What is the Best Way to Plan a Vacation?

Trips are more enjoyable when you have everything planned ahead. Think about it. What is your worst vacation ever? Had you planned before? Would the trip have been better with proper arrangements? If you wouldn’t want to experience a bad trip again, follow these tips to help you plan your next trip easier.

List 10 Places you want to Visit

Besides your dream vacation place, think of 10 other places you could visit. List all the places people have told you are amazing. Note down hotels and attraction sites you’ve seen on magazines and dreamed of going.

Search listings and images of amazing places that would interest you. Be choosy and narrow down to sites with wide varieties of activities and great sceneries. Find out if there will be any festivals at the time you decide to take your trip.

The types of dishes and taken by locals can also help choose where to go more aptly. In the end, you want to have multiple vacation options before you can make your schedule.

Pick the Most Important Places to Visit

Is a trip to the Grand Canyon more important than a vacation in Greece? Do you want to spend more time relaxing on the beach or hiking in the Himalayas? Your budget comes in handy here as it helps you know places you can or can’t afford.

But even if you have enough money to afford multiple locations, there are other factors that can help you choose the exact places to visit. Use your list of the top 10 places you dream of visiting to help you identify places you rank higher than others.

Maybe it is wild animals you are interested in seeing, or viewing historic artifacts in museums sounds more fun than watching soccer in Europe. During this stage of planning, the goal is to pick the ideal dream vacation.

Set a Budget for all Activities

Once you decide which city to visit and your duration of staying, make a budget of everything you’ll do. Start with your air tickets, your hotel room fees, and local transport costs. If your trip is a few months from happening, you can save a good chunk of your money by booking tickets early.

Booking foreign hotel rooms can be hectic because you probably have little information about them. Luckily, there are lots of comparison sites to help you out. Trip Advisor is always a good option for those who love reading reviews from fellow travelers.

Alternative, find professional reviews by trusted companies like Microsoft. Yes, the software company through MSN launched their hotels' comparison site a few years ago. MSN compares hotels their professionals have visited or at least done in-depth research about. There are hundreds of US and foreign hotels and tourist attraction sites reviewed on the site, most of which are also affordable.

Set Dates and Activities to Do

If you are like everyone else, you have a limited number of vacation days. For some, the trip could be a three-day weekend trip. Irrespective of the duration of your stay, account for each day. From the time you leave the airport to the last day you leave, know what you’ll do.

The rule of thumb with many vacationers is to visit 1-3 major sites and 1-2 minor places per day. This also applies to activities. You could attend the museum in the morning, visit a major heritage site and attend a massage therapy in the afternoon.

Planning ahead of time helps you fit visit every location and activity in the allocated dates efficiently. You are also better able to pair ideas and tours. You can star on activities or places you want to spend more time on or drop activities that are not a must do.

Deal with Local Transport

Planning for local transport is often harder than most people imagine. In some cities, flights may be expensive and buses or trains may be the only option. In others, local transport can be a nightmare due to overpopulation and bad roads.

So, before you accumulate dozens of places to visit, keep in mind that traveling could mess up with your itinerary. If using buses and trains, local traveling could consume half your days. This is not entirely a deal breaker since once you travel to another city, you could vacation there for a few days.

Again, not every country has messed up transport systems. Most of Europe uses buses and trains with predictable travel times. In Germany, for instance, you can view all travel times within a week. There are also sites that show you pre-scheduled travel times and prices.

Have Extra Cash for the Unforeseeable

Rarely does your budget fit everything. The weather can be unpredictable. Popular attraction sites and festivals could be overcrowded or you could get sick and require emergency cash. Be prepared for the unexpected by carrying extra cash.

Some people also take health insurance to get cover should they get sick in foreign cities. Concerning safety, drop tours to unsafe places immediately you learn about them. Also, considering staying in contact with the American embassy. You may need their help should something go wrong.

Schedule for your Plan B

Storms, earthquakes, terrorist activities—there are many reasons why you may be forced to cancel your vacation to a certain country. But instead of giving up, have a plan B ready.

If you have planned to visit the Philippines and canceled, work around your European schedule. Having a Plan B ensures that nothing can ruin your dream to vacation any time of the year. And isn’t that the essence of planning?

To Conclude

As they say, failing to plan is planning to fail. If you are thinking of going on a vacation, take time off your busy schedule and plan for it. List down all the places you’d want to visit and then narrow down to your top picks.

Let your budget guide you on what you can afford. After that, circle all the activities you want to do and places to visit. Budget for every to-do item and carry extra cash. Also, plan for an alternative destination should something happen and you have to cancel your first vacation trip.

This article does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors or management of EconoTimes.