We’ve been on the road for 12 months now and this is the one question that is consistent.
My down to earth reply is that you have to do what is right for you. If you don’t like to plan then don’t.
For us, planning is the way to go. Both my husband and I like to be organised, so for that to flow, then we have to plan.
These are the hard facts about planning;
- It takes time, sometimes a lot of it
- Even the best made plans can be ruined…… hello COVID, or like our recent trip through NSW, sudden flooding to areas we were planning on travelling through!
- It sometimes can take the excitement out of seeing something for the first time because you have googled it to death.
Personally, I love a well planned holiday. If it is done right, you get to see all the things you want and still have laid back, chilled, easy going days too.
The downside to planning is that on the road you sometimes hear of fantastic free camps, for example, and if you have booked accomodation, then you miss out.
The flip side of this is that we heard first hand from so many travellers, how they missed out on staying in Exmouth, because all the accomodation was booked out there.
A mix of planning and non planning is ideal, but when do you know how much planning is too much?
I would suggest that you think about the location you are wanting to go and then what experiences you want to have there. Exmouth is a perfect example. This town is an often fully booked out location, especially in the dry season which is June, July and August. The highlight of this area is the Ningaloo Reef and in particular, the Whaleshark dive. If this is on your bucketlist, then book it as far ahead of time as you can manage!
It is often booked out six weeks ahead of time and we saw so many disappointed people around Australia who didn’t get to do this ‘trip of a lifetime’ because they weren’t prepared to book it in.
In our experience we found planning three months ahead of time to be the way to go and even then some places were fully booked. I have heard on the road that it is only a recent thing for everything to be fully booked out when travelling around Australia. I am guessing that COVID has changed the way we travel here in Australia and it isn’t a bad thing, more locals are getting out and about to experience their own country.
Some places like Broome, are booked out a year ahead of time.
Regulars go back every single year to some places, and why not, some places are worth going back to each year, keep this in mind when wanting to visit these locations. If you are not sure if the location you want to go to will be busy, a simple call to their local tourist information centre would be a good start. They can even give you local tips and ideas of what to see and do and let you know the right accomodation to look for depending on your needs.
Another time of year that is essential to plan is if you travel during school holidays. Not an easy thing to avoid when you travel permanently on the road and booking ahead is a MUST during these times. When planning our year of travel, I specifically blocked in the school holiday times because they differed in each state, so be sure to get current information on dates.
Other dates that caught us out were local public holidays or celebration days. Some of these days are Territory Day in the NT and Naidoc Week. Another important thing to remember is that some towns still close down on weekends, Mount Isa surprised us with this realisation. We arrived on a Friday afternoon into town and didn’t have many supplies. I thought I would duck out in the morning (Saturday), but hubby convinced me to pop into the local supermarket. Not all our supplies were in the store, so I just casually asked the shop attendent where the other supermarket was and mentioned going ‘tomorrow’. She told me that they do not open on weekends! We had not idea! Hahahaha.
Remember, everything in the top end of Australia works on Wet and Dry Seasons. It is very different to how we normally think of travel in our four seasons of Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring. Many places are simply not open or operating through the wet season. Most places are closed from October and don’t reopen until April or May the following year, so planning is a must for these locations. Some of these places include Station Stays (you don’t want to miss out on these), the Gibb River Road, much of Kakadu is closed as are areas in Cape York. Many more places are closed, obviously due to flooding, so be sure to check these locations before considering travel to them.
Another tip is to look at local area Facebook or social media groups, for example, Fb ‘Mission Beach Cassowaries’ lists local sightings of the Cassowary, so you have an idea of where you can spot these incredible birds to give you an idea of where to plan your accomodation, or list of areas to visit when planning your trips.
I also like to plan ahead special dinners or meals in restaurants that I want to visit. This is so easy with google reviews (remember to be discerning 😉 ), and again, some places are heavily booked out, so if you are wanted a gastronomic experience it might plan to book ahead to avoid disappointment.
And my last bit of very, very important advise is to be sure to block out days of rest. It is easy to plan too much. Have days free to allow for spontaneity. There is nothing like a walk down a cute town and discovering a book shop to browse through for an hour or two! These days are often the best days where you chat with locals and get to experience things that only locals know about. Believe it or not, not everything is on google!
Get out there and enjoy!
Happy travels, Flashpackerstravel.
FLASHPACKERS TRAVEL 