The rewards of travelling outside your comfort zone

Most people go on at least one holiday every year to a variety of different countries. People go on holiday for a variety of reasons; to get away from work for a bit, to spend time with family, have a party, do an activity or just even get a bit of sun.

Whatever the reason, deciding where to take a holiday is influenced by a large number of factors including the best value for money, the time of year, availability, deals, economic state of the country or the country’s reputation.

You may think you decide where you want to go on holiday but in actual fact travel companies have a major influence on the type of holiday you take. The majority of people look for package deals to certain countries, which is fine if that is the type of holiday they want to go on, but that’s not really exploring the place or immersing yourself in the culture. For example a large number of people may take an all inclusive trip to Mexico which is very nice- I have done it before. However, after visiting a number of different destinations in Mexico last year I realised my all inclusive resort holiday could have been anywhere in the world as nothing about the holiday was Mexican. The sad thing is, for many people, this will be the only way they see Mexico so they miss out on so many amazing things. Another example of this is when people go on holiday to Florida, there are other things to do in Orlando except Disney. I feel sorry for all the people who go on holiday to Orlando and stay in a Disney resort- they travel all that way and don’t even get to see anything in America let alone Orlando. Florida has some of the most amazing beaches in the world but most people never see them. The best way to visit Orlando in my opinion is to rent a villa and a car, there are literally thousands of villas for rent in Orlando for a fraction of the cost to stay in a Disney resort. My Orlando holidays growing up were all about the fancy villas, road trips, walmart trips, beach trips, exploring, malls, theme parks and small local restaurants. Some holiday companies have started to do what they call ‘flydrive’ holidays where you have a package deal but with a flight, rental car and villa which I think is a really good idea.

Airbnb is also an awesome way to travel and find places to stay, some of the most amazing places I have ever stayed in have come from airbnb as you can rent an entire house instead of just staying in a hotel room.

People are slowly starting to change the way they pick their holidays thanks to companies such as airbnb or the ‘flydrive’ idea. There’s still a very long way to go before people move away from the package holiday idea and actually move outside their comfort zone and really experience places.

I recently went to Colombia and there is no travel company who will sell you a package deal to Colombia but it was literally the best trip I have ever been on. There’s nothing better than finding a little local restaurant for dinner or discovering an awesome view whilst hiking up a mountain.

The next time you book a holiday remember to think about what you really want to see and why you want to go to that place. If it’s to visit the country and experience the culture, think about different ways to visit places. Do some research, pinterest is a good place to start then airbnb. You may also find holidays become a lot cheaper if you do them this way.

Annys Adventures – Manny’s Chophouse, Haines City

Annys Adventures – Florida Villa

The rewards of traveling outside your comfort zone