Travel Skills Tuesday #1

Welcome to Travel Skills Tuesday! in these issues of my Travel Newsletter I’ll drop travel tips and tricks with a shared topic! The theme for this “Travel Skills Tuesday” newsletter is…

Finding (And Vetting) Travel Activities

There are many awesome sources for travel activities and events BUT how do we know if it’s a good event or a disaster? if additional planning for parking, cash-only or lack of event amenities is needed? and how to we get the deals on tickets? I’ll share all of that travel tea here!

• ✨My Favorite Places to Find Travel Activities✨ 

  • What is a City Tourism Pass?

  • How do I stay in the loop?

• 💵 How to Vet the Activity

• 🗺️ Reviewing the site layout and finding essentials

• ✨ What to bring to have a good time!

Where to Find Travel Activities

Here are some of my favorite ways to find travel activities and events!

• Visit your destinations tourism website for the top activities in the area

• Search your destination’s # on social media and look for recent posts

• Watch & Read recent travel blogs from your destination for ideas

See if your destination has a City Tourism Pass! this is where you can buy tickets to many of the main attractions at once for a lower combined price! I used City Pass for this in Seattle and it was a great deal!

Once you find the activities and events you like, then you’ll need to stay in the loop for event updates or any notices for attendees. Pro Tip ✨ Sign up for the activity or event’s email newsletter! this will deliver all the details you need right into your inbox, you’ll also be the first to know about any ticket discounts!

How to “Vet” the Activity

There are so many activities and events to pick from in a new city!! It’ll take time to review your options and see which ones are legit. Here are my go-to steps to reviewing an activity to see if it’s a good fit for my trip!

• Read reviews! and look for RED FLAGS - take shallow reviews with a grain of salt but look out for red flags like no parking, running out of food/water, lack of clean bathrooms, no shade or lack of crowd control & security. A poorly planned event or activity can ruin your vacation.

• Check the process for entering the event 

  • Some tourist activities have 2 lines, one to get ticket and one to enter. Pre purchasing tickets can save you hours in the sun.

  • I refrain from showing up too early for an event, so I don’t have to wait in line long to enter. We don’t want to be tired before we get into the activity or event.

• Question Is VIP worth it? I have often found that it isn’t. I love checking the reviews to see if VIP is worth the price.

• Read the FAQ, frequently asked questions, these are a goldmine of information to plan your visit and things you may not have thought of. These will also tell you what you can and can’t bring OR special notes like it’s cash-only or something else weird.

• Be wary of no reviews or information about the activity or event, this could mean the reviews were removed or the event was a disaster.

The Final Question: To Go or Not to Go? be a peace and prepared if you decide to go. I like to do the research above just so I am not surprised if something goes wrong. I often return to poorly planned events BUT better prepared the next time, so I can still have a good time. If we are prepared, anything is possible.

Reviewing the Layout and Finding Essentials

I love to find a map of the activity or event, even from the prior year. So I feel comfortable in the space, how much I want to move around and know where the following items are:

• Pick a comfortable and shaded seating area for a “homebase”

• Find the restrooms and water stations

• Know where the entrances/exits and parking are

What to Bring to Have a Good Time

Here are my MUST-HAVES for travel activity and events:

• General - mini first aid kit, mini-hygiene items, wipes for cleaning hands and bathroom use, hand sanitizer, power bank

• Indoor Activities - comfortable walking shoes (because there will probably be stairs and uncomfortable cement to stand on)

• Outdoor Activities - Folding chair, sunscreen, hat, reusable water bottle

• I can’t remind you enough to check the FAQ (frequently asked questions) to see what you can and can’t bring, plan accordingly

I love traveling for Food Festivals!! Earlier this year I went to the Tampa Bay Food & Wine Festival! in Florida - Here’s my blog post on everything I ate and what planning I did to make sure I enjoyed the event! Read this Post Here

Want More Travel Skills & Tips?

Grab a Copy of My How-To & Travel Skills Handbook! Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop & Local Bookstores via Ingram. Thank you for Supporting my Blog & Newsletter by Grabbing a Copy!

Thanks for Reading! I’m Wishing you a full and peaceful season! Feel free to Reply to This Email to contact me or request any blog topics!

Keep Traveling & Pouring into Yourself - XOXO - Lydia

Additional Travel & Life Resources

Here is my main blog page, LydsLifeSkills.com, full of all of my blog posts! Use the tabs in the headers to find the blog post subjects that you love like travel, career and finance.

I love being organized when I travel so I’ve decided to share my FREE Travel Planning Template via GoogeSheets! This template has an itinerary that automagically creates a spend review for your trip! it also includes travel packing and to-do lists. Upon opening, select “make a copy” to save it to your google account. Each newsletter will have link to get your copy, so lookout for updates!

You can also follow me on Google Reviews and Trip Advisor to see my reviews of the attractions, hotels and restaurants along my travels and at home in Tampa, Florida.

By Popular Demand! Here’s my Week Planner Worksheet Download, I built this to give me peace and keep me focused on my goals each week. May you have a wonderful week with it, filled with many achievements✨