries within one week, and I learned a lot about the Dos and Don’ts of travelling in December.
Number 1: Planning
Do begin planning early. The last thing you want to do, especially if you know you’ll be travelling by plane, is leave ticket selection to the last minute. I booked all the flights at least four months in advance and found that not only were tickets a reasonable price, but I was also able to organise seats for my travel group to sit together.
This is even more important when travelling in December because people book flights, trains, and even tours, restaurants, shows, etc weeks in advance. So plan accordingly and start early!
Having a set plan established early on before the holiday months even begin will help ease your anxiety and oftentimes make the more specific details (like museums, sites, food, etc) easier to put off until closer to the travel date.
Number 2: Communication
Communicate with the people you’re travelling with. Are you travelling with friends or family, and how does each person travel? Does Aunt Kathy want to sit in a spa all day? Does Dad want to see every museum in the city? Knowing what everyone wants to do can be overwhelming because they often never align with one another. But communicating what everyone wants to do will make it obvious to everyone who wants to do what; that way when Aunt Kathy goes to the spa, Dad could go to a museum, so neither are unhappy.
People don’t have to do every activity together, as people’s interests frequently differ. This isn’t to say you don’t have to do everything by yourself, but talk to the people you’re travelling with and work together to come up with a plan that makes everyone happy.
Number 3: Last Minute Changes
Be okay with plans changing. If you’re like me then last-minute changes to plans are absolutely terrible because they throw off your entire day and ruin the schedule you’ve likely already planned out. But travelling is challenging, especially in such a busy time as December, so you will have to be okay with some things not working out.
I found that food was often the thing I most had to change, there were often no spaces for a reservation at the time I wanted or there weren’t any dietary safe options for my vegetarian or gluten-free friends. I would recommend having a list of multiple restaurants that you would be happy to go to. You can rank them from most exciting to least if you want, but having more restaurants than time gives you backup options for when plans change.
Wrap Up
December travel is stressful but also so much fun. So despite the crowds, the tourism, and oftentimes the overpricing of food and trinkets, make sure you have fun and enjoy your holiday!
Happy Holidays from Insanity Radio. If you’d like to read more about Insanity Radio’s festivities go here and if you’d like more suggestions about travelling in December go here.
Written by Paige Tamasi, Edited by Paige Tamasi, Photography by Paige Tamasi, Published by Paige Tamasi