Travel Agency: Do I need one?

So you’re having some time off and you decide to go away. Depending on whether you are in the mood to chill, relax and blow off some steam or feeling ready to hike, climb mountains and swim in beautiful lakes, you need to decide what part of your trip you want to organize yourself, and what part is better left to professionals.
Once you figure out how much of the organizing you are prepared to do yourself, if necessary, and how much you most certainly do not want to do, the real question begins: Is hiring a travel agency worth it, or not? And before we go in to that question, it is good to know that organizing a trip yourself is not that difficult anymore. Thanks to websites like Booking.com, Expedia and WikiTravel. The amount of resources for good information on destinations and tools to do the organizing is really staggering. I recommend this page for some more insight on useful resources.

Do I need to use a travel agency?

Okay, at this stage we are assuming that you are ready to do a small bit of organizing, if that is in your advantage and not too complicated. We're talking here about booking a flight, a stay in a hotel or apartment, or simple excursion. Basic things, really. With this in mind, these are the questions you’ll be needing to ask yourself when you're deciding to use a travel agency or not:

Going to a remote place with language barriers? Use a travel agency

Trips that involve complexity because of the unknown are usually best left to the experts and/or adventurers. Often times communication problems at the destination of choice can be solved with some creativity and resilience, but at the same time this can also be a great source of stress. Something you might want to avoid when going on a holiday. More importantly however, the more remote places are usually not well-prepared to receive tourists. As a result you might end up in a place where you have no idea where to go to, or where to find the beautiful spots that make it all worth while. Local travel agencies and guides are in these cases invaluable to the success of your trip.

Making a simple trip? Do it yourself

When you are just organizing a simple trip, like going to a well-known city, then don’t be afraid to do the arranging yourself. In most cases it’s quite easy to book the flights, hotels and supporting transportation. Activities in the city are almost always organizable on the spot and hardly need any preparations. If you do want to read up on your destination, websites like WikiTravel also offer lots of information per city.

Not swimming in the money? Do it yourself

One good argument for doing it all by yourself is that it’s often a lot cheaper than having a travel agency do the work for you. Especially straightforward arrangements are very easy to organize by yourself. Even longer and more complex trips do not necessarily need the involvement of a travel agency. The trade-off is that you’ll need to put in a lot of work and prepare yourself for the inevitable surprise of arrangements going sideways.

Do you want a full package of pre-organized activities? Use a travel agency

Travel agencies have large networks of expert people, they have experience organizing trips and have resources. If you want to get the most out of your trip in terms of activities, transport and sights, then consider a travel agency. If anyone can squish a lot of doing and seeing into a relatively short amount of time, it's travel agencies.

Want flexibility? Do it yourself

A lesson many travellers learn when travelling is that destinations can seem fantastic in the preparing phase, but can really disappoint upon arrival. This is inherent to travelling, but can be solved by having the flexibility to move along after taking a short rest. Sometimes this flexibility is not supported by having a pre-packaged trip, and in those cases the flexibility of doing it all yourself is very convenient.

Not in a hurry to be in a hassle? Use a travel agency

For some people a holiday means no stress at all. Organizing things by yourself is then completely out of the question. If you're like that, then the only thing you need to think of, is making sure that you choose the right travel agency. Make sure you have one that is reliable, experienced and an expert on your destination.