Travel Guide and Tips: Singapore

Travelling to an unfamiliar place is not easy and it may sometimes be out of your comfort zone. Whether you will go for a domestic travel or international travel, expect some flight delays, baggage loss, flight cancellations, show/attraction cancellations, theme parks or attractions long queue, expensive air fares, admission tickets and hotel accommodations. If you are prepared to go for an adventure despite all those possible negativities, then start your planning.

To avoid all these, plan, research, prepare and start saving for your dream destination. Some piece of advice:

Where To Go
First, you need to decide where you want to spend your holiday. Are you looking to travel locally or out of the country. Check the number of days that you will be away, including the travelling time if it will fit into your schedule. Create a checklist on the places or tourist spots you want to visit. Do research on each spot, check the opening times and check the different rates for a child, adult and seniors. Read reviews on hotel accommodations and confirm whether they have your preferred amenities like free wi-fi, free breakfast or free airport transfers. Check out off-peak seasons to get cheaper deals on flights, hotels, attractions and restaurants.

Who's Going With You
Are you planning to travel alone or in groups? Identify the group of people that you will be travelling with, like are you flying with your family, travelling with your friends or an escapade with your honey? Once you get the size, then you will be able to help decide and plan out your bookings on flight schedules, hotel accommodations, attractions and finalize your itineraries.

Check out some of these itineraries I have prepared depending on the type of group you will be travelling with.

Singapore Itinerary: Barkadahan Trip
Singapore Itinerary: Happy Big Family
Singapore Itinerary: Make Your Parents and Granny Proud

How Much You Need To Spend
One of the most important aspect of your travel is budget. In my view, you cannot just go and explore the world without preparing financially. Saving for your travel expenses may sometimes take a year or months. Some just only a few weeks, but still money is required to pursue your dream travel. Travelling is expensive, and you need to check how much you need to put aside for your airfares, accommodations, tourist spots tickets, food, pocket money and for your shopping. :) Know your budget. Assess which attractions like Universal Studios, Singapore Zoo, Night Safari, Sentosa or other tourist attractions you or your group would love to go. Are looking to have a side trip to Malaysia, Thailand or other neighboring countries? Or do you have a budget to buy souvenirs for your friends and family back home or plan to buy gadgets at the Funan Digital Mall? Or you may opt to have a less expensive tour, just enjoying the sceneries.

Book In Advance
To get cheaper flights you must book in advance. We have a good selection of budget airlines nowadays to choose from, so always watch for it. I don't think the airline company will still matter if you are on tight budget. Check online to book your accommodations, sometimes they are cheaper rather than going through a travel agency. Sometimes the travel cost is cheaper in travel packages that includes the airfare, accommodation and admission tickets offered by the travel agencies. But please be careful and make sure a reliable one. For the attractions, they offer discounted tickets if you will purchase online using a local credit card. In this case, you may want to ask your friend or family residing in that country to pay on your behalf and pay it later. If you are in a group of four or more and not looking for a high-end hotel, then you can book in a backpacker type of accommodation like a dormitory type. But don't be surprised if the room may not be exclusive to your group. Want a room of your own and less expensive? Research on budget hotels, but expect to have a tiny room and fewer amenities like no free wi-fi or no wi-fi at all. Do you wish of staying in a nice hotel like Marina Bay Sands? Well, the price is nice as well, but they offer promotions that allow you to book in cheaper rates.

Protection and Safety
A girl scout motto,  "always be prepared". I would suggest getting travel insurance to protect you and your family in case of emergency. There is travel insurance coverage that pays for your lost luggage, flight delays for at least 4 hours, medical bills if you get sick during or after your vacation. You can choose to pay annually or per travel. Do research on the Do's and Don'ts of the country or the place you are going to travel to. Provide a copy of your itinerary to your family or close friend to let them know your whereabouts before you leave. Scan your passport and ID and save a digital copy on your smartphone in case if your travel document is lost. The soft copy may help you speed up the processing of your lost item. Always be cautious and be vigilant. A safe and peaceful country does not mean any crimes.

Other Tips
Bring few pieces of medicines for a possible cough, colds, fever and food poisoning. Find out the public transportation of the country and check out if using a bus/train card is cheaper than paying in cash. Getting a new bus/train card is expensive, so you may want to ask your friends or family residing in your travel destination to borrow an extra card and have it loaded in train stations, bus interchange, ATM machines or nearest 7 Eleven stores. Please be careful in the type of food you are bringing to the country, research what is not allowed or prohibited. Do wear comfy footwear, expect to have a lot of walking. Ask or research where you can buy cheaper souvenirs. Travel lite, but well if it cannot be avoided, use packing cubes, especially if you will be staying in a hotel from one place to another, it helps tidy up. So whenever you want something you just pull the cube out of your luggage. Check out my packing cubes that I will be posting soon.

Stay positive and always pray for your safety. Enjoy your stay!