Travel on a time budget: Five top places for ‘mini’ travel trips
You’ve got a steady job, an acceptable income, and hopefully a plan to take a sabbatical for a longer-term trip in the future! But there’s a chunk of time between now and that sabbatical, and you have at least twenty days of annual leave to use… Use it or lose it!
You could be painfully sensible and stay at home, maximising your savings and maybe even allocating that time to other productive things like DIY or a side hustle… Or, you could find something to feed your travel bug with something weird, wonderful, and, abroad!
To be honest, I think a healthy mix of both is the most sustainable approach. But, for the duration of this blog, I will be rambling on and on about the best ways to satiate your travel bug on a time budget! When I say time budget, I mean two weeks or less! Spoiler alert – you won’t see any mention of package holidays or ‘lastminutedeals.com’!
As I’ve mentioned before, for me to get a ‘proper’ travel experience, I need to feel free of obligation, live reactively, and feel entirely out of place in my surroundings. This usually involves buses, awkward journeys, street food, and getting lost a lot… At this point, I can hear you all thinking, ‘Oi Baldie, that’s really stupid. If you only have a short time, you need to be efficient to fit it all in! Go for a pre-organised tour group!’ – And you’d be right, if it weren’t for two things:
- A pre-arranged tour doesn’t give me the ‘proper’ travel feeling I want. My greedy travel bug is always left hungry and unsatisfied.
- Pre-arranged tours are typically quite expensive! Some of us may be doing these mini-travel trips while scurrying away money for ‘the big trip’ one day!
In some ways, tours are great. You will have a packed itinerary and be surrounded by like-minded folk (maybe too many like-minded folk…?) But like everything, it’s subjective, and you never know, you could stumble across your perfect deal for an undeniable price. In that scenario, I say go for it! It’s just, for the most part, it’s not particularly likely that you’ll find that Goldilocks tour.
That’s the preamble over and done with, now you know my angle… So, where should you go?
(NOTE: I am UK-based, so I will start close and work outward. Be aware that the further afield you go, the more you will need to keep an eye on plane tickets to keep the costs down! It’s also worth noting that I am only including the places I have done ‘mini-travel’ trips to!)
1. Slovenia – It’s Small But Very Potent!
At about two hours flight time from the UK, it’s the closest to home on this list, but don’t let that create any preconceptions. Slovenia is a feast for the travel bug, and helpfully, it’s also super small! Smushed between Italy, Austria, Hungary, and Croatia, it can only muster forty-seven kilometres of coastline – one of the world’s shortest! Which is great news for a ‘mini-trip’, because you can see the good bits very quickly! For example, Piran, with its Italian-esque architecture set on the crystal clear Adriatic, offers some of the most delightful seafood I’ve had in Europe.
I’ve written this section a bit backward; I should have started at the capital, where you would fly into! Piran is just a few hours on the bus from the big city though. Anyway, Ljubljana, the capital, is an absolute gem, and that’s coming from me, who is not a city person. It manages to foster a weird kind of ‘trendy-come-hippy’ feel, with craft beers, strange art, milk vending machines, and street food, all crammed along cobbled streets lined with amazing architecture and even a castle. It’s pretty unique and actually pretty compact, which is also great for a tight time budget. The bus station is super easy to use and runs regular buses all over the country, including up to the North, which is where stuff gets even better…
You may have heard of ‘Triglav’, a national park in the north of Slovenia where the views are truly epic, the hiking is perfect, and the feeling of adventure is easily achieved. You can find crystal clear, almost unnaturally blue streams to take a dunk in! Wave goodbye to your testes though, extreme cold water warning!
Aside from the immense beauty of Triglav, there are also the lakes, ‘Lake Bled’ being the most well-known. It is a truly amazing place, particularly the castle, but be ready for swarms of tourists… While I was there, I was told that the other lakes in the area are equally beautiful but don’t have the same quantity of tourists. So, I would suggest taking one of the rickety local buses to one of those lakes, rather than staying around Bled for too long. Just a tip for you!
Overall, Slovenia has beauty, variety, and pretty good spoken English, which makes it easy to get around. It is small but very potent, a perfect place to do under a tight time budget!
2. Croatia – Don’t Hitchhike And Watch Out For Dragons!
Croatia, unsurprisingly, has similarities to Slovenia, but it generally feels a bit more lawless, which personally, I quite like. It gives a certain additional excitement to a trip and makes it feel even more different from being at home in the UK! The calling card for Croatia is its coast, so for a time budget travel trip, I suggest you focus on this – It’s a little too big to do the entire place. You will find castles, islands, seafood, great beer, historic stuff, and even Kings Landing! (Game of Thrones reference… for those reading who are less nerdy)
Unless you particularly want to spend some time in the capital, Zagreb, before heading to the coast, I suggest you fly into Rijeka and begin there. You could also get to ‘Pula’, another coastal town with a rather impressive Colosseum, but it is kind of out the way… It’s your call! Anyway, from Rijeka, you have access to the coastal road, making buses, taxis, or hitchhiking are all within your grasp! Although, the only time I have ever experienced someone actually trying to run us off the road was in Croatia… So, perhaps hitchhiking should be a last option!
Along the coast, you can stop at any number of spots for forest walks, coastal paths, or even a resort stay, if that’s your thing. But, I would suggest saving a few days for Split in your itinerary, perhaps even more if you want to do some of the islands. Split is a fascinating old place, awash with quirky restaurants and bars, built into amazing historic architecture. It is a little touristy, and annoyingly, the prices of things can mirror this. But, there are still plenty of funky off-the-beaten-track places to eat and stay that feel right and don’t break the bank! Plus, as I mentioned, Split is also the hub for many of Croatia’s most amazing islands. As a rule of thumb, the further you are willing to venture, the more paradisical the islands become. You know the ones – pristine beaches with blue waters and a feeling that if you somehow managed to hurt yourself there, it’d be a looooong way to the nearest hospital… I love that feeling.
Continuing down the coast, you will need to cross through Bosnia, which offers additional stamps to your passport, which is always good – I love a full passport! But, once you pop out of the other side of Bosnia, you will need to keep your eyes peeled for mad kings, seven foot tall knights, and weyrs of dragons… If you don’t know, I’m talking about Dubrovnik, a walled city in the south of the country, used in the TV series ‘Game of Throne’. Quite simply, it’s one of the most spectacular places you will ever visit, there is no wonder that it’s used on TV. But, you will be among droves of tourists and the prices are ludicrous… So don’t stay too long! (Unless you can afford to, of course!)
So in summary, outside of the ‘big’ towns, Croatia still feels like a ‘real’ adventure, a bit lawless and a bit mental and the English is patchy. But rather exceptional respite from the ‘outback’ can be found in places like Split and Dubrovnik. For a time-budget conscious trip, stick to the coast – you will love it.
3. Albania – An Adventure On Hard Mode
‘Albania’ might drum up imagery of crime, mafia, war and communism, but I am here to tell you not to worry about that, because it all just makes for an excellent adventure… Just joking. But, I didn’t encounter any of this stuff while there! Similar to Croatia, I focused my trip along the coast but also explored a few inland locations. Actually, I could broadly describe Albania as feeling a little bit like Croatia… But, if Croatia is travelling on ‘normal’ mode, then Albania is a bit more like travelling on ‘hard’ mode. Not because it’s super difficult, but because it’s generally more extreme. Fewer roads, more dramatic landscapes, bigger gaps in between towns/cities and far less tourism, which makes the spoken English very patchy. But, with all that said, it’s a bloody brilliant adventure, probably the one of most authentic travel experiences you will get in Europe.
As I explained above, I mainly stuck to the coast again, because of the sparse road network. You do need to be a bit selective with where you visit. I am still planning on going back to explore the north of the country, because I never got there. It looks absolutely incredible and they have a mountain range called ’The Accursed mountains’… which alone is reason enough to visit!
Anyway, the capital of Albania is Tirana, and in truth, it does feel a little communist with its rather imposing crimson red flags, flying everywhere. It’s a brilliant flag, but it does conjure certain imagery when coupled with large grey concrete structures. The city is steeped in grim history and is wonderfully cheap, but aside from a few museums, it doesn’t have a lot to offer, so don’t stay longer than a few days. Although it does provide that intoxicating feeling of being a long way from home, it’s easy to forget you are just a few hours form the UK!
Buses and taxis are cheap, but sporadic and unreliable. Which is fine if you don’t have a time budget! So I would suggest you rent a car for some of or all of the trip… I know that is a little bit of a cheat, but we are on a time budget here and waiting for buses that may never come is not going to work! But if you do prefer (I don’t blame you!), then buses do run between Tirana and Durres or Vlore, which are the obvious first stops along the coast. But remember, tourism in Albania is not well established, so buses may drive you straight past some of the sights you want to see, to the bigger towns where the hotels and hostels are.
The coastal road has some brilliant stops, secluded beaches, eery bunkers and some stupendous views. But, don’t forget to head inland for prime spots like Gjirokaster, Berat and the ‘Blue eye’ near Sarandë… Although, a word of warning, if you sense the roads are getting a little too un-road-like for comfort, then turn around and find another way! I learned the hard way by overheating a rental car’s engine an hour up a mountain road that didn’t improve.
There is real adventure to be found in Albania, it’s extremely cheap too! You can buy a 1.5l bottle of room temperature lager for about a quid! And well, that is what really matters, isn’t it?
4. Ghana – The Long Bus Ride To Surfing School
OK, now I am suggesting places a little further afield, which I know is generally a crap idea for trips on a time-budget… I think it took us about fifteen hours to get to Accra, the capital. Which really makes it necessary to fly over night to avoid lost time. If you are like me, you will sleep a bit on the flight, but end up with a horrible neck ache for a few days. Then, if you are like Mary-Ann, you won’t sleep a wink and end up getting progressively more furious as the journey goes on. But, it is worth it in my opinion, even if you are tired you can spend the first day orienting yourself. We had the benefit of being able to stay with family, which saved us a bit of planning, but there are plenty of hotels and hostels available, and even Uber! Albeit not like the Uber we know in the UK… Less shiny-hybrid-Prius, more rotten-old-Micras. But hey, they’ll get you where you need to go. Some even have air con!
Accra itself only needs a few days unless you enjoy lounging on beaches backed by fancy pants hotels and bars. If that’s your thing, you might want to stay longer. But if you’re like me, once you’ve seen the sights and sampled the local food and beer, it’s time to move on.
I’ll let you in on a secret… Ghana almost did not make this list! Because, it cannot be covered on a time budget, not even close. I mean, you can do entire safari trips in Mole national park! Then, there is the arid northern regions, stooped in ancient Islamic history, or even the waterfall-rich eastern area near Togo… all of which are near impossible to travel in between because of the completely undeveloped infrastructure… However, as is becoming a common theme in this list, there is a rather splendid coastal road that takes you west towards Côte d’Ivoire. With a week or mores time budget, you can get to some truly epic beaches, especially if you like to surf. It’s all doable by buses and ‘Tro tro’, which is basically a Ghanaian minivan, which are very cheap, and if you want to really feel like you are on an adventure, this is the real deal! You can get on a Tro tro at a place called ‘Cape coast’, make yourself ‘comfortable’ next to a box of chickens and a monk, then drink water and stay calm for five or six hours. After all that you suddenly find yourself on an idyllic beach that sells fresh coconuts, seafood and surf lessons for prices that you won’t find anywhere else. I advise heading to ‘Busua’, and if you have more time, keep going and get to ‘Axim’! I didn’t make it there due to some family plans, but next time I will!
Oh, and did I mention the castles and forts? The entire coastal road is lined with grim yet undeniably incredible reminders of the slave trade in the form of European fortifications. Visiting these sites, with their dark history, offers a completely unique experience. It’s horrible and harrowing, but also indescribably intriguing. The castles alone are a compelling reason to visit Ghana, with the world-class beaches and extraordinarily cheap seafood as added bonuses!
English is widely spoken, particularly in Accra and Cape Coast, making it easy to get around. However, covering all of Ghana on a time budget is challenging. Focus on the coastal road and castles for a truly fantastic experience. The rest of the country remains firmly on my bucket list.
5. Panama – A Journey of Sloths And Soursops
I know, I know. This is even farther away from the UK than Ghana is, and if you are coming from the UK, you have to go through American airports. Which can be a fate worse than death… How do the US make airports so bad? I’d love to know… It’s off topic I know, but I once bought a burger and chips from fancy-ish looking bar & grill kind of place in a US airport. It cost me nearly fifty dollars! Which alone, may not have scarred me too badly, but it was also SO AWFUL. Somehow, they took what looked like fresh, quality ingredients and turned them into something that I can only describe as mushy, nothingness… I even wondered if I had caught a cold and had just lost the ability to detect the existence of food in my mouth, but even the guy I was with was gobsmacked. Well… the opposite… his gob was very un-smacked! Sorry, that memory still aggravates me.
Panama on the other hand, fills me with wanderlust and fed my travel bug with ALL the flavours. Handily, the country is pretty small and boasts the ‘Pan-America highway’, so you can do the majority of it even on a tight time scale! We covered most of it with just ten days of annual leave, and you could do it with even less if you planned it over the plethora of Easter bank holidays! (Although, you’d pay for it in flights!) Again, you should opt for night flights and accept your fatigue on the first day. Which is OK, because Panama city doesn’t demand you at your best. Spend two days maximum there, see the canal and try some of the beers, then scarper! Just make sure that your scarpering has some direction and planning. There is a lot you can fit in, but some of it will need pre-arrangement, like visiting the San Blas Islands. Perhaps some of the most picturesque, deserted tropical islands on the planet, just half a days travel from the capital. It’s a no-brainer, surely? But, you do need to have it pre-arranged with a tour company because of the permits you need to get access – It’s quite well protected, and for good reason! There are many, many more tropical islands on Earth that I still need to bless with my presence, but I don’t think it’s too bold (or bald) to say that if you visit the San Blas islands, you wouldn’t be missing out if you never visited an others; they are the absolute dog’s danglies!
Coffee and a walk in the jungle, anyone? Well, if you head into the mountainous region around ‘Boquete’, then you can have handfuls of both. Oh, they do great chocolate too! I recall slurping a delightful locally produced hot chocolate while eying up an enormous soursop fruit that had taken centre stage on a market fruit stall, I ended up going for some mangosteens though. The soursop was impressive, but far too big for one bald man to consume… Although I do think back and wonder ‘what if?’. But, I shouldn’t dwell on missed sopportunities… Sorry.
Also, don’t forget to make the trek to the Bocas Del toro region – I saw some Sloths there. That’s all you need to know… Actual Sloths! Although the region also serves outstanding Caribbean food, Bastimentos island is out of this world, and the whole place is so laid back it almost feels horizontal! The only down side to the Bocas Del Toro region, is the amount of tourists, particularly from the US! Just take a little more time to look for the quieter spots, and you will not be disappointed.
Some things you do need to know about this time-budget-conscious trip to Panama: Be ready for quite a lot of long bus trips! Many of the buses will be extremely full, pretty ropey, or more often than not, both! The infrastructure is decent, but the roads are long and slow in places… Mountains and rainforests tend to get in the way of things, which means a lot of wiggling, winding and doubling back on yourself to get to all the spots you want. It’s not super cheap there either, so keep that in mind, although it may not be such an issue for short trips! Lastly, the English proficiency is patchy too, so a few months of Duo-lingo prior to going would be time well spent! But, despite all that, I managed to fill a couple weeks with ‘proper’ travel, without feeling like I had missed much or made any huge compromises, which is a great way to leave a place!
Bonus – Belize
This is only a mention to Belize; It will get its own Blog since it was where Mary-Ann and I went on our two week long ‘Honeymoon’. For now, I will just say that it is compact, easy to get around, and has some of the best snorkelling I have experienced… Although you do need to travel through the American airports again… You can’t win ‘em all!
Watch out for the Belize Blog!
So there it is…
That is my list of time-budget friendly ‘proper’ travel destinations from the perspective of someone from the UK. But I guess, if you are willing to pay a little more for flights, fly over night and/or at off peak times, and handle a few tired days, suddenly a lot more places become ‘time budget’ friendly! As I said at the start, if you have the travel bug and a taste for the slightly wilder adventures, then these trips could do the trick nicely! You could do a few of them per year using just your annual leave, instead of being stuck to resorts in Spain or camping in Devon (which are lovely in their own right, by the way!) Or alternatively, if you are like us and planning and saving for a sabbatical, then they’re a perfect way to keep your ‘eye in’ and your travel bug properly fed!
Anyway, I hope this was of some interest!
Stay bald folks.
Toodles,
Jack
