How to Plan Your Next Trip

I like to look at my trip planning in small steps- that way it doesn’t get overwhelming! Breaking it down to smaller tasks at a time makes it much more manageable. Planning your own trip definitely requires a lot of time and effort but it also gives you the control to make the trip specific to your needs & wants!

1. Study the map- Familiarize yourself with a map of the area. The location from the airport to your destination, the downtown area, where the best place to stay is located. This is going to help you get your bearings and visualize where you are at all times.

2. Use Flight Trackers– Flight prices definitely fluctuate from day to day and week to week. I recommend downloading a flight tracker app to monitor when flights will be the cheapest that way you aren’t driving yourself crazy checking every day and ensuring you can get the lowest price. If you want to keep it simple- google flights is a great way to compare flight prices and is very user friendly. (Link to hopper)

3. Third Party Travel Sites are Your Friend– About 95% of the time, I end up booking my accommodations through a third party travel site. The reasoning is because it’s much easier to compare options & prices as well as see availability in a specific location. (booking.com, Air Bnb, Priceline, etc. ) A majority of the time, booking through these sites are just as reliable and less expensive than booking through the accommodation’s own website. 

4. Consider Transportation– Depending on your location- will you be needing to rent a car or buy train tickets? I’ve planed trips where I traveled entirely via bus and booked the tickets on the fly. If you are in a more rural area you may need to rent a car or pay for a transportation service. Research the area, see what people recommend when it comes to safety as well as convenience. During a recent trip, we rented a car but the driving was difficult at times through hilly, narrow roads. BUT it made our travel much more flexible rather than depending on a bus schedule to get from one place to another.

5. Book your “must do” ahead of time– There is a fine line of wanting to have your itinerary planned for you on your trip vs. just going with the flow and seeing where things take you. I recommend booking out the “must see” or “must do” on your trip ahead of time to ensure that it doesn’t sell out. Once you have a few major items on the itinerary plans, you can work around them. I like to plan out a list of popular restaurants in the area so if on the fly we need somewhere good to eat, I can refer back to my list that I already have deemed worthy. Once we get to a destination, I love to get advice from locals or tour guides on places they recommend for food, drinks, and experiences. 

6. Use Social Media as a tool– I end up using apps like Tik Tok and Instagram to provide me with a lot of information on recommendations for travel planning. The posts can help show you in real time what people’s day to day experiences are like in certain locations. This can also be helpful when it comes to packing for the destination. I love to see what other people are wearing or wore when they traveled to that specific area as well.