The Travel Independently Blog

You can’t get there from here or trying to travel independently in a place that doesn’t want you to be independent.

It’s been a while since my last post here. I have to admit that I got caught up in planning my next trip to my favorite part of the world, SE Asia. Finally, I decided to visit Burma. I won’t go into all of my machinations about whether or not to go, as that debate spanned some twenty years, but I do want to tell you about my experience booking this trip.

When Burma first opened to tourism over two decades ago, they allowed only group tours to enter. At first there was a strict limit of 7 days in the country. As time went on, the rules loosened gradually, but even today by far the majority of travelers to Burma go as part of a tour group. If you aren’t going as part of a tour group, they would prefer that you have a travel agency just book your itinerary for you.

I wanted to travel according to my own plan so I really had to work to get the travel arrangements I wanted. I usually book all of my own flights and all of my own hotels over the internet. For Burma, this was a real challenge. Because most email is blocked in Burma, emails to hotels may never be received. E-mailing is often an exercise in frustration. I was able to book one hotel directly via e-mail; another I found a Thai booking site where I could reserve and pay by credit card in advance – a great advantage in a country where credit cards are basically unusable. And my third hotel I was able to book via a phone call to The Leading Hotels of the World.

Air tickets were harder. There is no way to book intra-Burma flights online. Indeed, it was impossible to find a current timetable, let alone one for a month or two away. Eventually, I found a posting of what flights flew last week. I have a travel agent in Bangkok I’ve used for booking intra-Asia flight when needed. I wrote to him, and after several weeks of trying, he told me he was unable to book my flights. At that point, I emailed a travel agent in Yangon. They were able to tell me the times of the flights and book them.

And no one told me that there are no non-stop flights among all of the major cities. Of our three internal flights, two had stops on the way. And there are few choices about when to fly. It is not uncommon to have only one flight a day between two of the four major destinations in Burma. So our time in each place was a little different than we had originally planned.

Still, we did eventually get all of our hotels and flights and we had a wonderful time.

But I learned that a country that would prefer that you not travel independently can make it difficult for even the most stubborn independent traveler!

Technorati Tags: Bagan, Burma, Inle Lake, Mandalay, Myanmar, Rangoon, Yangon

I was caught up in airline strike a on my way to a meeting in Toronto a number of years ago. As soon as there were rumors of a strike, I looked at other options, and settled on flying to Buffalo, New York. The airline wouldn’t change my flight to Buffalo when the strike was just a rumor, so as soon as the strike was called, I switched my reservation to Buffalo. We got the last two seats on the plane. An hour later, and this would not have been an option. I rented a car, and we easily made it to Toronto for the meeting.

Have a plan B, and do your research so you know your options. Don’t expect that airline personnel will necessarily know the best alternate routes to your destination or that they will know which other airlines fly to your destination.

Utilize your status with frequent flier and hotel programs

When there is a problem, consider what kind of leverage you might have. Being a member of the airline or hotel loyalty program is helpful, but it’s even more helpful if you are a premium member. If you have often stayed at a particular hotel, you can use that as leverage. When I say leverage, I don’t mean making threats “I’ve been staying here for years – if you don’t take care of this right now I’ll never stay here again!” If I were the hotel manager I have to admit I’d be saying to myself that I could only hope the nasty customer wouldn’t return!

Instead, take the approach that you have been a good customer and that you are sure the hotel wants to take care of the problem. Take the approach that you are working together to take care of the problem.

Airline problems are often due to weather delays or equipment delays. Conventional wisdom says to try to take flights early in the day so you can catch a later flight if necessary. Of course, that is not always possible. On my way to a meeting in Montreal, we landed in Washington DC for the connection to Montreal. There were thunderstorms in Montreal so the flight was delayed. It was getting late, and I expected we might not fly that night. I called an airport hotel, the Hyatt, and they had no space. At the time I was a diamond passport member, so they assured me they would find a room for me.

Soon, it was clear to me that the plane would not fly. I went to the Red Carpet Club and asked that they book me on the earliest flight out the next morning. I utilized my Red Carpet Club membership, my United Premier Executive status and my hotel loyalty program status, all of which paid off. I had a good night’s sleep and my flight to Montreal in the morning was as smooth as can be. The flight was overbooked – so if I hadn’t gotten my reservations as early as possible the previous afternoon, I wouldn’t have gotten on that flight.

How can you make your delay more pleasant?

We were flying from Kuching, Malaysia to Bangkok via Kuala Lumpur several years ago, when our flight out of Kuching was delayed. I wasn’t too worried, as I figured that there must be frequent flights from Kuala Lumpur to Bangkok, so we could just get on the next flight. Fortunately, we were flying in Business Class on Malaysian Air, so I knew they would accommodate us.

When we arrived in KL, I went to the Malaysian Air desk to get on the next flight, only to find that it was 5 hours later! My guess about how frequent the flights must be was way off. I checked on some other connection options, but turned up nothing. So what could I do in the Kuala Lumpur airport for all that time? Go to the Business Class Lounge.

Here is a real advantage to flying a premium class even on relatively short international connections.

The Business Class Lounge at Kuala Lumpur Internation Airport is lovely. We sat down and looked around. They have comfortable seating, lovely food, good champagne, and a spa! I have to say that was the most relaxing time I’ve ever had waiting for a flight. We had arrived hungry and cranky from a delayed flight that caused us to miss our connection, and by the time we left the lounge to take our flight to Bangkok we were relaxed and content. We filled our time with a visit to the spa, champagne and good food.

Next : Managing illness or minor accidents while traveling

Technorati Tags: airline reservation problems, hotel reservation problems

The Hazards of Travel

When one hears of the hazards of travel, people think of really awful things – plane crashes, tsunamis, typhoons or hurricanes, earthquakes, or being caught up a violent insurrection. But most hazards of travel are much more mundane: delayed or cancelled flights, lost luggage, a hotel that doesn’t have your reserved room, food poisoning or a broken ankle.

Managing Airline and Hotel Problems

Ask for what you need

Most of the hazards of travel can be managed quickly and easily given a bit of flexibility on the part of the traveler. Things to remember… being pleasant and in a problems-solving mode will get you much farther than being angry, demanding and nasty. I know that people in the US often say that nothing will happen unless you get angry. This is not true in Asia. And frankly, I don’t think it’s helpful in the US or Europe. Getting angry or making a scene is considered a major embarrassment – to you.

You reduce your chances that people will work with you to solve the problem. I am not suggesting that you be meek and not ask for anything, but ask for what you need politely and firmly. Be willing to negotiate. Ask for something they can give you. So, if your luggage has not arrived with you, demanding that they produce your luggage immediately is of little use. If your luggage were there they would have given it to you. Instead, ask for what they can provide. “I need to buy X and Y and have my clothes laundered at my hotel.” “I need you to deliver my luggage to me at this hotel as soon as it arrives.” Utilize others to help you with the problem. The concierge at your hotel may well be willing to call and follow up with the airline, for instance. Note that if you are traveling in a premium class, there will often be an airline employee designated to give you special assistance.

If you check into a hotel and need (and were assured of) a non-smoking room and there is not one available, be persistent. Let them know you must have a non-smoking room. What kind of room do they have available that is non-smoking? I have had hotels move me to another type of room to accommodate me. In one case, I could have that room for only one night, and had to move me to another non-smoking room the next night, so they discounted my whole stay. I was pleasant but insistent, and the night manager was very helpful. He went and checked on various rooms so that we were not delivered to a non-smoking room that smelled of smoke.

Let the process work

I remember arriving in Yogyakarta, Indonesia after a transpacific flight, a few hours trying to nap in the terminal at Changi, and going through customs and immigration in Jakarta. We arrived exhausted and wanting nothing more than to get to our hotel and take a shower… and our luggage did not arrive with us. The representative from the hotel who met us, just shrugged and said “Garuda always does that. You luggage will get here this afternoon.” Somehow I did not find that reassuring. I was not yet experienced enough in the ways of international travel not to fret, but the woman was right – Garuda often left people’s luggage in Jakarta and our luggage did arrive that afternoon.

What are your options?

I was trying to book a flight from Kuantan, Malaysia to Singapore. I had booked the last non-stop flight on Silk Air from Singapore to Kuanatan before low season started, so I knew there would be no non-stops to get me back to Singapore. As I expected, the agent routed me though Kuala Lumpur. But as she worked on the reservations, she said to me that there are no seats available on the flight from KL to Singapore. I found that hard to fathom. I had her check several options for me, then asked her, “what are my options?” “There are some first class seats on that flight.”
“And how much more are the first class tickets?”
“Twenty dollars.”
“I’ll take it.”

It would never have occurred to me that “no seats” meant no seats in economy. That flight turned out to be one of my most memorable first class fights. It was on a brand new Boeing 777, configured for three classes of travel. As we boarded, a flight attendant bounded down the aisle to lift our carry-ons into the overhead bin. The fight was just under an hour, but we were served a hot duck entrée and Dom Perignon. We joked that we easily drank the price difference in champagne.

In our next post we’ll talk about having a Plan B!

Technorati Tags: airline reservation issues, airline reservation problems, hotel reservation issues, hotel reservation problems

Money Matters

When I first began traveling internationally, I had to send a foreign bank draft to reserve my hotel room. Some hotels accepted American Express to hold a hotel room, but neither Visa nor MasterCard allowed this. Now, I can hold or pay for hotel reservations almost anywhere in the world via credit card over the Internet. Back then, options for getting foreign cash were travelers checks, exchanging cash or ordering foreign currency at home.

Exchange windows at airports often offered poor rates, and there were surcharges for travelers checks that often added 5% or more to the cost of getting the currency. Of course, that was still less expensive that ordering currency from home which added at least 10% to the cost.

Managing money while traveling has become easier and more convenient than ever before. But there are now so many options, it can be more confusing as well. This is a series of articles on travel financial issues.

Part I: Getting local currency

Always have more than one way to get cash in a foreign country. For instance, I always have an ATM card and I carry several $100 bills I can exchange if needed. Some people have a few travelers checks as a back up. While you can get a cash advance on your credit card, this should always be the last resort as it is such an expensive way to obtain cash (see below).

People often worry about having the local currency when they arrive at their destination. In my experience, there is always an easy way to get local currency at the airport. At the very least, there is an exchange window and usually, there are a number of ATMs as well as exchange windows. Even if the rate at the airport is not the best (and it is often a good rate), it will be a better rate than you could get outside the country.

In addition to an ATM card, I always carry several US$100 bills as my “emergency” money to exchange when there is not an ATM readily available or it is out of cash. If you are unsure of using an ATM in your (typically) sleepless state as you arrive after a long flight, just exchange some cash – make sure to ask for some small bills to pay your taxi fare.

Exchange Rates

Bureau de Change: Exchange rates are readily available online. You may want to check both a general foreign exchange website like www.xe.com as well as the website of a local newspaper. In most parts of the world exchange windows have had to become competitive, so the differential in rates has become smaller and smaller. It’s easier than ever to get a fair exchange rate. Large bills, US$100 or 100 Euro or Pound notes get the best rates. Notes should be crisp and unmarked.

Travelers Checks

Some people like the security of using travelers checks. If they are lost or stolen, they can be replaced. Travelers checks incur a charge to cash them, sometimes a minor charge, sometimes more. Many places (stores, etc) will not cash them, so bank or exchange windows are often your only options. In some countries one type of travelers check is preferred, and I’ve even heard of people being entirely unable to cash certain types of travelers checks. So travelers checks are not as convenient as they once were.

ATMs

ATMs are the most convenient way to get local currency in a foreign country. Sometimes they are also the most economical. By using the ATM, you get the bank-to-bank exchange rate, which is the best available rate. However, the bank adds a premium to this, usually ranging from 1-3% of the amount exchanged. At 1%, you usually will match or even beat the beast rate available for exchanging cash; at 3%, you’ll get a better rate for cash so you are paying a bit for the convenience.

But there may be other charges as well. You bank may add a per use fee for using foreign ATMs. This typically ranges from $1 – $5. The foreign ATM may also charge a fee, up to $3 or $4 per use. Some banks reimburse any fees charged by the foreign ATM; others do not. So the worst-case scenario is that you might be charged $5 by your own bank, $4 by the foreign bank, plus 3% of the amount exchanged.

If you are only withdrawing US$100 worth of foreign currency, you’ve just paid $12 or 12% for the use of the ATM. On the other hand, if your bank does not charge for use of a foreign ATM and reimburses any charges by the foreign bank, and only charges a 1% premium on the amount exchanged, you are getting the best rate possible. Always know what your bank charges before using your card in an ATM!

Another pitfall to watch out for is to make sure you know what kind of transaction you are making at an ATM. Usually, we think of taking money out of an ATM as cash coming directly from a checking account or a savings account. But you can use a credit card to get a cash advance at an ATM. This is probably the most expensive way to obtain cash, as you are charged an immediate cash advance fee (often 4%), plus any ATM fees, plus a premium on foreign exchange (usually 3%) plus interest beginning the moment you make the withdrawal – at rates higher than your credit card rate, often in the 20-25% range!

Note: If you want to be able to use foreign ATMs, you MUST inform your bank of where and when you are traveling. Otherwise, your bank will likely turn off your ATM access when it sees a foreign transaction. Make sure you have a 24-hour phone number at which you can call your bank collect from a foreign country in case you have a problem getting cash form an ATM.

What about using US dollars in foreign countries?

Some people wonder whether they can’t just bring lots of US dollars and use those instead of exchanging their dollars for foreign currencies. Pause and think about this… does your grocery store accept Euros or Hong Kong dollars in payment? How happy would a taxi driver in Chicago be to accept Thai baht or Malaysian ringgit? While sometimes merchants in say, Vietnam, will accept US dollars in payment; remember that they incur the expense of exchanging the dollars.

A street merchant may be willing to accept the dollars or may even quote prices in dollars if it will get them a sale that would otherwise have walked away. But the merchants need the local currency to transact their own business. I consider it more respectful to use the local currency. Prices quoted in dollars in foreign counties are higher than what you would pay in the local currency.

There are several exceptions I know of in regard to using the local currency. Several central and South American countries have independently adopted the US dollar as their legal tender: Panama (used along with the Panamanian Balboa), Ecuador and El Salvador. Several Caribbean Islands and several islands in the south Pacific also use the dollar. East Timor also used the dollar.

In Cambodia, the US dollar is the preferred currency for everything except small purchases. For a traveler in Cambodia, probably the only Cambodian riel they will handle will be small change they receive for purchase made in US dollars.

There was a time when the US dollar was king. People in foreign countries, especially those with non-convertible currencies wanted US to protect the value of their savings. So it was often to your advantage to exchange money on the “black market” to get a better rate. Those US$100 bills became someone’s savings account. This is no longer the case.

Special note

Some currencies are not convertible: Vietnamese Dong, Lao Kip, Cambodian Riel, Nepal Rupees, Indonesian Rupiah for instance. This means that they cannot be exchanged for hard currencies at official exchanges outside the country, so are effectively worthless outside the country, Also, it means the currency is not officially obtainable outside the country. While you might run into a traveler willing to pay you for your leftover currency, plan to spend or donate it before you leave.

Technorati Tags: foreign atms, foreign currencies, foreign money exchange, Independent Travel, independent travel exchange rates

This is the first article in a series on Travel Health

Some people are scared by the idea of traveling somewhere where immunizations are advised; others are oblivious, and don’t even read about recommended health precautions for the places they plan to visit.  You don’t need to be scared – or oblivious.  You need to be informed.

Vaccines

When people read about health precautions for visiting other countries, they often forget that we all take health precautions at home.  There are routine vaccines given to both children and adults that have cut the rates of infectious disease dramatically.  DPT (diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus) has been the way most people in the US get their first tetanus immunization.

Tetanus is an organism that is ubiquitous in the soil around the world.  An often fatal and always agonizing disease, the fact that it is rarely encountered in the developed world is a testament to the power of immunization. Check with your doctor to see if you need a booster.

Childhood Diseases

Childhood diseases (measles, mumps, rubella and chicken pox) are rarely seen in the US now except for small pockets of unimmunized children. A recent rise in US parents opting not to have their children vaccinated has yielded mini-epidemics of a number of childhood illnesses, some with very serious consequences.  People often think of these as fairly benign illnesses, but in fact, they can have serious sequelae in children including brain damage from very high fevers, and there are some deaths from these illnesses.

In adults, these illnesses are much more serious, with a greater risk of serious complications or even death.  These illnesses are encountered in places where these inoculations are not common, so as a traveler, you might have contact with them in any third world country and in other countries where children are not routinely inoculated.

If you did not have these illnesses as a child (which is believed to confer life-long immunity) or if you had the inoculations as a child but have not as an adult, check with your doctor about the advisability of a booster shot.

Polio

Polio, which has been nearly eradicated, does still exist in India and parts of Africa.  Periodically, there are reports of cases elsewhere, typically from an infected traveler.  If you have not had a polio inoculation as an adult, check with your doctor to determine if you are still protected.

Hepatitis A

Few people pause to think about what inoculations they would be wise to have to visit say France or Canada or Brussels or London.  But Hepatitis A is a vaccine it would be wise to have even if you are staying at home.  As with many other diseases, Hepatitis A is a disease of sanitation breakdown.   There are outbreaks of Hepatitis A in the US, Canada and Western Europe from time to time.   Two shots six months apart confer at least 20 years of immunity.  Some health care professionals believe we may find that the two shots confer life-long immunity.

Hepatitis B

Hepatitis B is a blood-borne illness.  It is spread by contact with blood and other bodily fluids.  Contact with blood via injury, unsterilized needles or medical equipment, blood transfusions with infected blood, or sexual contact with someone who carries Hepatitis B are all routes to contracting this serious illness.

There is a vaccine for Hepatitis B, often given in combination with the Hepatitis A vaccine.  It takes a series of three shots over an 18-month period to confer full immunity.  Many day care centers in the US require children in their care to be immunized, as children may have inadvertent contact with the blood of other children in a day care environment.

Travel Medicine Resources

There are a number of good travel medicine websites.  In the US, the standard of care is the Center for Disease Control website:  wwwn.cdc.gov/travel

While the information in this article can be helpful in thinking about immunizations prior to travel, it is no substitute for a visit with a travel medicine professional.

Next in this series:  Immunizations for travelers

Technorati Tags: diphtheria, hepatitis B, Independent Travel, tetanus, Travel Health, travel immunizations, travel medicine

What is your idea of a great trip?

Do you like to travel with others?

Do you enjoy group activities?

Do you like to have someone tell you what you are seeing?

Are you content to be taken from place to place with little or no time to wander on your own?

Do you like to have your history in short capsules?

Do you prefer to be taken to places to shop that have are fixed prices rather than shopping in local places where you need to bargain?

Do you like to have someone else take care of the details of a trip like choosing hotels and restaurants?

Do you like to choose foods from buffets where you can pick and choose want you want from western and local foods, the local foods spiciness toned down for the western palate?

Do you enjoy a trip that gives you a brief introduction to many places rather than giving you a longer experience of fewer places?

If so, group travel is for you.  You will likely enjoy tours put together by hundreds of companies.  Look at the itinerary and see if it covers what you want to do/see, check on how many people the tour takes at a time, and see what the transport and accommodations are.

Do you find that researching and planning a trip is part of the pleasure?

Do you prepare for a trip by reading not only guidebooks, but also history and fiction about your destination?

Do you like to do things on your own?

Do you like time to explore, wander, talk with locals even if you share very little language?

Do you like to shop in local markets, bargaining with locals and finding unusual items?

Do you like to explore places in depth?  Do you want more than just a walk-through of a site?

Do you like to try out new foods?

Do you like to choose your own hotels and restaurants?

Are you comfortable learning the public transportation system in a new city?

Do you like to go at your own pace?  Does it drive you crazy to wait for others or be hurried along?

If so, independent travel is for you.  This site can help you be a savvier independent traveler!

Technorati Tags: Independent Travel, travel tours, vacation tours

The difference in experience between having a guide and not having a guide can be vast.

Which is better?  Well, there is no hard and fast answer to this.  It depends on you, your level of knowledge about a place, your level of comfort in interacting with people when you have only a few words of a common language, and what you want out of a particular experience.

For instance, when I visited the temples at Angkor, we decided not to use a guide.  I’d been reading about Angkor for years, decades, in fact.  When I first started reading about Angkor it wasn’t clear that it would be safe to visit Angkor in this lifetime.  When Cambodia opened up, I was delighted and we planned our trip.  Yes, we were able to find the relief of the “churning of the sea of milk” (something many people cite as what they wouldn’t have been able to do on their own), we were able to arrange for our driver to drop us off at one entrance and pick us up at another so we could see areas many people miss and so on.

Perhaps the most special part of not having a guide was having time alone at some of the temples, listening to the silence at a small temple, the giant stones tumbled around the walls, or doing a walking meditation at Angkor Wat just after sunrise, with the whole complex to ourselves and a few quiet monks,

When we visited Sri Lanka, there were many places we really appreciated having a guide.  Polowarnua was a highlight for us.  Our guide there made the ruins come alive.  Showing us inscriptions and telling us the tales behind them, pointing out unique features, and helping us get an overview of the whole site made such a difference.  This was an instance when very little is available about Sri Lankan history and archaeology in our country.

We needed the knowledge to appreciate the place.  A friend of mine later visited Sri Lanka and their driver told them they didn’t need a guide at Polowarnua.  Instead, accompanied them into the ruins, but the extent of the knowledge he transmitted was “that was a palace” or “that was a temple.”” For me, Polowarnua was a highlight of the trip, for my friend, the ruins were simply ruins.

We never use a guide in Bangkok, for instance, preferring to find our own way, interact with locals, and discover our own favorites.  In part this is because we have been there many times, but we have also chosen no guide in cities when we visited the first time.  Some people feel they get to know the people if they have a guide.  But my experience is that people who chose to have a guide get to know the guide and the guide mediates all of their interactions with locals.

I’d much rather talk with locals myself, even if there are parts we can’t translate.  I also enjoy using local public transport – I feel like it gives me more of a sense of the city and the people.  Guides rarely take you on public transport (unless you’ve made a special request), so you move through a city in your hermetically sealed car, never touching the street until you arrive at a designated destination.

Some of my favorite travel stories are about communications with people when whom I shared only a few words of a common language… bargaining with a Touarg man in Adz in my schoolgirl French and his few phrases, talking with a Buddhist nun in Bangkok about voting in our presidential election, learning about jade carvings from an old man in Taipei.  Those are experiences that would have been transformed (and not for the better) by a guide.

In Luang Prabang, we were shopping at the weavers coop and having a wonderful time.  A man approached us and asked if we wanted his guide to translate for us.  We agreed, and the guide translated a question we had and the response from the weaver.  I felt sad after the interaction, as it felt like it broke the alliance we had with the weaver, the alliance to understand each other and deal fairly with each other in spite of having no common language.  I felt more separate from her for the translation.

So when the question of hiring a guide comes up, think about what you need and want in a situation.  Guides are often easy to hire on the spot.  Unless there is some special reason to hire a guide in advance, I’d recommend you try to go it alone first or to hire a guide once you get to a place.

Technorati Tags: hiring a guide, Independent Travel, traveling independently

I’ve heard stories from several friends recently about using a US based travel agent to arrange travel in Asia.  One friend was headed to Vietnam and Cambodia.  She has a long-time travel agent who booked all the flights and hotels for her plus guides in each place.  For two weeks, she paid US$12,000.  She could have done the same trip for half the price by doing her own booking and deciding on guides or drivers as she arrived at each place.

If you want the convenience of having someone else do the booking for you, fine.  But the current price structure for travel agents is such that you don’t know just how much you are paying for the convenience.  And often, people who book guides ahead like this don’t really know if they will need a guide somewhere.  For instance, she booked a guide for two days in Hanoi.  Most people get to Hanoi and realize they don’t need a guide at all in the city.  And if you want a guide, good guides are easily hired – and for less than half the price of booking ahead through a US travel agent.

Another couple was going to Thailand.  The couple had their travel agent price out the trip for them – just flights and accommodation.  Accommodation alone came to US$5000 per person.  My friend was shocked.  Yes, they’d opted for a 4-night stay at a very nice and very pricey resort that had individual villas with plunge pools, but the price seemed out of line in terms of the reports they’d heard from other travelers.

I suggested they take a look at what they would have to pay if they booked the hotels themselves.  They were amazed to see that the price for the two of them was US$5080 – about half of what the travel agent wanted to charge them.

That said, there are times when using a travel agent can be very helpful.  Some times I use a Thailand-based travel agent to book flights that are not book-able online or in cases where he could get a better price by buying in Bangkok.  He does not charge any extra for the booking, but simply collects the commission from the airline.  It’s easy, it’s convenient, and it’s fair.  If he wanted to charge me something for the service, that would be fine with me – as long as the charges were clear and up-front.

When we traveled to Sri Lanka, we found that using a local agent assured us of getting the accommodations we wanted and it allowed us to have a contract with a company to supply a car and driver.  If you have a contract with a company and there are problems with either the car or the driver, the company can make a change for you on the road.

If you have contracted with an individual driver, you have no recourse.  We still did all of the research on where we wanted to go and what we wanted to do, and the agency accommodated all of our requests.  I checked the websites of the individual places we stayed and found that the mark-up by the travel agency was minimal; mostly they made their money from commissions paid to them by the hotels.

Burma (Myanmar) is another place where it is often helpful to have a local travel agent.  But for most places, a local agent is not needed.

Many times people use a travel agent out of habit or because they are afraid they don’t know what to do.  It is true that it takes more time and effort to research exactly where you want to go, what you want to do, and where you want to stay, but doing your research assures that you’ll get the trip you want.  Whether you are using a travel agent or even taking a group tour, you’ll get much more out of your trip if you are prepared.  So reading about your destination – guidebooks, history, travel essays, fiction – all will enhance your enjoyment of a place.

Doing that kind of preparation makes it easy to plan and book your trip.  Add internet travel boards to the mix and you’ll get lots of recommendation for places to stay, restaurants, etc.  And travel boards are often good places to learn about internet hotel booking sites.

Technorati Tags: hiring car and driver, Independent Travel, making hotel reservations, travel agent, travel independently

The first question is why travel independently? Do you want to visit exotic international destinations but have no idea how to book flights and hotels? And once you get there how do you get around? How do you know what sites to visit, who to trust and what you should be paying?

Not only that, but what about the “language barrier?”

Believe me when I tell you, if I can do this, so can you. I will share with you what I have learned over the past ten years about independent international travel.

Imagine waking up in your 5 star hotel to a sumptuous view and breakfast to match and no tour group to have to catch up to, no bus to catch, in fact the day is completely your own.

Many years ago I thought that traveling to countries outside of the US was exotic and strange. My first trip to Hawaii, a US destination, was arranged by a travel agent because I had no idea how to do it myself.

Since then, my partner and I have traveled all over SE Asia, Europe and other destinations. All of our trips were planned and arranged by ourselves.

When we went to Angkor Wat in 2001, with the help of an excellent driver we hired independently, we followed Dawn Rooney’s Angkor guidebook and visited about 16 temples. Often we were the only ones there. It was always disappointing when hugh busloads of tour groups showed up at the same time.

On the other hand, we were happy not to be amongst them.

That’s what this blog is all about. How to travel independently, often saving money and finding destinations less traveled. We look forward to helping you become an independent traveler, too.

Technorati Tags: Independent Travel, travel guide, travel guides, travel independently, travel info, travel site