View our carefully curated pictorial of some of the best places you absolutely must travel to, go ahead, make full use of your public holidays. Also do check out our destination guides in each section for more detailed location info and travel tips. With uberholiday, it’s always easier to travel and impress your loved ones.

Ayana Resort and Spa @ Bali

Portofino, Italy

Kasbah Tamadot Hotel, Morocco

Ocean Haven Suite @ W Retreat & Spa – Maldives

Las Ventanas al Paraiso Resort @ Mexico

Copperfield Bay @ Musha Cay, Bahamas

Club Med Kani @ Maldives

Easter Island, Chile

Baia Taormina Grand Palace Hotel @ Italy

Elounda Peninsula All Suite Hotel @ Greece

Zhouzhuang, China

Azores, Portugal

Zhangjiajie, China

One of the many idiosyncrasies of life is how the word travel literally translates to “to toil, to work hard” when in our heads the word travel is linked to the absence of work. Except for the ridiculously rich, before the lying in the sand, basking in the sun or hopping from one museum to another happens, the “behind the scenes” of every trip isn’t always pretty. Every traveler knows that in order to party hard, one has to work hard.

Once you reach your destination, without any delay from missed planes or perhaps simply upon feeling the Egyptian cotton sheets in your hotel bed, you will know everything is worth it. Plus you get the satisfaction and pride of a job well done. For the strong and gutsy who would gladly take on the “chore” of working hard on traveling, here are tips based on 7 Habits of effective travelers you should work on.

1. Be well informed

Be more than well-informed, read, research, ask around and jot down notes. Nowadays, information is literally at everyone’s fingertips that being anything less is a crime. Check and analyze options on airfares, routes, accommodation and itineraries. Do not rely merely on group buying sites or a travel agency. Sometimes, better and cheaper alternatives are a next-click away. Other important facts you should know about are passport/visa requirements. Some countries grant visit visa upon arrival while some do not. And you do not want to waste time and money on a travel adventure that does not let you get pass the airport. Also, read on vaccines or immunizations that you must get before going to a certain place – travelers’ diarrhea and other traveler’s diseases do not sound appealing even if they have the word travel attached to them.

2. Plan and Review

As much as I want to hate them for living the ”dream life”, experienced travel journalists and bloggers give very useful comments and observations. It is not imperative that you do as they do and go where they go. Instead, learn from their experiences. Take note of their remarks like “wear extra sunscreen” or “get in early to avoid long lines”. Make a list out of their lists. Create your own top 5 picturesque gardens in Cambridge or top 7 street foods to try in Bangkok. You can also download a map and plot out places in the same area so you can see them in one day. This will ensure that you don’t waste time going back and forth and gives you more opportunities to rest or even see more places. I also recommend knowing where markets are and where you can buy souvenirs beforehand. I often assume that I can get items on the next corner or on the next destination, only to realize that they are not available or they are priced higher. That is a lesson I took for you so you don’t have to learn the hard way.

3. Ditch your plan

I admit this is a bit peculiar. If you’ll really think about it – you can’t go outside the box, if you don’t know where the box is.  (I hope I am making sense here)After a day or two of following the tourist map, get off the paved road and create your own path. Unforgettable experiences warrant unforgettable actions. It is rarely the predictable and conventional moments that we remember. Sneak away from your tour guide; throw away your “a tourist’s guide to (fill in the city’s name)”.  Eat grass in North Korea, create your own trail in East Timor or check in a haunted hotel in Paris. You do not only avoid the crowds, you also get to feel like a pioneer.

4. Walk the walk, and talk the talk

As the saying goes “when in Rome, do as the Romans do”. And that applies beyond Rome. Discover the place and get to know the people.  There’s a lot more to admire about a place’s architecture than your hotel interiors. Forget about the pool, make splashes in “hidden” falls and dive in “virgin” islands. Know a couple of phrases and greetings so you can start conversations with locals. Watch them as they go about their daily chores, try out foods with names you can’t even pronounce, take part of their festivities. If you act like a tourist, you will feel like a tourist. But if you want to get a true sense of the people, their place and culture, leave your sightseeing pass at the door and get your hands dirty.

5. Shoot, write and create

Document your trip in creative ways – take snapshots, doodle on your tablet or carry a sketchpad – the more personal, the better. Avoid the famous and overly used tourist photo spots. Okay, take one or two shots of the Eiffel Tower or Lady Liberty Statue or Great Wall of China. Then move along to capturing places, people or things that make you smile, laugh or remember home – like a store sign, a kite caught up in trees, a warm greeting from a stranger or an unpaired shoe left on the road.  You would want to remember the big picture and the little details. One day when you look back, these are the things that will help your relive the moment.  Every second spent or every step taken towards the perfect angle, or prose or page will be worth it.

6. Share

Share your experience and give back to the travel community. Post on blogs. Give honest reviews of hotels and restaurants. Reveal to fellow travelers which bar serves the best smoothies or where to get the best massages. Share tips you initially thought were weird but eventually became thankful for. Your story will be helpful, just as much as someone else’s story as helped you. Everyone you meet along the road has something to share, something to give. Gather from them and at the same time, impart what you have learned along the way too.  Travel guides can save time, money, and even lives, and there is nothing more rewarding than knowing you play a part in it.

7. Repeat

These are called habits for a reason. Go right back to step 1 and plan a new adventure. You can even squeeze this step in between the other steps. You don’t have to wait to get back home. You don’t even have to go home, before you take on a new trip.

These tips will help make an effective traveler. But I think the best way to travel is to travel in style, your style. Each trip is not only a journey to discovering a new place, it is also about discovering something about yourself, about how you think on your feet, how you react and adapt to your surroundings. The good thing about traveling, the more you see and the more you learn, the more you desire to travel again. And that hunger for knowledge, experience and sensibility is more than enough to get you on your feet.

It is beyond expenses and itineraries that we share with people we travel with. We share the most beautiful of things – the thrill of a new encounter, the ascent of a cliff, the joy of befriending a stranger, the majestic view of a sunset, the fear of stepping into the unknown and the sense of accomplishment after conquering your fears.  Having the right company can make or break your trip. And we don’t want any trips being broken. So, here are 10 signs of a perfect travel partner.

If you are lucky, you find someone and know you belong, at first sight. Sometimes, the one you are looking for turns out to be someone you’ve known for a long time and suddenly it’s like a light was switched on and you see that person in a different way.  In love and in travel, there are no surefire ways to find a partner. It may take a while, but finding the right travel partner will be worth all the good times it will bring in the long run. While traveling solo can also be challenging and invigorating, there are times when having someone along for the ride just make things even better.

1.       You can talk about anything and everything.

Since you will be spending a lot time with your travel mate, conversations should be interesting and feel natural. You don’t want someone with whom you feel the need to make small talk or have uncomfortable moments of silence. You want someone you can talk to about the weather in London, the right way to pack shirts, the wines in Napa and the meditative qualities of rock gardens in Kyoto.

2.       You share the same appetite.

The perfect travel partner is always “hungry for more”.  By that, I don’t mean find yourself a glutton. Find someone who is curious and daring enough to try eating balut in the Philippines, cliff jumping in Portugal, drinking tequila-sangrita shots in Mexico or white water rafting in the Grand Canyon. The heart-stopping, knees-shaking, “I never thought I would do that” moments can make the trip unforgettable.

3.       You share the same interests.

They say there is an innate need for humans to be in contact with kindred spirits. It can be coral reef diving in Belize, trying out every buffet in Las Vegas, visiting tribal villages in Kenya or silk weaving in Hanoi, but nothing can fuel humans better than a shared passion that is larger than life.

4.       You don’t share the same interests.

A good partnership helps you grow. And you grow by experiencing new things. Let your travel partner open up your eyes to opportunities that you might not otherwise have considered. It could mean watching the Russian Ballet, going to a voodoo market in Togo, searching for contemporary art pieces in New York or getting drenched in Thailand’s Songkran.

5.       You feel relaxed in each other’s company.

Traveling is about finding one’s self, losing inhibitions and breaking free from the limits of home or office.  There is no venue for pretentious and stuck-up attitudes. And someone who not only lets you feel free, but shares the same principles, is a rare find.

6.       Find someone enthusiastic.

Having found the right people to travel with, means there is no need to convince a reluctant friend or persuade a sibling to come along.  You do not want to drag someone with you and you certainly do not want someone who is a drab.

7.       You can laugh around each other.

Laughter is not only the best medicine; it is also a good solution to unpleasant situations. And the perfect travel partner knows when to goof around and let you take things lightly – when you lose your luggage or when you look ridiculous samba dancing in Brazil. Find someone who starts a snowball fight in the Alps and takes you beer bathing in Germany.

8.       Find someone organized.

This is essential especially if you are not organized yourself and a reflex if you are. Traveling entails planning, it can be a spur of the moment decision, but it’s not one that doesn’t have any prerequisites. You need travel documents, cash (and access to foreign currencies), a map, book, or at least an idea how to get around. This also gives you an idea of the possibility of harmonious hotel room sharing. You don’t want and need a neat freak, just someone hygienic and considerate enough not to leave dirty clothes on the bathroom floor.

9.       Find someone who can take a decent picture.

You might think it is probably ridiculous to put this into consideration. True, everyone nowadays knows how to operate a camera, but taking decent pictures is a different matter. Imagine you’re looking at pictures of you standing beside the Pyramids of Giza with the tips cut off, finding only the legs of the Reclining Buddha  in frame or a picture of you toe deep in the pink sands of Bahamas without the pink sands.  Doesn’t sound ridiculous now, right?

10.   Find an independent soul.

Sharing is fun but occasionally you need to take a break – only for a few minutes or hours. And you need someone who allows you to do so. Having to deal with a travel partner who is clingy and insists on doing everything together, every single day, every single time can spoil the rest of the trip. You need someone who understands the need for boundaries, because he/she feels it too.

The perfect travel companion is out there. It doesn’t have to be your best friend, or someone you are romantically attached to. It could be a colleague, a neighbor, a fellow tourist or a total stranger. It could be one person, a couple, a family or an entire group. It could be someone sitting beside you reading this, or someone in front of a laptop searching Google “how to find a travel companion” or someone halfway around the globe you are yet to come across. The secret doesn’t lie on where you search, what you set out to find or how many travel companions you have had before. The secret to finding the perfect travel partner is to be a perfect travel partner yourself.