We all love going on vacation and spending quality time with those we love, ideally for me on a hot beach with a cold drink.  However, not everything always goes as smoothly as I would want it to, and the tips below have been listed as ways I have found to make a great holiday even better.

1, Never Try and speak the local language.

My school boy French is terrible, and often when I try to use it the other person listening has no idea what I am saying, or misunderstands what I mean. I was always told that locals appreciated someone trying to speak their language, however this is far from my experience.

Recently I have discovered the google translation app for my smart phone. Once I downloaded it for free, it has been able to translate any written message for me into over 100 different languages in seconds. If I have been lucky enough to be in countries that use one of the 33 voice recognised languages, then I do not even need to type the messages. Simply speak into the phone, and a translated voice message come out perfect every time. So, I no longer need to reach for the translation diction to find words that I do not know.

It also has a third feature of image recognition, which means that if I take a photo of a tourist sign, or menu the app will recognise the writing and transit it for me in seconds.

So, I would highly recommend that you take advantage of new technology like this app which makes communicating in a foreign language so much easier.

2, Do not carry your suitcases.

Obviously when you go on holiday for a couple of weeks, you need to pack lots of clothes and other essentials that you will need. However, you do not need to carry your cases, queue at the airport to check them in or wait for them to come through to the baggage reclaim. Instead if you use a specialist luggage shipping service such as Courierpoint, they can arrange for a leading branded international courier such as DHL or FedEx, to collect, route and deliver your bags before you even leave for the airport.

Services like these were once for VIP’s only and extremely expensive, but now prices have before very affordable and compete with airline baggage charges. You can even use the service to send parcels to Germany or golf clubs to Portugal.

3, Use reviews to help plan the best places to go.

All hotels, restaurants and tourist attractions have their own websites, where they can promote the information that they want you to read. However, most will also have reviews on their service, on independent websites such as TripAdvisor that can help you choose between a few close options.

They will normally give an overview of the level of service and facilities. Often, they also include the odd recommendation that can be very useful, such as where the best local restaurant is. I frequently get the best tips, from reading reviews about the places I am going to.

After your trip, remember to give back and also to leave a review, so that other travellers can benefit from your experience and it also helps to dive up levels of service everywhere if restaurants and hotels know that patrons will regularly leave public reviews for them.

4, Arrange to be met at the airport.

It can often be cheaper to book for a local mini cab to take you from airport arrivals through to your hotel, than queuing up on arrival for a local taxi. Again, plan ahead to make everything smooth.

5, Lastly, I recommend changing your currency in advance of travelling.

Currency that is bought before you arrive at the airport or your destination is usually at a far better exchange rate. You also usually have the advantage of being able to convert any unused currency back without paying commission on your return. So, it makes sense to save on the currency costs so that you can have more spending money.

I hope that these tips and thoughts help you to enjoy your holidays more.