Advantages and disadvantages of traveling on your own

There are quite a few people who make comments on the blog or write to us showing their doubts and fears when it comes to consider taking a trip on your own, compared to the alternative of hire it in a travel agency.

Many of them are very young people who have not yet had the opportunity to face a long trip on your own.

We have always been supporters of take trips on our own, but we do not at all disdain the advantages that tourist agencies also offer us to travel to certain destinations or in certain circumstances.

With the goal of helping you plan a trip on your own, and based on the experiences of our trips, below we are going to give you a series of tips and recommendations, as well as considerations to take into account when deciding to organize our own trip.

Advantages of organizing a trip on your own

Must plan your trip in advance on your ownAlthough it takes time, it is very rewarding for many people, including ourselves. Gathering information is one way to start living the journey.

It depends on you how to do the route and the selection of cities, towns, historical places and places to visit, and you yourself select the visits on each site with the only limit that you set for yourself.

By doing it on your own, you will be able to prioritize your tastes and preferences.

If you want to go in and visit places that are not very touristyWithout a doubt the best option is to travel on your own

You can hire the activities you want and not just those “packaged” by an agency.

Traveling on your own you can select the hotels according to your preferences and in a way that adapts to your budgets.

On various online platforms, such as the one we useBased on your travel budget, you have enough information to choose the hotel you want, from its characteristics to, very importantly, the opinions of travelers.

You can plan the trip with the elasticity in time of visits and trips whatever you want, and you can also improvise according to the circumstances you encounter during the trip.

You can hire the additional services that you think are most convenient, such as the travel assistance insurance that best suits your needs.

You can also sign up for the numerous excursions and activities that are offered in the destinations where you are going to travel, with the freedom to adapt them to your tastes and budget.

And you have at your disposal the possibility of rent a car to do the route you have planned for the days you need. The car model to rent depends on you, according to your needs and your budget.

Disadvantages of organizing a trip on your own

If you don't have enough experience, you're a young traveler, and you're not used to it, it can pay for hazing.

So for the first trips on your own, the advice is choose “easy” destinations to organize, like the vast majority of European countries or the United States.

Planning a long trip can take a lot of time., which we must have; although you can also leave room for “adventure” and improvisation.

You have to organize the route, your own local trips, and you don't always have enough time or the possibility to get the necessary information to do so.

If this happens, there is no need to worry, not everything we can foresee, and an overly planned trip may not be as enjoyable with the danger of becoming an “obligation.”

In certain destinations or tourist areas you can find difficulties organizing your trip, and you may also have to spend too much time doing “local arrangements” necessary to continue the trip.

You can meet real language problems in certain countries, or great differences in local habits and customs.

It can even be difficult to understand each other in a restaurant…English is not spoken everywhere.

If you would like to take guided tours or hire local guides, you have to hire them on your own, and if you do not do it sufficiently in advance before traveling, it may already be impossible at the time of the visit.

Furthermore, it may be common that you do not find guide in spanish, although you will almost always have the option of a guide in English

We now invite other experienced travelers to contribute further suggestions, as well as any considerations.

And for those of you who don't have much experience, any questions.