How to Plan A Trip

Welcome back everyone!

This will be my first travel-related post since all the Europe posts from summer, which honestly gets me really excited for my next vacation. My mom and I are planning a trip to Seattle with possibly an excursion to Vancouver or Victoria (Canada) for Thanksgiving break; I’ve wanted to go to Seattle forever, and I can’t wait to go. It’s so nice to have something to look forward to now that I’m completely back in my school routine and the work is piling on. Anyways, since I’m in the middle of planning this trip, I figured I would share our process!

Figure out when you can go – I think this is even more important than where you want to go in some cases, because you have to consider the weather and the convenience. If it’s spring break and your family can only a five-day trip, you probably want to do something more local. If it’s winter, you might prefer to go somewhere warm and tropical, etc.
Decide where you want to go – In most cases you probably have somewhere in mind, but if you don’t, that’s almost more fun! Definitely go somewhere you’ve always wanted to, but if you’re having trouble deciding I would recommend going with whatever’s the best deal at the time. Skyscanner is a great website to see what places are cheapest to travel to at certain times.
Find flights – This is the first step to actually booking everything for your trip. Search out the deals ahead of time- last-minute tickets can be super pricey. If you travel a lot, I would recommend getting a points card/loyalty account/whatever they call it with your favorite airline- my family has only started traveling in the past couple of years so we don’t have one, but I know they come with lots of benefits.
Book hotels – Obviously it’s awesome to be in a really nice hotel, but I’m not too particular about that stuff. As long as it’s clean and they have decent amenities, I’m fine. Again, check out the deals beforehand and make sure your hotel is in a good part of the city/town/area you’re going to- location can be everything!! It’s fine to have a short walk to places (yay, exercise!) but if you’re too far and there’s not good public transportation, you’ll find yourself taking cabs/Ubers a lot and spending a lot of extra money.
Start looking up train tickets/any other transportation transfers you may need – You can definitely book these things last minute and be fine, but it will be a lot cheaper if you do it in advance. Plus, everything will already be done and ready once you get to your destination. Map out day trips and transfers if you’re traveling across multiple locations and book accordingly.
Book any “special” excursions or tours – Similar to the last tip, these are things you can book at anytime, but I would still recommend booking them early. If you’re not the type of person who likes to book more structured activities/tours, that’s totally fine! You’ll probably save even more money and it’s all about your personal traveling style.
Research restaurants and spots to go if you’re that type of planner – This is the most optional step; if there are certain places that are a must-see (given tourist spots, like the Space Needle in Seattle) or places you’ve heard about and always wanted to go to, obviously you know you want to go there. However, if you’re a big planner and want to go the extra mile, you can also look up restaurants and more quirky sights. It’s all about what you want to fill your time with, but there’s probably lots of options wherever you’re going.
Anticipate your amazing trip! – Now that you’ve planned a trip, there’s something to look forward to until it comes! You can go shopping in preparation so you have some nice new clothes to wear, you can make sure all of your luggage is in good shape, etc. If you need passport renewals or any travel document updates of that sort, make sure to get them in advance. Other than that, just get excited!!

I know these are all pretty self-explanatory tips, but I hope my little twist on them gave you a few new things to remember the next time you plan a trip. Thanksgiving break is kind of far away but I know the time will fly, so we can all look forward to my Seattle posts! As always, I’m here to answer questions and take requests for new content. I’m writing this on the first weekend of the school year, so I haven’t figured out my new posting schedule yet. I will be determining that in the next week or so. Keep an eye out for new content!

-Brooke