A book lover’s guide to day trips

Hey all! 

I’m finally on a 10-day break! :D 
Expect lots of posts this week, I have tons to catch up with! ^_^

On breaks, one common thing to do (aside from reading) is taking day trips. Here’s a little post, my guide to day trips! Of course, you can change these suggestions as you need or want to :) 

I was thinking of making this a mini-series throughout the summer, with topics such as music festivals, long travels, etc... what do you think? 

Anyway, let’s start! 

1. Preparing

• Try figuring out where you’re going at least a week before leaving. Check out if there’s any interesting events going on in the town/city you’re planning on visiting. 
• If you can, avoid going on a Saturday if you want to avoid long lines and crowds. 
• Check out any websites that give traveling deals. Maybe you can find cheap train tickets, or early passes for a museum or theme park so you can skip lines! (For example, if you’re in the Netherlands, you can try out spoordeelwinkel! ) 

2. The day before

• Make sure you have everything printed out - tickets, maps, anything you’ll need, really
• Put water bottles in the fridge! 

3. Morning of / Packing

• since you’ll be gone all day and back by night, you don’t need to bring a lot with you. However, I would recommend this:
• Backpack-bag. Just a shoulder strap will have your shoulder hurting by the end of the day. 
• Book and/or kindle. On day trips I usually stick with taking my Kindle. It’s thin and light and I can switch from one book to another easily. 
• Phone. Make sure you have a gps system on it just in case, and maybe even a city guide! 
• Sunscreen and umbrella. You never know! 
• Hand cream. Trust me, it’s the nicest thing after and during a busy day! 
• Sunglasses
• Water bottle 
• Headphones for while you travel
• gum/mints
• Camera
• Selfie stick. I know it sounds ridiculous and you’re probably sitting there thinking ‘Ew how could she say that, that’s so touristy and only 14-year-olds use it’. But hear me out. When you’re with a group, and you have a nice scenery in the city, it can make THE coolest group pictures! 
• A pen
• Wallet with student/company/bus card. You never know where you might find a discount! 

4. On the trip itself

• If something happens during public transport (the bus stops at the wrong stop, or the trains suddenly say you need to get off), don’t panic. There’s a ton of people in the same situation and, chances are, there’s people all around telling others where to go. You’ll be back on track in no time. 
• Take pictures! 
• Do something that wasn’t planned. If there’s a theme park in the city, check it out. Or maybe try out that one frozen yoghurt place. You have time for the massive bookstore? Go right ahead! 
• If anything unexpected happens, take it lightly. It’ll become a funny story to tell rather than a calamity :) 
• Try local things - try not to have lunch in a chain place. Eat local foods. 
• Have fun! 

Remember, day trips don’t always go as planned. My family and I went to Amsterdam for the day. Our train there stopped and we had to switch to a bus in which they gave us free water and cookies after waiting in the sun for a while. We got there and almost got run over by bikes. We went on a boat tour and encountered rude people who thought we couldn’t understand them. We witnessed a shooting in broad daylight, which terrified me and I’ve never seen before. (Don’t worry, no-one got hurt. It was between two individuals for money). We had to change trains 3 times on the way back. But in the end, it was a nice day and we laughed about everything that happened and how crazy our day was. If you let every mishap get to you and bother you, then it will, and that’s no fun. Keep it light, don’t let things bother you, and have fun! :D 

That’s it! :D I don’t know if this is useful or already obvious, but it was fun to write! I’ll be posting more today for sure, I have two book reviews to write! o.o 

Have a great day!