There is a
distinct joy in planning your travel yourself. I am a sucker for research &
planning before I travel to one of my chosen destinations. I tend to enjoy my
trips fully when I have done the research & planning. Millennials are switching from travel agents
to making their own bookings online. I recommend not only making your flight &
stay bookings but also jotting down an itinerary & day plans for your trip
based on your personal expectation of your travel.
It is important to first understand your key take backs that you are looking for from your trip. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to know what you want from your holiday. Every city or place that you plan to visit will have a myriad of things to see/do, places to eat at/shop.
I like to note down exactly what I would like to do on a particular holiday, whether it is to just relax and enjoy my hotel or eat at different restaurants and try different cuisines or explore the local culture or go for adventure related activities or shop and go sightseeing or learn a different skill/cooking from the region. Even if it is a little bit of all of the above it can be spread across different days. This will also help you to pick the right destination along with planning the number of days you will require.
Once you have finalised the destination, it is time to research the top things to do in that city/country. This can be done by reading peoples blogs, reviews, local Instagram top restaurant/food bloggers, tourism pages & websites like www.lonelyplanet.com
DON’T CALL IT A DREAM, CALL IT A PLAN!
Some tips to plan your bookings & itinerary:
- Pre-book all your visits & purchase tickets if required to monuments/famous tourist spots online.
- Pre plan your days in a way that you can pre-book any intercity train/bus rides.
- Research weather and the best months to go to a destination beforehand to avoid any disappointments with national parks, theme parks and other excursions being closed.
- If you are planning adventure (diving, rock climbing, sky diving, etc) do give yourself a break. Plan 1 relax day in between each of your action-packed days.
- Last but not the least, plan to see as many sunsets as possible on all of your travels x
