One of my favorite things about traveling, is the planning process. I am also keenly aware at how unusual that sounds! For me, a big part of loving the travel planning process, is because I’ve had lots of practice. From decisions that were helpful, to making ones that added unnecessary stress during our actual trip.
As cliche as it sounds, I am a believer that you’ll learn best by doing and experiencing things yourself. I hope that by sharing these tips, they help to make your learning curve a little smoother. That they melt away some of the anxiety and stress that comes along with the planning process.
Most of the tips and advice I have to offer, applies to all types of trips. However, there are a few that may be a little more niche. Maybe you are a seasoned traveler or maybe you are planning your first ever BIG trip. I’ll admit that some of these are not going to be mind blowing. You might already be doing them, or maybe it’s all new. Either way, I hope you find them to be helpful or reinforce your own routines.
You’ll figure out what works for you. The more you travel, the more you’ll learn what to do and not do. The more places we’ve gone, the easier travel planning has become. I’m not going to claim these tips are going to turn you into a planning ninja—I’m not that good. But, think of planning like working a muscle. The more you develop it, the easier the process becomes, and I’ll even dare to say slightly enjoyable!
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When to Book a Hotel Instead of a Vacation Rental
Both types of accommodations have their own advantages and disadvantages. I think there is one key differentiator of knowing when to book a hotel instead of a vacation rental.
If we are arriving in a city much earlier than check-in time or leaving well after checkout, I almost always opt for staying at a hotel. It enables us to drop off or keep our luggage at a safe location without having to trek it with us, providing more time to enjoy the location.
Only once, have we been granted an earlier check in for a vacation rental. This means we’re more limited in what we can do and explore.
Of course there are always exceptions to this. If you are on a roadtrip or renting a car for example. But if you are on a weekend getaway or shorter stay, this has been immensely helpful to not have to schlep our stuff and get the most out of our time while we have it.
Make lists
Given how I delight in the planning process, it won’t come as a surprise that I also love making lists. The feeling of being able to cross things off is so satisfying, plus it helps to keep my thoughts organized.
I use the Notes app on my phone to keep track of my lists. It comes in especially helpful if I have a random thought for our trip while running errands or making dinner. I generally have a few different lists going for planning our travels:
- What to buy and pack for the trip.
- Running list of restaurant, activities, things to do for where we are going based on research we’ve done.
- Tasks and things to do around the house before we leave (for example: water plants, put a mail hold on, bank travel notifications, etc.)
Spend time looking at a map
If you are directionally challenged, this one is especially for you. My intention is not have you feel overwhelmed by the thought of having to memorize the map. Get a sense of where major landmarks are, understand proximity and distance between locations. You’ll orientate the city better and more quickly. Likely sparing you some disagreements with your travel companions too—you’re welcome! You’ll get the most out of your time and boost your confidence, making you feel and look less like a tourist.
I use time on the plane or while we’re in transit to study the map of where we are headed. I download offline Google maps for when we are traveling abroad or if we are headed to a remote destination. And because I am a self proclaimed nerd, I find there’s a little extra joy when I feel like I’ve mastered the metro system of where we’re visiting.
Sometimes the cheaper flight is not always the cheaper flight
It might appear “cheaper” to choose a flight leaving a day earlier or come back a day later, but you also have to think about the extra costs involved with adding on the extra day(s).
Think about what another day would cost at the hotel, or your rental car, or eating out. If you have flexibility and the budget to add those extra days—then choose the extra day. Saving the $50 on the flight to leave the day before, might end up costing you an extra $200 in other travel costs. Do the math and decide what’s worth it and right for you.
Sign up for Flight Deal Alerts
Scoring a flight deal is one of the most rewarding parts of planning a trip, at least for me. There’s a lot of noise on how to track down the best deal. The best way to cut through that, leverage resources and services that specialize in monitoring, finding, and alerting you of flight deals.
Maybe the thought of paying for a service doesn’t seem appealing, I get that. I think this is one area where it’s money well spent because the money you end up saving on the flight makes it worth the initial investment. Here’s what I like and personally use to learn about flight deals:
- Free option: Google Flights
- Google’s comprehensive flight search engine provides more than just the current cost of a flight you are looking for.
- I use the the Price Graph & Date Grid functions to see how prices are looking around the dates I am interested in.
- If I’m not yet ready to buy or I want to wait for costs to come down, I turn on the Track prices function that provides alerts directly to my email.
- Paid option: Going
- Going is a service that does the work for you to track down flight deals. They aren’t a travel agent or booking service. They have different tiers of membership depending on the types of flights you are interested in.
- I can customize my airport(s) and create a watchlist of destinations we are looking to travel to. If a deal pops up that fits my criteria, I’m alerted via email or app push notification.
- Their app and email alerts provide insight on comparing average flight costs vs deal flight prices, booking dates, and which airlines are offering the deal.
- Use this link for 20% off your membership!
No matter the service or resource you use, always remember to book directly with the airline. This cuts out the third party booking/cancelation fees. It also ensures you have easier access to make changes to your reservations and allows you to connect directly with the airline’s customer service.
Learn some helpful words and phrases before you go
We’ve been able to travel to 20+ countries, only speaking English. Before each trip, I make time to learn some helpful words and phrases before we go, and you should too. It makes it easier to get around and we’ve found that locals appreciate the effort we put in.
Even if your pronunciations might not be great or you feel silly, do it anyway. Use Google Translate or watch videos on Youtube so you can hear the pronunciations. These are the phrases we familiarize ourselves with:
- Please & Thank You
- Hello & Goodbye
- How much?
- May I have…
- Bathroom
- Excuse me
- Good morning/afternoon/evening/night
- North/South/East/West
- You may not need to say these directions, but they can help when using transportation or navigating the city’s signs.
Bonus Tip
Be sure to install the Google Translate app to your phone, along with downloading the language you’ll need. This will allow you to use it offline if you don’t have cell phone service.
Make (a few) reservations in advance
Making a few lunch or dinner reservations helps to make the most of your time. Especially if you tend to be indecisive at meal time. Having a few planned means less to think about after a long day of adventures. I always try to book things that have a relaxed cancellation policy because plans and energy levels can change.
You don’t need to have every night planned out – save some nights for discovering places while you’re there. There are plenty of hot spots that won’t have same day availability or you may have to wait hours for a table. If you’re looking to eat at a highly recommended place, make a reservation in advance.
How do I find where to make make reservations at? I usually start by searching ‘best restaurants [destination]’ on Pinterest. I like to read what other bloggers have recommended for that area. Then I checkout the restaurant’s website to review their menu and make a reservation.
I also use resources like Yelp, Open Table, Resy, and Tock to see what’s trending, read reviews, and make reservations.
Read a book about the destination
I absolutely love diving into a good book, especially when it’s about the place we’re heading to. Whether it’s a captivating novel set in our destination or a fascinating history book.
Reading about where we’re going adds an extra layer of excitement to the trip. There’s something magical about wandering through streets, landmarks, or landscapes that you’ve already explored through the pages of a book. It’s like watching your imagination come to life right before your eyes!
But if reading isn’t your thing, no worries at all! Watch a show or movie instead. It’s a fantastic way to get pumped for the adventure ahead. Who knows, maybe that movie or series was the spark that inspired your trip in the first place!
Choose your sanity
While this might not always be possible for parts of your trip, plan and make choices that your future travel self will thank you for. Here are some examples of how we keep our sanity and enjoy our trip more:
- Spending a little extra on our flight ensures:
- Minimal or no layovers, with careful consideration of connection times and total travel duration.
- Reasonable departure and arrival times, though sometimes you have to work with what’s available.
- For longer trips (10+ days), I focus on front-loading the itinerary:
- Plan longer flights and more strenuous excursions at the start of the trip.
- Schedule more relaxation and shorter travel days toward the end. If that’s not possible, include some relaxing days in the middle to recharge.
- Balancing rest time, especially toward the end, helps prevent the feeling of needing a vacation after the vacation.
Where you can, and when your budget allows—give yourself flexibility for your trip to not go as planned. In good ways and in frustrating ways. Make decisions upfront that are (will be) better for your piece of mind, sleep schedule, and joy during the trip. Not what might have seemed feasible when you made plans months ago and were not sleep deprived.
Sometimes these types of decisions can quickly add up. Try to prioritize what’s most important. Take learnings from your trip and keep them in mind for your future trips. Reflect on which things were actually helpful and actually worth the money.
Leave time for fun and exploration
Coming from a person who LOVES to plan, that might sound odd, but I think this is super important.
Early on in our travels, I would have so much of our trip planned out: what we’ll do in the morning, in the afternoon, where we’d eat, etc. etc..
It added stress to planning the trip to such detail. It took joy out of our travels. We were constantly on the go, and didn’t have as much time to just take it in. Sometimes there are trips that need to be planned down to the hour. If it actually isn’t necessary, leave time and opportunity to figure [some] things out once you get there. See what’s piquing your interest when you are actually in your destination—explore and wander more.
Reach out to people you know
Generally, the most helpful advice for traveling and travel planning comes from someone who lives locally or has somewhat recently lived there. Whenever I reach out about a destination we are traveling to, these are the questions I like to ask:
- What part of the city should we stay in? Any areas to avoid?
- Would they recommend using public transportation, ride share like Lyft or Uber, or renting a car? Also use this to gauge walkability, traffic, driving, and what parking/finding parking can be like.
- Where to eat? Where NOT to eat?
- What to activities/excursions should do or NOT do?
- Anything else that might be helpful to know?
- For example, whenever people visit us in Utah, I always suggest they bring sunglasses. The sun is stronger at higher elevations, and it’s an easy thing to forget when packing.
Hopefully, you’ve picked up from the questions I mentioned that it’s just as important to ask what not to do or what to skip. Sometimes things get overhyped online, and with limited time in a destination, you want to make the most of every moment.
People might share ideas you wouldn’t have come across otherwise. I always lean towards reaching out, even if it’s been a while since we’ve connected. It’s a great excuse to catch up, and we’ve found that folks are usually super generous with their time and advice.
Stress Less, Travel More—And Check Back for More Tips
I hope these tips help make planning your next trip easier and way less stressful. With each trip I’m always learning new tricks—so I’ll keep updating this list with fresh ideas and helpful insights.
Check back anytime for new tips, or better yet, let me know what’s worked for you! After all, the best travel advice comes from swapping stories.
With joy,
Bri
