A STEP BY STEP GUIDE TO PLANNING THE PERFECT TRIP
Do you need to help to plan your perfect trip? You’re not alone it’s one of the most popular topics I get asked for advice on. Trip planning can be daunting. Where do you begin? What’s step one? What’s the next step?
There’s simply so much information out there these days from blogs, social media, guidebooks, YouTube which sounds like it would make the task easier but it’s easy to get very overwhelmed with the abudance of information. Relax. I’m going to give you a 10 step guide to planning the perfect trip whether it’s a week holiday or a longer term 6 month trip.
Step 1 - Decide where you want to go?
The first things to do is really pin down where you want to go. Close your eyes, imagine you’re already on your trip. Where are you? What are you doing? Are you exploring a city? Relaxing on the beach in the sun? Hiking through mountains? Roadtripping across a country? Do you want a hot weather or cold weather trip? That will help out alot in quickly ruling out many destinations. If you want some sun and heat Iceland is going to be off the cards and similarly if a winter holiday is what you want countries close to the equator are going to be a no go.
Do a few google searches for some keywords that you think of when you think of this trip such as beach holiday in Asia or worlds best roadtrips. I always find it useful to use Pinterest or Instagram as they’re very visual platforms. As you look through click on anything that catches your eye and make a note of any countries or places that you are drawn to.
You should also think about activities you want to do on holiday. Everyones different but for me I would google ‘best places for hiking’, ‘great snorkelling spots in europe’ or ‘best beaches in Asia.’
You should now have an idea of your perfect next travel adventure.
Step 2 - Decide the length of your trip
Are you going for a week? A month? A year? Maybe it’s simply a long weekend break. The length of your trip will also help determine where you’re going to go. Maybe in your researching you stumbled across Malaysia and feel it would be a fantastic place for a trip and it’s somewhere you’d love to visit but if you only have a few days available to you that’s not going to be enough time to get to Malaysia - this time round.
Step 3 - Research costs
Now you know where you’re going and how long you’re going you need to figure out roughly how much it’s going to cost you at that destination for your style of travel. Do you want luxurious hotels or are you wanting a more cheap and cheerful experience? How much are hotels, restaurants, attractions? If there’s any particular activity you want to do such as paragliding, scuba diving etc?
My advice here would be, don’t feel the need to overplan, unless that’s your things and you love it. With all the information available to us it’s very easy to go down the rabbit hole and get confused and overwhelmed.
What you need is
rough cost of hostel/hotel/villa per night for your travel requirements
rough cost of meals out
rough cost of any activities you want to do
As an example you’ve decided on Bali as your destination and you’re going to go for 3 weeks. You want luxury accomodation and your research tells you you can get the accomodation you want for around £80 per night. You discover that meals could be around £15 a day. There’s no big activity you want to do over there but you’d possibly like to travel around the island a little and your research tells you boat trips/transport around the island is relatively cheap so you will budget an additional £200.
Accomodation per night £80 (80x21nights = £1680) plus meals £15 per day (15x21days = £315)
£1680 + £315 + additional £200 = £2195. Round up a little to £2300 as it’s always nice to have a little extra and you know that’s how much you need for your trip without the flight.
Step 4 - Start saving money
I recommend having a travel sinking fund so you always have some money available for your travel trips. But if you haven’t already done this you’re going to have to start saving for that trip. Before you can start saving you need to understand your current financial position. Write down all your expenses so you can see where you’re spending money and where you can cut back. Most people spend little amounts of money here and there that they don’t even realise they’re doing. Maybe you can cut back on buying lunch at work a couple of days a week and take food from home. Maybe instead of going for a night out or meal out with friends you invite them round to yours instead. There are many creative ways to save little bits of money here and there.
Step 5 - Book your flight
It’s time to start getting things booked! My favourite place to book flights is Skyscanner. It’s the best website to search many places at the same time and see whole months prices instead of one specific date. Generally the best deals for flights can be found 2-3 months in advance.
Step 6 - Book accommodation
If you’re travelling for 3 weeks and under and have a set schedule you can book all your accommodation for the whole trip. Or if you’re travelling during peak season and it will give you peace of mind to have your accommodation all sorted and booked.
If you’re travelling for longer or if you want to be a little more spontaneous on your trip just book your first few days. This can be extremly nerve-wracking the first time you do it but as with most things the more you do it, the easier it will become. There’s been many an occasion when at 6pm I didn’t have a bed for the night but with a few quick searches I’ve found something in the location I wanted.
Having the first few days booked means you have a place to go on arrival and it gives you a few days to get to know the area a little, ask hotel staff or other travellers for advice so you can then choose what you want to do next.
When searching for accommodation always check a few places as it can be amazing the price difference between different websites/apps.
I like to use:
Booking.com - best overall for finding budget hotels
HostelWorld - has the largest selection of hostels
Hotels.com - Good for more luxury accommodation and has a great reward program where you get 1 free night every 10 stays
If you are travelling longer term I’d really recommend housesitting as it offers free accommodation generally in exchange for taking care of someones house whilst they are away often including their pets.
Step 7 - Plan activities
Now you have flights and accommodation booked it’s time for the fun part - planning your time there. Now how you so this all depends on the type of person you are. Maybe you just want to do a little research and then book things when you’re there. Maybe you don’t want to do any research at all and just see what’s on offer once you arrive. Personally, I wouldn’t particularly recommend this a it’s more than likely you will miss out on things.
I like to overplan the stuff. I pin places on google maps, I have a Pinterest board for each place I travel to, I save images on Instagram.
You choose how you want to go about this but I’d recommend at least pinning a few blog posts to Pinterest that has ideas on things to do. If you’re booking specific tours or activities I always use Viator.
Step 8 - Pack
Now you know where you are going, how you will get there and what you are going to be doing when you get there, there is only one thing left to do - get packing. I’d recommend a packing list. You can either do it on your phone or a hand written one. I prefer using my phone so I can add to it whenever something comes to mind.
It can be really tempting to pack everything ‘just in case’ but over the years I’ve learned that less is more when it comes to travel. A piece of travel advice someone once offered me is ‘Double the money and half the packing.’ Whilst I don’t quite agree with double the money (although a little bit extra never hurt anyone) I do agree with halving the clothes. You don’t need 12 t-shirts or 6 pairs of shoes. Trust me! You can get by with less. I always think - ‘everything I bring I’ve got to carry’ and to be honest I’d like to carry as little as possible.
You then need to decide it you are travelling with a backpack or suitcase. Personally I travel backpack most places. I use the Osprey Farpoint 40 and a smaller bag that fits perfectly under the seat of any airline.
Some things that I like to pack with me other than my clothes and toiletries are:
First Aid Kit add some paracetamol to this too or any other medication that could help you
Step 9 - Travel insurance
After the excitment of packing it’s down to something more serious - travel insurance. Too many people don’t think they need travel insurance and so don’t bother getting it. They think that they’re healthy at home so why would they get travel insurance. It’s one of those things that you should always buy but you hope to never have to use.
It covers more than just medical expenses. I’ve had my passport and all my money stolen - travel insurance solved that. I’ve dropped my camera and completely broke it - travel insurance solved that. I’ve had a phone stolen - travel insurance solved that. It covers a range of scenarios. Bad things happen even when we’re on holiday on travelling and it’s good to have that peace of mind.
Step 10 - Enjoy the trip
Have a great time!
