How to Create the Perfect Travel Plan
Rule number one about PLANS and GREAT ADVENTURES? Do never follow them!
Everytime I am thinking about a new trip I start studying and plan every second of it. But then I just let life surprise me along the way.
The best plan is having no plans right? Yes. Oh well, kind of.
I usually like to travel very open to any surprise and itinerary change, and even when I am not, it just often happen every time. Friendly locals invite me to join them for a few days, someone tell me about an amazing place I didn’t hear about before, the weather is bad where I was supposed to go but freakin’ good somewhere else and so on. You’ll never know. But I still believe it is crucially important to have everything well planned at the start of the trip, especially if with a limited time or budget.
But how to create the perfect trip plan?
In this short guide I will explain you how I usually set up my next Adventure, with the due slightly differences depending on the kind of journey: plan a weekend to a nearby city obviously requires way less effort than a month in a whole new country
I also have a little gift for you at the end of the post.. which I really hope will not be too long and boring
1) Choosing Trip Lenght and Destination
First, crucial step. Not always as easy as it can seem. Sometimes you have a very clear idea of where you want to go and how many days spend there. Some others you just want to travel anywhere for the few free days you have. Or maybe you are thinking to plan an year long journey with no idea of where to start it from.
Picking the destination: narrow the focus
Sometimes having to many possibilities can make the choice a bit overwhelming.
When I really can’t decide, I usually let flights choose for me. It helps me select a few options among the whole world available, and also make me save good money on flights.
As always, I use Skyscanner to compare flights prices, in this case just putting the starting city or country and everywhere as destination. With a fixed departure date, or the whole month if I am not on a tight shedule. (full guide..)
Otherwise just check elements like the seasonal weather, and the kind of experience you are looking for (I would not go to the hymalaias if I feel like doing some scuba diving!). And if there are some particular events in that period, like traditional festivals and celebrations.
Of course another importat element is the time! The longer the further as a general rule, even if sometimes closer placecs can be more activity dense and time consuming to visit.
The Timing factor: how long to Travel for?
That firstly depends on your availability. Again, do not have any time limitations can be as good for the experience as it is tricky to plan, especially if you need to already book your outgoing flight.
If I don’t have a tight schedule I usually prefer to book only one way. I like to keep the freedom to see how the trip is going and decide along the way if stay more or even leave earlier. But sometimes having the return booked is a must, and in general having an idea of the number of days available makes the planning easier.
When I was planning my Japanese trip I have been stressing out quite a while trying to find a balance between a good enough amount of time to see “all” and be able to not go back home totally broke. Slow travel usually makes you save some money. For example travellling by bus and local transports instead of fast trains, but you will still have to pay for accomodation and food. I guess you eat also at home, but maybe there you’ll be more likely to save money cooking! Unless you don’t have enough time to find a way to don’t pay for that, like doing a Workaway. Then one month stay will probably turn out cheaper than a 5 days trip. And it will lead you to very unique experience, in most cases.
Back to the planning, what I finally realized is that you will never be able to see and do everything. So before getting to crazy even before start, just pick a certain amount of time (I choose 20 days in that japanese case), see what you can sort out in that period, and then eventually add or cut off something.
One note about “Seeing Everything”
I used to be quite obsessed with take the most out of every journey, jumping from one place to another and see as much as possible because “You’ll never know when and if you will be back there”. But I lately discovered that also in travel less is more. After a while, all the (tourist) places looks the same. And I find far away nicer, other than enjoyable, see a bit less but really enjoy the vibes and traditions. Taking the time to meet the locals and let them guiding you to discover their culture. Other than jumping around with no clue.
So choose a certain amount of time to plan, and be open to change it if possible.
2) Study your destination(s)
Now we come to the fun part! Studying your destination means discovery as much as possible about it: what to do and see, how to move around and behave, where to go, what to eat.. pretty much everything. One more time, it can be a bit overwhelming, as we are always surrounded by more ore less honest information.
As you might know, I always look for experiences as much as possible off the beaten path, and I don’t like to follow the touristy routes. However, I believe a good travel guide can be the best starting point to have a first overview, and I mostly rely on the Lonely Planet ones.
Together with looking for more inspirations on Travel Blogs and You Tube videos.
3) Make planning list
A good studying is not only about reading and watching, but also taking notes! I start just listing of what I find most interesting: experiences, places, and food. And then I will take any point of the list as a keyword for deeper studying, this time mostly on specific blog posts. I need to discover what it is really about, how to get there, how much does it cost and so on. And then decide if and how much time does it worth.
Sometimes I find out it is just another tourist draw. But researching about something often leads me to to discover other nicer and hidden options. Eventually also far away cheaper! Like hiking to Pidurangala Rock instead of Sigiriya in Sri Lanka. And also less common but local ways to getting there and moving around.
4) Put it on a Map
Maps, my favourite buddies before, during and after any trip!
Cheeky little secret, the free city maps are one of the very few souvenirs I like to collect and keep as a tangible memory of any journey. Whenever it is possible I try to get 2: one to use along the way and the other to draw up with itinerary and notes and bring back home.
But if you are not in the place yet. –Probably not, as we are still planning the journey, right?– The first step will be to print out or download the plainest possible map of the country, area or city we are about to visit. And then put on it all the points founded before. If the target is a whole country, I will usually firstly refer to a city (or area) for each point, and then dive into details later on.
If you don’t feel like printing a map for any pointed city, you can still make an in-depth targets list ready to use. And then spending some time planning the exact itinerary once reached the place. Ask to your hostel or any tourist info point to get a map! My favourite is the one from the Hop on hop off buss tours, with also their itinerary drawn on it.
5) Connecting the dots
Once you have your map all pinned, is time to find the smarter way to connect all its dots. In a matter of order and best route and transportation.
Remember closer does not always mean cheaper. Sometimes making a stop at midway between two cities can turn out being more expensive than travel back and forth from one of them. Basically because bigger spots are usually linked also by alternative and cheaper ways, while less travelled routes can be more expensive.
I got an example of this in Japan. I paid more to go from Osaka to Mt. Fuji (with the Shinkansen) and then to Tokyo than I would have taking the night bus between the two cities. And then a return bus to Fuji from the capital.
Generally speaking, there will be always cheaper ways. Just consider if they worth the additional time effort. You can save lots of money travelling around any country with public busses or riding a bicycle (that’s on my list!). But if you only have a very few days to spend there, you will probably end up seeing not much. And eventually wasting your expensive flight.
How to plan the route?
Start from your first target, like the cheapest flight airport city. And choose the last one, if you already have it.
I’ve found good bargains leaving Cuba from Santa Clara instead of L’Havana, or starting my Japanese Trip from Osaka instead of Tokyo. This is how I find cheap flights by the way.
Then use Google Maps or any other interactive map tool to discover the best route.
If you are about to drive between the places, head to ViaMichelin: it will give you the best, fastest or cheapest route for any means of transportation. And it will also give you an accurate overview of fuel and tolls costs, depending on your vehicle model.
But once again, I mostly rely on forums and blogs, especially when it is about public transports. Just ask to our friend Google something like “how to travel from A to B”, and see what pops out.
If your destination is Italy, I hope my post will help you. It is more like a general overview, but I will always be happy to help you with more details, so do not hesitate to contact me!
In this planning phase, I will also try to find as many information on journey times and costs, as transports can often be the biggest expense.
And also to become aware of any particular schedule: sometimes transport links don’t run every day. Like the public ferries in the Maldives and some cheaper ones in the Philippines.
Travelling time can also be very important, because there is no point to planning to visit a city per day, and then discover the journey between them will take you 6 hours.
6) Build the real itinerary
Targets chosen, ordered and connected. It’s now time to dive into the itinerary details. Here I will usually reserve a page (or more) for each point. Decide how much time to spend there, list the activities, what to see, what to eat and where and the kind of accommodation I will look for. With costs and timing breakdown of everything.
About the accommodation, I usually take a look just to have an idea of what to expect to find a pay, but I don’t like to book it too far ahead. I generally like to only reserve the first 1 or 2 nights, and then see daily how the trip goes. I love the freedom to being very flexible with the itinerary, changing schedule and destinations on the way.
Just keep on eye on booking to see if they’re strangely running out of spots, especially if you need to find a cheap accommodation. Once I decided to reach Melbourne when Ed Sheeran was about to having a concert. Needless to say, I almost had to spend the night at Mc Donald’s, the only budget alternative to the totally-booked hostels and pricey hotels. Luckily a friend saved me from the experience. But I’ve learnt the lesson: do not take anything for granted, even a big city can run out of places. Or at least join the concert and find a good reason for sleeping in the streets!
Another planning option, especially for when the journey length is the ruler, is to reserve a page for each day. See how much and what you can fit into any of them and build the route out of it. Once again, widely consider how much time it will take to go from one place to another, and do not try to rush too much.
7)Final Step: ENJOY your Trip!
Now that you got everything sorted, it is time to enjoy the trip! As I wrote in the opening, having a too strict plan could make you miss out some unexpected opportunities.
My best Adventures advice is always to be as flexible and open to changes as possible!
But having a good plan already built will save you from wasting your precious travelling time wondering what will be your next step, or trying to figure out how to do something. Also remember you will not always have internet connection or other tools to help you planning along the way. I have been spending way too many hostel evenings sorting out the following day instead of going out. Only because I didn’t gather enough information before. So better to always have a good plan to follow in case you don’t find any unexpected better option.
And a good knowledge of how things work will also help you spot tourist scams, probably every traveller worst enemy.
Promise kept, it is now time for the surprise!
First of all thanks you for reading all the way to here, I hope my guide will be helpful.
To make the planning even easier, Get my Trip Planning Journal! I will send the PDF straight to your inbox, just put your address in the box below.
I will not annoy you with spam and daily emails, I promise! And you will be able to unsubscribe at anytime.
You can choose to print it and handwriting on it, fill it with a pdf software like adobe reader, or using its pattern as inspiration to write in your travel diary.
I personally love to adding those pages at the start of a little workbook, leaving some blank space in between for eventual additional planning, and then using the same as travel diary along the way.
As always, remember to contact me if you need any help. And I would love to see Your Travel Plans, and listen to your ideas and suggestions, so feel free to send a message!
Thank you for taking the time to read this post!
Feel free to leave a comment below or share it with your friends, if you liked it. I would really appreciate it : )
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