What we learnt from a Travel Expo

We finally did it!  After talking about it for years, we bit the bullet and did it.

Ad and I woke early one Saturday morning and set off for Brisbane.  At 6am it was an easy and reasonably traffic-free 90 min run into the city. We arrived in time for breakfast at Southbank – Espresso Garage (highly recommend and we have been back again since we loved it that much) and a relaxing stroll along the waterfront before checking into the Flight Centre World Travel Expo at the Brisbane Convention Centre.  2 hours later we emerged with a family holiday to Canada.  Well, a heap of quotes on flights, accommodation and car hire which we then booked the following day at our local Flight Centre once we were sure of our exact plans.

We Keens are avid planners by reputation, a trait some would groan at but by locking plans in almost a year early actually means that it will happen and forces you to get your shit together to pull it off.  Sure, there were plenty of reasons why now wasn’t a good time to plan an epic holiday. I was staring new job, this time we had kids in tow and the kids may not even remember it (Aubrey maybe, but Lionel probably not). We should be spending our money on something more sensible, who knows what could pop up unexpectedly throughout the year.  But if we lived by that mindset our years would quickly slip by and we would be no closer to doing things we’ve always dreamed and talked about.  Plus, how do we instill a sense of adventure and love of travel in our children if we stick to the security of our lounge chair and never get amongst it? How would they know of the wonders that await outside the comfort zone of our backyard unless we get out there together and explore?

But if we lived by that mindset our years would quickly slip by and we would be no closer to doing things we’ve always dreamed and talked about.

For Adam and I, travel gives us something to look forward to and gets us through those shitty days when we feel bogged down with work and the daily grind.  It has also inadvertently made us reassess our priorities and even changed some our spending habits.  For the kids however it provides an even bigger lesson of happiness in anticipation, delayed gratification and patience building.  We have a world map in the middle of our house and involve the kids in frequent conversation about what Canada will be like (and other amazing places around the globe we could visit) The kids have added colouring pages and pictures they’ve found to our wall now dedicated to adventure.

But I digress, back to the Travel Expo.  There’s plenty of debate on the best way to plan and book a holiday – travel agent or yourself and in the past, we have done both.  This time however we decided to give the Flight Centre World Travel Expo a go.

Our pros and cons list:

Cons:

• The expo is limited to Flight Centre suppliers only.
• Its hectic! Huge crowds, lots of noise and long lines.
• Only available for a very limited time.  The expos are held a couple of times a year and only run for 2 days each time.

Pros:

• All vendors under the one roof.
• Possibilities are endless.
• Great deals to be made.

Tips:

1. Arrive early.  There was a line up at the entrance to the Convention Centre before the doors opened.  At the time we felt crazy for arriving so early (we could have slept in more that morning) but it was worth it.  By the time we had finished and were walking out the crowds were flocking in, lines of people queuing at the different vendors where growing quickly along with their impatience.
2. Leave the kids at home.  There is no way we could have worked so quickly, maneuvered the crowd so easily and made stress free decisions with the kids in tow.
3. Go with a plan.  Do some homework first on your destination to know where, when and what you want to do and to also know what a good deal looks like.
4. If it’s not your first rodeo, don’t go with a plan but a bucket list of destinations and search out the best deal on the day.

So, would we book a holiday via the expo again?

I think we will.  But next time we want to go without a destination preconceived.  We want the thrill of the hunt and come out with the best deal we can find.  I think it would also be good to push the boundaries of our comfort zone surrounding our need to always plan by spinning the world travel expo globe and seeing where we land.