I’ve heard about Bali before I was 7 years young. I was not visited Bali until 2004. I know nothing about Bali nor how to organize a trip. All that I knew was my budget, my leave balance and that I want to bring my mother with me to Bali.
I started my research about Bali tour packages from best tour agents in the country. This including visiting agent website, collecting recent promotion brochures for updated price and get some feedbacks from forums in regard of the packages. I was not the first human being who did not use agency service, so I believe there are plenty of information I can find online. My next step was to gather traveling information from independent travelers (Google search on blogs, forums, travel magazines, etc.).
Each agent has their own itinerary from where I learnt about popular spots, itinerary, rough budget and recommended hotels. From independent travelers and locals I found tips on how to escape some unnecessary expenses, how to customize my trip and catch on some locals suggestions. The tour package price itself was fantastic – the cheapest was IDR 3.500.000 per person for 3D/2N not including meals.
I wish of spending 5D/4N in Bali with all-in total cost of IDR 2.500.000 per person, visit primary spots Bali has to offer and let my mother stay comfortably in decent place. Somehow I need to work on something to make things works with my constraints. Ahhh .. by now you must have just realized that I’m an impossible person.
Joining tourist not merely about money. Some want to escape some places that they found it boring and wish to only visit places they’re interested with. This is the main purpose I rather tailor my own trip. You got to do quite a number of extra homework to plan a successful own trip. For sure it’s might requires long time of research and bunch of patience and I managed to spent IDR 2.850.000 per person for all my Bali wish (flight, hotel, meals, car rental/driver/gas/tips, souvenir, etc).
