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Anyone who really knows me understands that planning trips is one of the things I enjoy the most. Honestly, if I could have a job where I create detailed, personalized travel plans for others it would be a dream come true!
However, I know that not everyone enjoys planning trips. Many of my friends express how stressful it is and how they never even know where to start. I thought I would share my trip planning process since I have planned quite a few amazing trips using this formula...including a month long adventure to Ireland, Scotland, England, and Wales with just carry-on luggage!
We may not be able to go anywhere right now, but that doesn’t mean we can’t dream and plan!
That being said, here are the steps I take to plan low-stress trips within our budget:
Step 1: Start Early
This isn’t really a step, per se, but I think it’s important to mention. If you wait to plan your trip until a week before, it’s going to be a lot more stressful to make sure you can do the things you want within your budget. I highly recommend planning a trip several months to a year out (depending on the type of trip and the location!)
For example, these days, it’s best to start planning a Disney trip more than 180 days out so that you can take advantage of the advanced dining reservations as well as Fastpass+ reservations. If you are traveling internationally, it’s good to plan at least a year in advance so that you have the best chance to get a great deal on flights. If you are planning a trip a few hours away from home, you don’t need to plan as early. Really, there is no time like the present!
Step 2: Daydream
This is by far the most fun and least stressful part of planning a trip! Honestly, I usually start this process months if not years before I ever truly start planning the details. Pinterest and Instagram are great places to start. I save images or take screenshots of places that look really interesting so that I can find them again later.
For example, if I know that I want to go on an international trip sometime in the next year or so, I start looking up countries I would be interested in visiting. I’ll even create a pinterest board and start pinning different places that look interesting. At this point, I’m not really narrowing it down to specific locations within a country or city, but I’m just trying to figure out the general area where I would most like to go. I like to have a few options of places that look fun to visit, so that I have some options when I get to the next step.
Step 3: Set a Budget and a Time Frame
After daydreaming, it’s time to get into the nitty gritty of the planning. This is a part a lot of people skip, but please don’t! The last thing you want is to plan a trip and get to the departure date just to realize you will have to go into debt to make it happen.
First, I set a time where I know I would be available to go on vacation (usually summer break for this teacher). Next, I look at my accumulated savings and my budgeted savings for the months (or year) leading up to the trip. I calculate how much money I will have by the time I need to pay for the different parts of my trip (flight, hotel, pre-planned excursions, etc). I take that number and I usually tell myself I have a few hundred less than that, because travel usually costs more than you expect! That gives me a nice buffer in case things are more expensive than planned.
Step 4: Price it Out and Choose a Destination!
Once you figure out the time of year you want to travel and the budgeted amount you have, it’s time to price out some options to figure out what you can afford. At this point, I open up my pinterest board and make a list of all of the places we want to go. Then, I look up how much different aspects of each trip would cost.
I usually start by searching flights around the time of year I would go to get an idea for the average price. This can often eliminate some options right away. For example, if I only have $3,000 to spend, going to New Zealand is going to be hard unless I get a truly amazing deal on flights. Then, I look up hotels or airbnbs that I could stay at in each place and make an average of how much it would cost per night to stay there. That helps me decide how many nights I could stay in each place.
Next, I add on things like rental car, food, attractions, etc. I always make sure to look as many things up as possible to get an idea of the actual amount I can expect to spend. To be on the safe side, I try to guess my numbers high or on the higher end of average, just in case. After I do this, I decide on which place makes the most sense with my budget and with the type of trip I want to take! For example, a family trip to Disney World and a trip to Europe are more similar in price than one might think...so you have to think about what type of vacation you would prefer!
Step 5: Choose Specific Attractions
After I know the general place I want to travel, I begin looking into the best things to do there. I ask friends, look at Pinterest and Instagram, and research reviews on Tripadvisor. At this point, it’s really important to talk to whoever you are traveling with to get their input on things they want to do. Part of planning a trip means making sure everyone going has a great experience!
I keep a list of the top places we want to visit, along with prices and days/times attractions are open. That last part is especially important when traveling abroad. In the U.S., we are used to things being open all of the time, but in the UK most of the places shut down by 5 p.m. or are only open certain days of the week. If we hadn’t planned these things in advance we definitely would have missed out on some great experiences! Once I had the whole list, we moved on to the next step.
Step 6: Map it Out + Narrow it Down
Next, I like to pull up Google maps and type in all of the attractions I plan to visit. Then, I map out the most logical route. I try to consider things like how long the drives/walks will take between each location and how much time we will need at each attraction we visit. Usually, you can find the average time needed at attractions on TripAdvisor, which I consult a lot when planning a trip!
During this process, you will most likely have to cut out some of the places you want to visit. I usually find that the amount of places I want to visit and the time/money I have to do so do not correlate with one another. This is not the most fun part, but it needs to be done. If you try to cram too much into your schedule you will NOT have as much fun. (I know from experience!)
Step 7: Make Your Itinerary
The planning nerd in me absolutely loves this step, so I go all out. I make not only a weekly plan, but a daily itinerary. Planning a trip in detail is part of my way of anticipating and building up excitement for where I’m about to go. I also like to avoid making decisions when I’m on the trip, so I plan it out ahead of time. This way, I can just enjoy it all instead of worrying about what to do next. That is totally not necessary...just something I enjoy!
However, I definitely recommend you at least make a rough outline of where you plan to go and when. This will help you make sure that you can fit everything you want to do into your trip. You don’t want to wait until the last minute to decide and then realize the museum or zoo you want to see is closed on that day!
Step 8: Choose Your Hotels (or Airbnb!)
After you decide where to go and when you will be in each location, it’s time to look at exactly where you would like to stay. If you are planning early enough, you shouldn’t have to book yet...but you can if you have the money already!
To be honest, I almost always choose to book an Airbnb instead of a hotel. I list the many reasons why in a blog post you can read here. The biggest reasons are that I can usually get more space, for a better price, in a more central location. I like to go on Airbnb and look in the area where most of the attractions are. Then I narrow down my search to our needs and make a “favorite” list with the places I’m most interested in. If I’m not ready to book them yet, I can always find them easily and book them as the trip approaches.
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Step 9: Keep Your Eye Out for Good Flights!
Usually, you need to buy flights several months before your trip. When we went to Europe, I actually bought our flights almost a year in advance and we spent about half of what I budgeted, which was pretty awesome! There is definitely something to be said about checking early and checking often.
There are a lot of articles about how to get great flights, so I won’t go into too much detail. However, I have found the cheapest flights consistently when using Kayak on an incognito browser (so that it doesn’t store cookies). Another way to get cheap flights is to try an email service like Scott's Cheap Flights. I am signed up for the free version, but for a small yearly subscription, you can get amazing flights emailed straight to you. I'm not sponsored by or affiliated with them in any way...I just like the service! I will be signing up for this the year before we take our next international trip! You actually book the tickets through the airline itself, so no need to feel wary about using a third party. I’ve seen some awesome prices even on the free version...like $400 roundtrip to Paris or $600 roundtrip to Africa on a non-budget airline!
Step 10: Look forward to your amazing trip!
That part is easy, right? :)
While not everyone enjoys planning trips as much as I do, I hope this list gives you some clarity on the steps you can take to make sure you have a great vacation. When you follow these steps, you will be so much more likely to stay within your budget and have a truly enjoyable trip with little stress. Happy travel planning!
-Katie