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You’ve reached the conclusion that you want to hire a car for your holiday abroad… you think this is the right decision as you want:

• Freedom
• To explore the sites you want to visit
• To travel to any destination when you want
• To have a comfortable way to travel – you may also be travelling with a number of other people

Ok, well it all sounds good, but you need to make sure you do your research. Some rental companies won’t even let you hire a car if you are under 21, so if you are planning a teenage trip, you may have to think again… If you’re under 25, you stand a high chance of being charged extra fees to allow you to drive, so you need to take this into consideration and decide if it is in fact, worth the money.

The other big thing to think about is extras – for the car. Do you need them? Initially you might say no, but do you want to read/follow a map to every destination you want to go to? Or do you want to follow a sat-nav? If you have one at home, you may take this for granted, so either take it with you, or find out the cost of having one included with your rental. Doing your research before you go will give you a realistic expectation as to the extra costs you need to account for on your trip.

Campsites are nicely widespread across the globe. There are many ways you can camp when it comes to holidays abroad. You can decide to take all your own kit, but we would suggest comparing the cost and time you spend transporting all of this compared to using what is on offer. Most camp sites have tents available, or pitches on their own for the keen campers. What you might not realise is that more and more sites will not just have your standard tent, but will also provide a number of large furnished tents. “Glamping” is becoming more popular amongst non-campers and campers alike, looking for a more stylish and luxurious way to camp. However, if camping really isn’t for you, but you would like to stay at this type of resort, don’t fret as you’ll be likely to find a small number of Chalets available at most sites. However, you need to be conscious that these can book up quite quickly!

It can sound rather strange when you say you’re travelling across Europe with a bus pass, but it’s something many people do, and you can move through France, Germany, Holland and Belgium, seeing some fantastic sights and meeting some fascinating people.

It can sound as though you’re entire journey is on a bus, but there are many places to stay and stop off at, while you can have a good amount of control on the route you want to take before you book. There are many different providers out there who can get you from A to B to C to D and wherever else you want to go, and because your time is spent on one particular bus you save a great deal of money too.

Not everyone will enjoy a severely long bus ride, but it’s hard to notice with the amount of stop-offs. You’re not always stuck with the same group of people either and you can hop on and off different buses tailoring the travel as you go. This is one bus pass you won’t want to lose and it’s the ticket to your entire journey across Europe.

Technology has certainly come a long way and it’s relatively easy to check in to hotels using documents saved on mobiles phones, perhaps in email form, but that’s not always the case at airports.

Some airports may permit E-documents but they will often state that these need to be printed, and they cannot simply be passed over on a mobile phone. Hotels in some European countries will want exactly the same, so while the world is a whole lot more technological, there’s still a need to have things printed out crystal clear, especially in high security airports.

If you’re unsure on whether your E-documents should be printed, then it’s better to print them just in case. Occasionally these documents require details written out on your behalf so read it through thoroughly and you’ll be a lot less likely to run into any issues in the check-in.

One of the worst situations to occur when you’re about to depart for a holiday is losing your passport or your flight tickets, but this can happen if you’re not careful enough.

You should treat your passport as if it’s worth a million pounds whilst you’re travelling and the same goes for your flight tickets, because without them you’re going nowhere. Common sense is always the key to keeping these important documents safe, and you they should be kept in a safe compartment of your bag, which in turn should be kept an eye on at all times.

There are many handheld folders and carriers for passports and important documents, and it’s better f you never let them out of your sight. When you’re at the airport you rarely have time to put the documents away and if you keep them firmly in your grasp at all times you won’t run into any problems.

When you’re off on a holiday adventure, or perhaps abroad for a businesses weekend it’s important to make sure you have all the important travel documents at hand, and many people now carry photocopies for insurance, prescriptions, travellers’ cheques and passport photos.

Photocopying only takes a little while and it is better to be safe than sorry. There are many different types of documents you may need when you’re away and keeping them at and is always more useful than relying on emails or memory cards.

If your airlines require medial certificates and prescriptions you can run into many different problems without the paperwork, and this is the last thing you need, especially right before the flight is due to depart. Keeping documents at hand can get you out of a sticky situation fast, and it only takes a photocopy.

Travel insurance is very important for anybody looking to travel to a foreign country. Leaving aside all of the things which add risk to being in a foreign country, by being there you also miss out on all of the things which we get for free here in the UK. Travel insurance is there so that you can have health care when necessary, to help you to recover or replace lost property, and in some instances help with legal aid, and with replacing lost passports.

The requirements from your travel insurance can vary greatly, depending upon your destination. Travelling to a first world nation should require less coverage, as the risk is less, but when travelling to a less developed nation, the risk can increase significantly. In these instances, it may be ideal for you to get an insurance package which covers things like ransoms. Your requirements may also change based upon the nature of your travel. For instance, if you are transporting property, then you may require more property coverage than what standard travel insurance packages offer, and if you are travelling for business purposes, then your requirements may differ from what a holiday maker requires.

Preparing for a holiday can be a difficult task, particularly when trying to travel with your entire family. Trying to organise it all so that your holiday times are in sync can be difficult, but so is doing the rest of your prep work for the holiday. Organising yourself and your family, so that you all have activities and things to do while there can be a logistical nightmare. There are however, some tools which you can use which will help you to navigate through your options. Using some holiday services can help to reduce the work involved in organising a holiday, and they will be able to clearly illustrate your options, from great holiday destinations, to various activities which you can do there. All you need to do is develop a criteria of thigns you would like to be able to do on your holiday, and then ask them to find a suitable location which meets all of your demands.