Our beloved travel season is once again upon us. If not back home, the bulk of us will be taking our much-deserved vacation after a long year of hard work. Now, many of us would have pre-planned this vacation: our flights would have been booked and paid for months in advance, accommodation chosen and bills settled, we may even have put some fun budget money away so we do not have to tap into the December bonus. The people I am addressing today are those who did not do this. Festive joy is quite contagious; it is this very joy that leads us into making terrible financial decisions, one of which is impromptu travel. 

Let’s do a sidebar quickly

There are natural exceptions to this. The first one being travel vouchers sold by companies like Gondwana Lodges, O&L Leisure, and Namibia Wildlife Resorts (NWR) on Black Friday, and the second is festive season steals, where hotels and lodges sell nightly stays for little to nothing. The experiences are often worth more than the money.

Back to festive joy

Impromptu travel, no matter how good an idea it seems, always do some financial damage. Here are some reasons why I strongly advise against festive season travel and why to rather take the trip in January:

Peak season price hikes

It’s the logical economics rule: if demand is high, it’s only natural that the limited supply is priced much higher. Everything between flights, transport, activities and hotels cost at least 15% more than it usually does during the low travel season. I like to reference a trip I took to Thailand some years back when I spent about N$12 000 on flights and accommodation, compared to N$18 000 during peak season. A win for me!

Peak season crowds

I don’t know about you, but one of the things that put me off during travel is overcrowded places; I avoid that at all costs. Imagine landing at an airport just after three big planes landed: the queues, the waiting for luggage, scrambling for airport transfers. It’s a nightmare! It doesn’t end there either – the hotels are packed to the brim, activities you may have wanted to experience are booked out, and pools offer little to no privacy; a disaster if you ask me.

Fewer options for hotel, activities and flight bookings

To avoid repetitiveness, I’ll keep this one short. There is little to no room for choice for anything during peak season because supply does not meet demand. This gives the traveller very few options where bookings are concerned – a problem you will not have traveling off-peak.

* Should you need any travel consultation, do not hesitate to reach out to me on ndapandahaininga@gmail.com

Instagram: @__ndapanda

Twitter: @__ndapanda