How to Maximise Travel in 2025

As much as I love my job, I love travelling more! And I hope you can relate to the desire to travel more and explore as much as possible. Most of us face the constraints of a limited annual leave provided by employers. But there are some useful tips and planning about how to Maximise travel in 2025 and every year!

How I Maximised 2023 & 2024

Over the Christmas period, I tend to start researching trips so I have begun planning to maximise travel in 2025. Some simple maths will help plan out your calendar by utilising free days off (Bank Holidays). In 2023, I managed to travel to Belgium, Lisbon, Dolomites, Canada and Prague. Then in 2024, I travelled to Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Chile and Iceland (Not including 4 UK trips). For each year, I aim for 1 trekking trip (Nepal, Dolomites, Patagonia) and 2 hiking trips (Zermatt, Austria, Canada + UK) for my outdoor needs. Then I balance trips with Roisin (Canada, Tuscany, Zermatt, Prague, Iceland) with trips with friends (Dolomites & Venice, Spain, Snowdonia, Lake District). Finally, I value a solo trip per year such as Copenhagen, Lisbon, Nepal or Patagonia. There is 1 long-distance travel each year which the majority of my planning and most likely budget will go towards.

Travel Destinations 2023

Example Table from 2023
Annual Leave after Mandatory Work Shut-downs: 23 Days
Bank Holidays in 2023: 9 Days (5 used) – New Year’s Day, Coronation, Christmas or Boxing Day not used.
Total Days Travelled in 2023: 43 Days

Travel Destinations 2024

Example Table from 2024
Annual Leave after Mandatory Work Shut-downs: 21 Days
Bank Holidays in 2024: 8 Days (4 used) – New Year’s Day, August BH, Christmas or Boxing Day not used.
Total Days Travelled in 2024: 41 Days

Steps to Maximise Your Holiday

1. Holiday Research – Start by researching where you could travel to. Is it a Ski trip? A Family trip to a sunny beach resort? A romantic city getaway? Or a mountain adventure? It’s best to have a couple of options for each as people, costs and timings can change plans.
2. Type of Trip and Company – My next question is figuring out who suits each trip best. For example, even though many people wanted to visit Patagonia this year, I wanted the challenge of a Solo Trek. On the other hand, a Hostelling trip with housemates to Spain was a nice compromise that suited all our preferences.
3. Holiday Allocation – Calculate how many days of Annual Leave then subtract any non-travel plans such as Weddings etc. This is the budget of days to spend and weekends & holidays are essential to extend your trips. In the UK, legally you are given 28 Days of statutory leave (5.6 weeks) which includes bank holidays.
4. Travel Fund & Budget – Setting aside a monthly investment into a separate bank account will help you afford the extra days. I have months of heavier investing in quieter months to build up the savings to then book Flights & accommodation. This budget can help pay for the large sums for flights & accommodation. Then have enough spending money for a travel debit card (Revolut, Monzo etc).
5. Tips for Saving Money – Booking flights early and setting up price alerts will help get the best deal. Accommodation will add up if you enjoy luxury, I primarily use Airbnb or Hostels (check out Hostelworld) to save money. Avoiding Taxis to and from the airport and using public transport & shuttles will help keep your costs down. Food & drinks are killers on the wallet, I tend to cook in apartments and then choose one restaurant to enjoy. Another tactic is to use Food Halls and Markets to pick up dinner as they’re quicker and cheaper than sit-down restaurants. And for alcoholic drinks, I make the most of Happy Hour deals or buy at a supermarket with the groceries.
6. When to Book & Travel – By travelling on weekdays, you can save money compared to flying on weekends. And I ALWAYS maximise the days by flying out on the earliest flight possible, you can catch up on lost sleep on the plan! And then book the latest plan back even if it means a late night so you stretch a 3-night trip to 4 full days.
7. Spread out the Travel – It’s easy to pack as much travel in the summer months to make the most of the warm weather. But after a quarter of a year, a short break around Easter helps to recharge. After summer, an autumnal trip or long-distance travel (Patagonia or Nepal) in October/November avoids the grind through the cold dark months before Christmas. And speaking of, what better way to get into the festive spirit than a short getaway in December before the busy Christmas period!

How to Maximise Travel in 2025

This advice on how to maximise travel in 2025 is from a UK perspective focusing on the Bank Holidays scheduled and how to stretch your Annual leave as far as possible. The New Year’s, Christmas and Boxing Day holidays aren’t ones I use as I prefer family time over the festive period. And then I use January, February & March to save, plan and book for later in the year. School holidays are best to avoid due to increased prices (school summer holidays in England are approximately 22 July – 31 August 2025). A minimum annual leave with the 8 days of Bank Holidays included, would mean 20 days available.

• New Year’s Day (Wed 1st January)
  Leave on New Year’s Eve because flying potentially hungover is no fun. Celebrate 2025 abroad! Take Thursday and Friday (2nd & 3rd) off as Annual Leave and return on Sunday 5th Evening.
  Total Days Off: 5 days for the cost of 2
• Good Friday (Fri 18th April)
  One of my favourite holidays is a short 4-day Easter trip such as Ypres with my Dad or Spain with housemates for free. No Annual leave is taken and the weather is generally good for a late Ski trip or a warmer southern European city.
• Easter Monday (Mon 21st April)
  Leave early morning on Friday 18th and return on the evening of 21st April for almost 4 full days away.
  Total Days Off: 4 days for the price of 0
• Early May Bank Holiday (Mon 5th May)
  Another great spot to get away is early May which gives enough time after an Easter trip. I’ve used this slot for Lisbon and Tuscany over the last 2 years (south Europe). I would try to fly out Friday the 2nd in the morning (1 day of Annual Leave) and fly back late on Monday but book early before prices increase.
  Total Days Off: 4 days for the price of 1
• Spring Bank Holiday (Mon 26th May)
  Similar to the Early May Bank Hols where it’s a good spot to extend the trip. By using the weekend and Monday off, it’s worth exploring leaving on Thursday morning for cheap flights. It gives a full weekend and flights back on late Monday so a 3-day working week then 4 day working week.
  Total Days Off: 5 days off for the price of 2
• Summer Bank Holiday (25th August)
  Arguably the best and worst bank holiday due to it being in the school summer holidays so expect hiked-up prices. But the summer weather is usually optimal in August to have a hot climate break. I would go for a week away and use a double weekend so leave early on Saturday 23rd and then return late on Sunday 31st. This plan would suit a family but if the costs are getting expensive try travelling Friday 22nd to Monday 1st Sept (plus 2 of leave)
  Total Days Off: 9 Days for the price of 4
• Christmas Day (Thursday 25th December)
  Total Days Off: If you like to travel abroad with family or friends, then using the Christmas Bank holidays makes perfect sense. When you combine it with a New Year’s Day holiday for 2026, you can leave on Christmas Eve (1 Annual Leave), a weekend and return late on New Year’s Day (1/1/2026).
  Total Days Off (Plan A): 9 Days for the price of 4
• Boxing Day (Friday 26th December)
  A Plan B is to extend the trip! Some jobs like mine, have Mandatory shut-downs in which case I would use the weekend before (Sat 20th) and return on Saturday 4th January 2026.
  Total Days Off (Plan B): 16 Days for the price of 7
• Total Days off in 2025 using Bank Holidays: 36 Days of Travel (Plan A)
  Annual Leave Days Taken: 13 Days
  
  This strategy would leave at least 7 days of holiday for another trip which could be up to 11 days if you use 2 weekends. This would give a potential grand total of 47 Days of travel in 2025, the equivalent of 6.7 weeks!

Final Thoughts

It takes some time and thought to plan out travel but the outcome is a year filled with amazing travel experiences. Yes, the logistics and planning can be stressful so hopefully, the tips in this post can help ease this and show you how to maximise travel in 2025. If you’re looking for inspiration on where to travel, then check out the Best Travel Moments of 2024!

Do you have any tips about how to travel more? Please share this post or pic with other people wanting to make the most of 2025!