Weather
The first thing that you should find out is on the weather of the destination during your planned travel period. This is something that many may overlook, but is very important. Although we cannot exactly predict the weather, but based on the historical weather data, we can make some good assessment on the seasonal weather patterns. These data are easily found on the Internet, and even the Wikipedia pages are sufficient to provide you with the basic historical weather data. You should avoid seasons prone to heat wave, heavy monsoon rain, typhoon and snow storm. For example, Taiwan and Philippines are located along the typhoon belt in the Pacific Ocean and they are likely to be affected by typhoon from the months of July to October. These are extreme seasonal weather that will disrupt your travel plans, such as flight cancellation or delays, closure of roads and attractions, and may even put your life at risk.
Public Holiday and Events
The second thing is to find out if there's any major public holiday or event at the destination during your planned travel period. If your objective is to participate the holiday festive celebrations or the events, then that is fine. Otherwise, these festive periods or events may affect your travel plans and you may want to avoid them. Firstly during these popular festive periods or event, many local and international tourists will flock to the destination. This is going to drive up the costs of hotel accommodation and room availability will be limited. Nearby restaurants and attractions will be packed with people, and transportation tickets like bus or train tickets will also run out fast. Secondly, some of the major events will also lead to road/area closures and making some of the places you intend to go impassable. Certainly you do not want the above mentioned to affect your travel plan if you have no intention to participate in these events.
Passport Validity and Visa Requirement
Other administrative things to take note include your passport validity on arrival and visa requirement. Many countries require visitor's passport validity of no less than 6 months of arrival. Another headache is to verify whether you need a tourist visa to enter the country and the maximum stay period allowed in the country. I have friends and colleagues who previously have to abandon their trip and return back home because they did not check on the visa requirements to the country. This is something you have to avoid. Any hotel, transportation and attractions fees that were paid upfront are gone, and your trip is ruined.
Follow the links below to the other travel tips:
Part 1: Weather/Public Holiday/Passport/Visa
Part 2: Flight
Part 3: Hotel
Part 4: Attractions and Activites
Part 5: Maps and Travel Insurance
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