Wednesday, August 21, 2024

What is your trip planning style? Or, are you the one in the family that does the planning? Tom will give me ideas of destinations and what he has usually seen on tv about it. He is a big channel flipper and watches a lot of “educational tv”. He has also discovered Instagram Reels and sends me a lot of them on the daily.

We never plan too far in advance. I don’t know. I think it would be great, but that’s not usually our style.

If you are doing air travel, I think stalking ticket prices for a bit is a good idea. I use an incognito browser to do this so that the internet doesn’t mess with me and know that I am looking for specific tickets.

After getting tickets, it’s important to secure your lodgings.

Then, I start trying to plan out the days with a few things that are more “set in stone” and then just list things I can do that day if time permits.

I need to get better about looking at things geographically to see what makes sense to bundle or couple with something else.

On our UK trip last year, I usually had one reservation per day and that gave each day a bit of structure. But, it was also the holidays so I was worried about being able to eat at certain places or do certain things.

I like to check out library books – especially Rick Steves books – and read all about what there is to do. I also read things online and look at Instagram and Pinterest. I also check out blog posts that may involved my destination.

I create a Google doc with all the details and take that with me. This doc gets edited so many times before it is all said and done.

It is really important to be to not be too over-scheduled or militant and leave room for spontaneity or just relaxing and people watching.

I actually love the planning process! It’s so fun!

One of my favorite things about travel is doing normal daily life things like using public transportation and checking out grocery stores. I think this is why I love, love, love Airbnb. You feel more like a resident than a tourist.

What about you?

Amy