Travel agent vs self traveler.

Well this is not about which is better then which, but more of us sharing our experience. We believe each have their own pros and cons.

Well we might be bias since we only used travel agent for travel once, but anyway we share our experience here.

Cost
Based on our experience, comparing cost with family member who actually went on trip using agent, the total cost difference is not much. Some case self travel cost more that agent. (By cost, it should be all include flight, accomodation,  pocket money etc)

Travel period
I can say with same cost as using travel agent, we can have more days spend traveling than using agent. Why is this, maybe next few points can explain why.

Accomodation
– For self-travel, this is part where we are in control. We choose where to stay. For us, as traveler with kids, we admit we are a bit picky on accomodation as we have to consider the comfortness of our kids. But the point here is being in control, which why self-travel always choose to travel by themselve.

Miles covered
This we might be bias, but traveling yourself give the freedom and (again) control on where to go and how long to stay at certain area. For agent, they usually focus on area famous with tourist, but self traveler, while can also covering those tourist focus area, they have the option to shorten time spend there and explore area less visit by tourist.

Experience
This is the real and obvious difference between those two.

Travel with agent give traveler (or tourist) more comfort and relax (due to all has been plan and handle by the agencies).

On the other hand, self traveler need to have all plan setup done by themselves, need to check risk and always have plan if something goes wrong. It is all under traveler’s responsible. Language difference, plan for where to go and more importantly how to go there, how long to stay, how much budget and way to spend money…. pretty much all need to be figure out beforehand. It might seems too much tasks here, but for self traveler, we enjoy doing this. Our travel started 2,3 month before the actual traveling. And for those with kids, there are a lot more to be prepared. Might seems tough for the first time, but once you get used to it, it is very much enjoyable.

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Finally I have to said this is nothing more than our personal opinion. Other might have their own opinion or preference. None is actually better than the other, as long as you make the most for every each of your travel.

Life is too short to whine about everything. So just relax and enjoy.