Tag: Jumia Travel

Whether traveling by air or by road, there are a couple of safety tips you should keep in mind to protect yourself from certain avoidable occurrences. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 5 safety tips for traveling long distances.

Ensure you get enough sleep

This might seem like an obvious fact but there are still a lot of people that ignore this and drive through long distances while tired or while taking heavily caffeinated beverages to help them stay awake. You should not for any reason, no matter how late you are going to be, drive through long distances if you are tired or sleepy. It is better to get to your destination late than not make it there at all. If you’re very tired and can’t drive, then you can consider putting in a little extra money and booking a flight to the place, if there are available flights. There are a lot of online flight booking platforms like Jumia Travel, that offers you cheap and great prices for flights.

Try to know all the laws regulating your route

This is to avoid being harassed by traffic officials. If you are not sure about any of the traffic signs, it’s best to ask someone or take another route that you’re familiar with.

Keep your valuables safely locked away

This can be especially helpful if you’re traveling by air because there are baggage handlers that might try to steal them. It is important to never pack your valuables in a checked baggage because they are of course not safe there. It is best to put valuables in your carry-on bag or if your valuables won’t fit in your carry-on bag, you should contact the airline before your flight and ask if you can declare the extra value of your items and if they can cover loss or damage. If the airline can’t, it’s probably best to ship it or leave it behind if you don’t have to travel with it.

Make sure someone knows when and where you’re traveling to

Make sure you inform either a friend or relative about your travel plans and keep them updated as your journey progresses with texts and phone calls, until you reach your destination.

Stay focused

Especially when you’re driving through long distances, you’re likely to encounter repetitive scenery like long stretches of road or endless fields that can distract you and make your mind wonder. It is therefore important for you to make a conscious effort, especially when driving alone, to keep your mind focused so you don’t get distracted while driving, because that can turn out to be extremely dangerous for you. Listening to music or to the radio can help you stay focused while driving.

It is important to start preparing for retirement early to avoid being tragically unprepared when the time comes. In the process of retirement preparation, it is also important to note the retirement mistakes most commonly made. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 5 common retirement mistakes people make.

Relocating Without Knowing the Place     

Most people decide to move to a more rural setting when they retire, because they consider it quieter and more relaxed than the city life they’ve had. Some also do it to be closer to their families. However, the mistake most people make is not knowing the area they are moving too well, so what was intended to be a relaxing getaway becomes a stressful experience that defeats the point of relocating. Rather than relocating immediately to a new place, first rent an apartment in the area and get a feel of the place for at least a year. If you are satisfied with your experience then you can consider buying property there and relocating completely.

Not Knowing What to Do With Your Time

A lot of people spend time trying to figure out what to do with their money after retirement, but few people think of what to do with their time. If you don’t have a plan on how to spend your time after retirement, it can make the process a bit more difficult, because you might find yourself feeling useless and even depressed about it at some point. Try to find a hobby or side job that you enjoy, that won’t be too stressful or place too much of a demand on you, and use it to occupy yourself after retirement. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you will automatically be happier after retirement, because boredom and the feeling of uselessness can easily taint that happiness. Most times, retirement is not what people actually want, even though they spend all their time dreaming of it, they actually just want to finally do something they can enjoy and have more control over.

Falling Into the Temptation of ‘Post-Retirement Spending Hike’

Though many retirees intend to spend less after retirement, they actually end up spending more in their first few years of retirement. This is mainly because of the excitement of finally ‘being free!’. You, therefore, see these retirees begin to do things they’ve always been ‘dying to do’ without really minding the cost. It is important for people to take note of this possible spending hike and use a budget to efficiently plan for it. You must stick to the budget and agree to let go of anything you know you won’t be able to realistically afford. It’s better to be responsible with your money and avoid regrets later.

Keeping Too Many Cars     

At some point, you need to ask yourself what exactly you are doing with four cars as a retiree. If you don’t have a good reason for keeping so many cars, you should sell the extra cars, hire someone to use the car for a cab business for you, or give them out to your children, grandchildren, friends etc. You should also consider that as you get older, walking instead of driving has added health and fitness benefits for you.

Underestimating Future Cost of Living

This is why you should always have a retirement plan laid down. Typically, people underestimate the money they would need to comfortably live on after retirement. This is mainly because they don’t plan for retirement according to their spending habits; they instead plan with the belief that their spending habits would have been reformed by the time they retire, only to find out that is not the case. The general rule of retirement is to set aside 65 to 70% of your current household budget, then factor in every likely and possible expense you would ever incur, even if they seem far-fetched. You need to plan realistically and consider contingencies and unexpected costs.

To make the most of your road travel and make it a tad less stressful, there are a few useful tips to keep in mind. Jumia Travel, the leading online travel agency, shares 5 useful tips for road travel.

Let People Know Your Whereabouts

This is mainly a safety precaution. It is important to let friends or family know your whereabouts at every major point of your road travel, especially if it’s a long road trip. In case anything of note happens, it is important to have people who know where you are and can raise an alarm where necessary. This is especially important when you’re traveling alone.

Don’t Carry Too Much Cash on You

This might seem like a no-brainer but a lot of people neglect this when traveling long distances by road. It is advisable to set aside some petty cash to settle one or two expenses along the way like buying snacks or food or settling toll gate fares, but never carry an unnecessarily large amount of cash on you for road travel. Debit cards should be substituted for large wads of cash, and your bags or anything that can be associated with large wads of cash should not be kept carelessly and conspicuously in your car, so you don’t attract the wrong attention to yourself.

Try To Pack Light

Try as much as you can to pack light for road travel, so you don’t have to pay too much extra cash for excess luggage or squeeze your things in your car with little room for yourself.

Have Entertainment Options

Especially if you’re not the one driving, you should try to preload your phone with entertainment options to keep yourself gleefully occupied during the road trip. You can also bring along novels, mp3 players and other sources of entertainment (depending on your preference) to keep yourself entertained. Also, be sure to have a power outlet to plug into when your devices are running low on battery. A power pack can help with this if you’re traveling by bus, while simply plugging your device into the available power outlet in a vehicle, is appropriate when traveling with your own vehicle.

Anticipate Likely Trouble Spots

This especially applies when you’re traveling with your own vehicle. It is best to plan your road travel well, particularly the timing of your travel, so you can avoid certain trouble spots at rush hour. This can save you the stress of dealing with avoidable traffic situations and make your travel easier. Try to take likely trouble spots into consideration during your road travel and plan for either the best routes to use to avoid them or the best times of the day to ply the route that will make it easier for you.