Posted: July 11, 2017

Updated: Oct 11, 2024

I’ve found the one thing that every traveler always seeks but never has…

TIME!

(I mean, what else did you think I was referring to?)?

Travelers around the world are always equipped : sometimes with the best tools, the best gadgets, (and when lucky), with a load of money. But there is something that we uniformly lack: TIME. Yes, you heard (read) right! Whether you’re traveling for 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months or 2 years, you don’t have enough time, even though the longer periods of travel tend to make you feel otherwise!

With that being said, here are 3 tips to make you maximize your time when traveling overseas.

1. Plan Ahead

I can’t emphasize this enough. In a nutshell: if you don’t know where you want to go or what you want to do, you’ll end up going anywhere and doing anything. (does this quote already exist online? Hope not. If not, I call dibs on it. #quotebyClem). But you get my point. There are so many things that you can do whenever you arrive in a new city, which is why it is important for you to make a list of “Things to do in Sydney, Places to go in Chicago or What do See in Durban” and then …

2. Prioritize

This second tip works even in all areas of life. Now that you’ve listed the 5,10,30,50,100 things you’d like to do while you’re on vacation, it’s time to look at that list again, reshuffle it and prioritize in order of most important to least important. If you’re like me and you oftentimes think that you can see the entirety of New York in only 48 hours, this second point is particularly important for you. That being said, you need to be realistic in terms of the things you can really do with the time that you have. Consider the distance and time it will take you to get to each touristic attraction, including traffic and access queues (if you’re planning to go on the Eiffel Tower for instance), and load your days with activities that can actually be completed within the timeline you have. And yes, it is perfectly Ok to do one big thing per day.

3. Allow Some Free Time for Spontaneity

While it’s important to plan, it is equally important to be flexible. There is no real fun in being super rigid with your time: 12:01 – Have a Gelato at the Trevi Fountain in Rome. 12:15: Walk down the Spanish Steps 12:17: Take a selfie in front of the Column of the Immaculate Conception. I mean… you get my point. Sometimes, you need to allow some space in your schedule in case you change your mind, have a change of plans or meet a group of tourists along the way who are about to do something super cool that you absolutely didn’t think of!

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Love, Clem,