Travel planning doesn’t have to be difficult. Knowing where to start is usually the most difficult part. These tips will help you prepare for your next trip and develop a habit of smart travel planning.
With time, I have learned not to rely on travel agencies and deals I see travel bloggers offer online. Those can be attractive, but in reality, they rarely match my free days. Also, they don’t include particular cities/places I want to see. Most importantly, they are way more expensive than they could be if I organize the whole thing myself.
How much do you really want to travel?
When I decided I wanted to travel more, I couldn’t just quit my job, leave all my commitments behind, and sail into the sunset.
We realized we couldn’t afford our trips unless we made traveling our priority. When I say priority, I mean the most important thing after all the bills are paid, at least a tiny amount is set aside for the rainy days, food is put on the table and other basic needs are covered.
We rarely go out, especially to fancy restaurants or clubbing and drinking over the weekend. The newest technology and gadgets don’t interest us, nor do we have an appetite for shopping. We occasionally allow ourselves a night out or some other indulgence, but mostly we leave aside for traveling.
For some people, this seems impossible or too much. We have even been criticized that we are depriving ourselves of everyday pleasures at the expense of a 10-day trip a year. Well, firstly, for us it is more than 10 days a year. Also, fancy restaurants, new clothes, and smartphones do not excite us. None of them can top the joy we feel spending an evening roaming the streets of a new city.
Saving doesn’t happen without planning!
When my partner and I first started dating, our trips would usually be to some of the neighboring countries. We planned those a few days before we would leave and things would mostly be ad-hoc. Consequently, we would spend way more than we planned, often leaving us broke until the next salary.
For our first trip to the Netherlands in December 2014, I accidentally stumbled upon very cheap tickets two months ahead. For both me and my boyfriend at the time, that was too much in advance to plan. But the tickets were so cheap that we decided to buy them even if we didn’t end up using them. Luckily, we did use them, and that was the experience that changed my perspective on travel planning.
I have learned along the way that planning doesn’t exclude spontaneity. But deciding on a destination one day, and organizing everything in the next few days is not feasible. I have to know, approximately, how much the trip will cost before I decide if I am going or not. This means knowing not only the prices of flights and hotels but also local transportation, tourist attractions, bars, and restaurants.
Although all of this sounds complicated and exhausting, there are numerous travel planning tips to make the process less tedious. I use Excel sheets a lot for planning, budgeting, and organizing. Aside from that, numerous apps, sites, and search engines make things way easier today.
Planning Essentials
When I first started planning my trips, I knew nothing about booking tickets, accommodation, buying entrance tickets, or anything.
With time, I have learned different travel planning tips and come up with a system that works for me. The system is ever-evolving and I keep adapting whenever I learn something new.
Here are the essentials:
- Make a Planner & Research
- Set and Plan Your Budget
- Choose Destination Wisely
- Plan and Book in Phases
- Use Official Sites and Apps
- Be Time-Conscious
- Research Budget-Friendly Options
- Pack Smart
- Make Room for Spontaneity
Now, let’s dig deeper into each of these points.
Make a Planner & Research
This doesn’t have to be too comprehensive, but start making a list of destinations you would like to visit.
I use Excel for this, and the most simple table will do in case you are not comfortable with Excel. You can use Word, or go the old-style way and just use a notebook. Whatever works for you.
Your starting point can be something like this, a table where you will put basic information.
This way, you have one organized place where you can save your ideas, but also useful information about traveling to those places. I follow a lot of travel-related accounts on Instagram and save posts that I like, and when I have time once or twice a month, I check what I saved and add some of those things to my table. Also, if I see online some offers for my desired destinations, I save them and then compare them with what I find, to make sure I am saving money.
For example, when it comes to exotic destinations that cost a lot of money, Japan is first on my list, so I am actively collecting information that can be useful once I decide to seriously pursue this dream, i.e, when I save enough money that it becomes realistic.
On the other hand, I’ve heard that Malta is not expensive and is a very attractive destination if you want to go on an early autumn vacation. So, I added Malta to my list as a potential destination for our next early autumn trip. If we decide to go with it, I’ll already have the most important information I need to start travel planning.
When you decide on a location, make sure you research it thoroughly.
Set and Plan Your Budget
Booking airplane tickets and accommodation, and then simply going to a destination hoping for the best, is not an option for me. The main reason we would spend way too much money than we planned in the past was because there were many unexpected costs.
Now, thanks to my list, I know how much each destination costs approximately. If we have 2000 euros to spend on a vacation, I know that Japan is out of the question. But, Malta or Turkey might be feasible options.
Checking the prices of local transportation, restaurants, supermarkets, and other services, I gauge how much money I need for the number of days we are planning to stay. The same with attractions and tourist spots. When visiting multiple places with a lot of things to do and see, knowing how much those things cost is crucial.
If you are traveling by car, gas, and car rental are the main costs, but also tolls, vignettes, and parking. Also, some extra for the gas you might need driving around looking for parking or a specific place you are visiting.
If you are using public transportation, make sure to check the operating hours. Whenever possible we use public transport. But if you are arriving in the middle of the night, you have to count on an Uber as public transportation might not be available.
Another important thing to include in your budget is travel insurance. No vacation can be relaxing unless you know you want to go bankrupt because you sprained an ankle in a foreign country.
Finally, if possible, bring some amount as a safety net. This is the money you are counting on bringing back home, but want to have in case of emergency.
Choose Destination Wisely
Being smart about the destination is crucial to make sure your vacation isn’t ruined or that you don’t overspend. Some of the most important planning tips for me are the ones related to choosing a destination.
You might come across cheap offers for some exotic destinations like Thailand, but the reason it’s so cheap might be because that’s the rainy season.
Wherever you travel, research what are the seasons to avoid. Be especially careful about weather and surges in prices due to major holidays.
In any case, always make sure that your chosen destination serves your needs and abilities. For example, if you want to see Malta but are not looking to make it your summer beach vacation, you can take advantage of cheap airplane tickets off-season. The weather is still pleasant enough for sightseeing and the crowds are fewer.
Generally, wherever you travel from June to September everything from transportation to accommodation to supermarkets, will be more expensive. However, in Japan, the most expensive season is from March to May, due to the cherry blossom season. Similarly, countries in the north are more expensive during the Aurora Borealis season, mountains during skiing seasons, and so on.
Another thing to be aware of is holidays or festivals. So if you find yourself in Venice or Rio de Janeiro during the carnival season in February, it will get costly.
Plan and Book in Phases
Another planning tip I swear by is booking in phases.
Instead of spending hours or days trying to organize everything at the same time, I like to plan in phases.
Once I have a rough list of places to see, attractions, and the costs of main expenses, I start booking and paying.
I pay for airplane tickets first. From my experience with low-cost airline companies, you get the best deals if you book two months in advance.
For accommodation, I’ve been using booking.com for a long time, and now I often have some discounts and deals. Another option is finding a hotel on one of the platforms and then contacting them directly. Very often they can offer you better deals or free room upgrades.
I occasionally check prices for different destinations I want to visit and choose “free cancellation” and/or “no prepayment” options. This way, I often stumble upon very good deals for trips I might or might not be planning. I can book them with no strings attached and cancel the ones we opt out of.
The point is, start researching as early as you want, but 60 days before you are about to start your adventure, you should have figured out the way to get there, and have already either booked the plane, train, bus, or car and/or set aside the money you need for the ride.
If your accommodation doesn’t include food make sure you check what will be your best option. Buying groceries and pre-cooked food and cooking yourself, eating street food and fast foods, or you can afford to eat in restaurants all the time. We usually combine, depending on the situation.
Another benefit of this method is that you don’t need to have all the money you need for the trip at the same moment.
Use Official Sites and Apps
As I mentioned earlier, in my research phase I use different search engines.
For flights, those are Skyscanner, Momondo, and Google flights. Accommodation research is usually done through booking, locktrip, google, and Instagram. For trains and buses Omio, Rail Europe, and Skyscanner.
This way, I can check different companies and compare prices and dates. Also, it gives me an insight into what airline companies fly to the region I am trying to get to. Then, I can check their official site for more details and offers.
When visiting a location, I usually check Get Your Guide to make sure I am not missing anything important. There you can find great deals and entry tickets for different deals and sometimes even combinations of multiple places.
However, no matter what you are booking, never book directly from those sites. Usually, there is some fee that you have to pay. Not necessarily a big one, but still, why pay if you don’t have to?
Instead, download the app of that specific company or go to their official site and book there. Sometimes you will be offered a discount CODE. Or, the ticket will be cheaper than through some other platform. And, sometimes you will just benefit from finding dates that suit you better.
Be Time-Conscious
I know that we all want to relax on our vacations but some things are unavoidable. Careful travel planning can help us avoid the stress of rushing to finish things last minute, missing the tour because we couldn’t buy tickets when we wanted to go, and so on.
The first thing to be careful about is if the attractions you want to see are open on the day you are planning to be there. Sometimes they can be closed due to maintenance, renovation, holidays, or any other reason. Can you imagine going to Granada to see Alhambra, only to come there for two days and realize that it’s closed?
Another thing you want to pay attention to is your destination arrival time and hotel check-in times. Try to avoid long hours in between. If you are arriving at 8 am and your check-in time is 2 pm, you have to be able to fill that time most conveniently and effectively.
Also, be sure to check how far away are the attractions you want to see and how much time it takes to get from one place to another.
I usually make a list of all the things and places we want to see and visit. Then I use Google Maps to see where they are located. Finally, I make an itinerary so that we see everything in one area before moving to another.
Extra tip: always check if your booking is time-specific. Sometimes, you can visit any time of the day. In some cases, you have to show up at a specific time.
Research Budget-Friendly Options
Although the main attractions are not free of charge, or sometimes even affordable, that doesn’t mean that you have to miss out on some great experiences.
A travel planning must is checking are free admission days that exist in almost every city.
These are specific days in a month when some things can be visited free of charge. For example, in Vienna, it’s the first Sunday in a month when you can visit any museum for free. If you already have the trip planned, you can check if you are lucky that one of those days is when you are visiting. Alternatively, be proactive! Research if the destination you want to visit has those days and if you can organize your trip at that time.
Another very useful thing is free tours, which are not as rare as you’d think. You can find them on Trip Advisor, Get Your Guide, and other similar sites. There is also one great site I stumbled upon recently, Free Tours by Foot. Here you can search by city and find different free tours offered there.
Furthermore, some places regularly have ladies’ nights held at different bars and clubs. This means that women drink for free for a particular amount of time or a particular drink. These are very common in UAE, which is great considering eating and drinking out is what’s going to cost you the most there.
Pack Smart
One of the most important things when it comes to traveling, is packing.
For me, packing smart means not overpacking but also not ending up having to rotate 4 pieces of clothing during the whole vacation.
Overpacking is an issue for several reasons. First the price. The less you can take with you, the better. This way you can opt for a ticket with only hand luggage included which is way cheaper. However, this is rarely an option for longer trips or when visiting colder areas. Still, make sure to hone your packing game so that you pack as few things as possible because it’s also easier to move around when you travel light.
Another issue is bringing clothes that don’t suit the conditions. Always check the weather forecast and keep checking every day until you are about to leave. It can save you the trouble of using space with too many sweaters or having to spend the whole vacation in the same one because you only packed t-shirts, hoping for the best.
Finally, make sure to check if there are any cultural or religious rules to follow when entering certain areas. Sometimes you need to cover your head or the skirt/trousers need to be a specific length or style.
Make Room for Spontaneity
Although traveling on a limited budget means planning and organizing a lot, it doesn’t mean that there is no place for spontaneity. Make sure to leave room for surprises and ad-hoc opportunities that show up. But, sometimes you will also be forced to steer away from your plans and adjust to the circumstances.
Travel planning, for me, means making my itinerary in such a way that we alternate between busy and chill days. On busy days we have tours scheduled and particular places to see. On chill days we just roam around exploring the city. Or, hang out at a beach, park, or some other place where we can just relax and let the adventures come instead of chasing them. This also leaves space for rescheduling if necessary.
More importantly, there will be times when things will not go as planned. Tours will get canceled due to weather, flights will be delayed, trains will break down, and roads will be closed. There are so many things we don’t have control over. It’s delusional to think that just because we have planned every detail of our trip things will go smoothly and no changes will be necessary.
Stay open-minded and don’t allow those isolated moments to take away from enjoyment. Be adaptable, and flexible! And, always remember that after all, you are there to enjoy and explore, and neither of those has to be on schedule.
If you want to see how I used these travel planning tips to organize our trip to Andalusia, check my Destination Diary post How to Visit Andalusia on Budget, Pt. 1
Let me know in the comments if these are useful, and feel free to share the tips you have learned.
Also, check another article about travel tips&tricks that have changed my life.
Happy odyssey!
