Travel Planning Tips
Planning a trip. I love it almost as much as the trip itself. It’s my way of turning the daunting, unknown world into a familiar place well before my feet hit the ground. The research, organizing, and list making are a part of my love language. It almost feels like taking your vacation on a date before you decide to fly there and get married.
Mentally packing my bag 6 months in advance……that’s me. And it makes me happy. But that may not be YOU. Regardless, some trips require a level of organization and preparation, especially if you are headed overseas.
Here is my approach to planning your next dream vacation and some of my favorite resources.
Get to know your location
Start your planning journey by getting to know your location of choice. I seek out books, videos, podcasts, and more to form a feel for our upcoming adventure. As you absorb info keep an eye out for tips on:
Purchase Guidebooks:
I love to start planning by purchasing a good guidebook on my destination of choice. It is important to select one that is up to date, especially with how many local treasures across the world were lost to COVID
closures, so be sure to look for a book published within the last year. Get out your little sticky notes, pen and paper. It’s time to start your bucket list.
My personal guidebook of choice is DK Eyewitness Top 10 . Covering major cities like London, Paris, Rome, and more, their approach is to take topics like museums, parks, kid friendly activities and present the top 10 of each. It easily breaks down destinations into absorbable pieces and ensures that you can select things to see that your family will love. The books are
small, making them packable, but FULL of information.
Another great feature is that the back of each book provides an overview of a single area or neighborhood. Making it easy to find the top 10 restaurants, parks, markets, etc. in the part of town you are in. Looking for the best shopping in the 7th Arondissement (neighborhood) in Paris? They have you covered!
Seek Out Local Guides via Instagram & Pinterest:
There is no better tour guide than a local who LOVES where they live and play. Instagram and Pinterest are my favorite places to seek out these wonderful content creators. If you aren’t sure who to follow start by following larger tourism offices or searching by location-oriented hashtags.
Instagram content creators are a great resource for accommodation, restaurants, and hidden gems. Another tip- take the list of places you flagged in your guidebook and see if they have accounts you can follow!
Look for Tourism Offices & App’s
Most major destinations have a tourism website with tips or even an app to explore. Take note of other helpful apps to use while you are there, like local taxi services or other transport. For example, London has their Visit London App, and the TFL Oyster App is handy for tube and train use. With Locals is another favorite, serving multiple cities and helping connect you with local guides for unique experiences.
Get Your Plan Together
Now that we know what we want to do on our vacation it is time to start determining which activities require pre-planning and getting a taste for which of them are in close proximity. We love to have a mix of ticketed attractions but also have a feel for those that we need not plan, allowing portions of our adventure to feel more spontaneous. Often it is in the in-between moments where we have allowed time to breathe and wander that we get the greatest feel for a culture and place!
Research Which Activities Require Pre-Planning
Many museums and tourist destinations have held on to timed entry tickets in our post pandemic world as a way to control traffic. This makes it very important to determine which activities on your must do list require timed entry tickets, require a ticket but are untimed, or don’t require pre-planning.
I like to make a key for my activity list that looks something like this:
Determine Which Activities are Near One Another
Don’t get caught crisscrossing your destination! I find it helpful to place all of the activities we want to do onto a digital map, to easily view items that are close together and to tackle them in groups. Include everything you are dreaming of doing, eating, and seeing! This is a great way to ensure you feel the freedom of not overplanning each day and are able to have a more organic feeling adventure.
Creating an Apple Map Guide or Google Map is a great easy way to view your must-see items.
Our map usually includes:
- Tourist Destinations
- Museums
- Shops & Markets
- Restaurants
- Parks
Create an Apple Guide
Creating your own Apple Maps Guide is a fantastic way to keep all you want to do on vacation easily accessible and neatly organized. They are easily sharable with your family or travel buddies. Here are the steps to make your own:
- Open your Apple Maps Application
- Scroll down to the “My Guides” Section and Click New Guide
- Give your list a title and add a cover image and hit Create!
- Now simply select your first destination. Click the three-dot box and choose Add to Guides. Select the new Guide you just created!
Once you add all of location’s to the map you will have a handy guide of YOUR locations in one place. When you open your Maps Application you can now scroll straight to the bottom, select your guide, and use while on your trip!
