Chasing the Fionist Dream

With foreign airlines gradually returning to Israel and some big birthdays coming up, we are in trip-planning mode again. While we plan our next family vacation, we wanted to take you along for the ride and show you exactly how we do it. Here’s looking at you, friends-who-tell-us-they-wish-they-could-travel-but-don’t-know where-to-start. 😉

1. Brainstorm! This is my favorite part and almost as fun as the trip itself. I’m essentially in permanent trip brainstorming mode. What would you like to do on this trip? How much would you like to spend? Do you want to explore nature? In your own country or abroad? A new city? A waterpark? Ski? All of the above? Is there somewhere you’ve always wanted to visit or an experience you’ve always wanted to have? Would you like to revisit somewhere you’ve already been? Join travel groups on social media, watch travel videos on YouTube, and read travel blog posts to learn about the places you are considering.
   
   
2. Consider your particular needs. Does anyone in your group have a disability or medical condition? If so, check that your destination has the facilities to give you the support you need. Do you keep kosher and Shabbat – and is it important for you to have an eruv or a daily minyan? If you do keep kosher (or even if you don’t), are you prepared to do a lot of your own cooking, or would you like to eat out most or all of the time? Are you traveling with children? What is there for kids to do in the place you are thinking of visiting? Do you drive? And if so, would you be interested in renting a car? If not, does the place have an efficient and safe public transportation system? If you are Jewish or Israeli, what is the general sentiment toward Jews and Israel at your potential destination? The last thing we want to do is ask our children to hide their identities or have them experience antisemitism.
   
   
3. Price it out. Use a tool like SkyScanner to find out how much flights would cost. Go into the airlines’ websites and build a mock itinerary, including all of the bags you might want to add. Remember that flight costs fluctuate, so round up your estimations. Use sites like Airbnb and Booking to get an idea of accommodation costs. Enter these costs and estimated costs of food, transportation, activities, and other expenses on our Fionist trip planning tool. Create a new tab for each destination you are considering. Remember to be as realistic as you can and round up at least 10% for each category, since it’s always better to end up going under budget than over. Make sure to check out our 7 ways to save thousands on your next vacation in order to save money on your trip.
   
   
4. Fill up your vacation fund. We suggest a pakam or short term savings plan at your bank. Never ever ever take a loan to finance a trip. Save up for as long as you need so that you have the money upfront – even if it means the trip is more than a year away. If a vacation puts you into debt, it’s not worth it. Reward your efforts with a fully paid-for vacation and peace of mind.
   
   
5. Book the time off work. If you work for someone else, give your boss a heads-up and schedule your vacation days.
   
   
6. Book flights. If your trip involves air travel, booking your flights is the next step! 🛫 Compare different airlines and set up price alerts to notify you when the fares move closer to your range. Always book flights before accommodations, since flight costs change significantly from one day to another. You may end up choosing the exact dates of your trip based on the flight prices for those days. In general, we love low-cost airlines and have had good experiences on Ryanair, Wizz Air, and EasyJet. However, you need to know how to play the game and follow their rules to a T to actually save money. We’re planning on writing a post on this in the future. If your trip is at peak season, you’re likely to get the best deals booking as far in advance as possible. If you plan to travel off-season (typically November to February), you have a good chance of seeing the price drop 4-8 weeks before the flight.
   
   
7. Buy traveler’s insurance. Even if your trip is months away, don’t wait until the last minute to buy insurance. If something happens between now and then that makes you unable to travel, you may be able to recoup some of the costs you already laid out. Most Israeli credit cards offer up to five days of free traveler’s insurance for the credit card holder. This is what we used for our recent Bucharest and Rome trips.
   
   
8. Book accommodations. Read reviews, especially the bad ones, when choosing where to stay. Find out what kind of neighborhood it’s in and what kind of amenities it has. If you plan to rent a car, make sure you have parking nearby. If not, check if it works well with public transportation. If you keep kosher and Shabbat, position yourself near shuls and kosher establishments and avoid electronic locks if you can. If you plan on cooking on your trip, choose a place with an accessible kitchen. Most importantly, do yourself a favor and only book accommodations with a free cancellation policy – because as we all know – sh&t (pandemics, war, etc) happens.
   
   
9. Orient yourself. Create a saved Google Map with your accommodations as well as any activity, site, attraction, eatery, or place you expect that you might be interested in going. This gives you an idea of where the closest supermarket is, which places you might want to group together on the same day, and how you might get from one place to another.
   
   
10. Figure out how you are going to get around. Now that you know where everything is, you can decide how you will get there. Make sure you understand how public transportation works or rent a car and familiarize yourself with driving in that area.
    
    
11. Choose a sim card. Decide if you want to buy a global sim at home, buy one at your destination, or download an esim if your phone supports it. Whatever you do, using your regular sim abroad can be a huge mistake that can cost you hundreds or even thousands.
    
    
12. Get your family/trip buddies excited and involved. What is everyone else interested in? What do they want to do? Let each person choose an activity or experience and find a way to fit it into your itinerary. Start getting excited about this trip and talk about it often. Continue dreaming about and planning your trip. Book advanced tickets for anything that needs to be booked in advance.
    
    
13. Pack your bags and go. Nesiya tova, enjoy your trip, and take lots of pictures! We can’t wait to hear all about it.

Before you go, don’t forget to check out our posts on saving money while vacationing and common mistakes made while traveling.

What do you always do before traveling?

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