Travel Resources -

Here is My Fool proof Travel Planning Method with lots of little tips and resources. If you’d like to skip to my most used resources click here:

1. Time: Some people have the luxury of travelling whenever, for however long they want…others with full 9-5 jobs don’t always have that flexibility. Therefore, the first guideline for trip planning is based on the question HOW LONG DO I HAVE. If you only have one week to travel it’s probably a bad idea to go somewhere that involves a 15 hour flight or lots of layovers.

source: @Dariuszsankowski[/caption]

2. Choosing a Destination: Anyone can choose a place and go, but my tactic is little different. Because I have SO many places I’d love see, before I choose my destination I open google maps. Based on my time frame I look at places and their proximity to me. If I only have a week I’ll fly somewhere closer, however if I have two months I can group destinations that interest me and are close together. ie. Scotland, London, Paris, Amsterdam etc. It’s also very important to research if a place is safe. Don’t just look at one post that says a place is dangerous, check out a few other posts and trip advisor forums. Often places that the media portrays as very dangerous have certain areas that are safer or ways to stay safe when travelling there. There are also great tips about how to avoid scams and thefts.

3. When: Just because may is a good month for YOU, DOESN’T mean it’s a good month for your destination. You wouldn’t want to pay for a vacation to see the northern lights only to find out you’ve arrived one of the months where it’s impossible to see them. I once paid 100$ for a turtle viewing excursion people raved about…but when I went it wasn’t egg laying season so we didn’t see any. Two questions you need to ask yourself when choosing a time to travel is WHAT do I want to see? and What SEASON is it? There are on and off seasons for almost every destination and pros/cons to both. For example, I travelled Europe in the fall. Some monuments where under construction or closed BUT we had the cheapest flight/accommodation prices and the tourists where at a minimum.

4. Trains Plains and Automobiles: Once you know more about your locations/seasons you can map your route. Most people’s first instinct is to book flights, however, flying isn’t always the best option. For example, I tried to figure out the cheapest route to fly to Bora Bora. I mapped out all the closest countries and no matter what I did the prices were crazy, but I looked into cruises and there are several that hit islands like Bora Bora and Fiji for much less then it cost to fly. For flights I keep three web pages open: Skyscanner, Skiplagged, and Google maps. I use google maps to see which country makes the most sense to fly to next, ALTHOUGH proximity isn’t always the cheapest. Skyscanner is my favourite flight site, it shows the cheapest and most efficient routes. You can click the “everywhere” option to see the cheapest place you can fly to from your chosen destination OR click multiple destinations to plan extended layovers for good prices.

Skiplagged is a great site to find hidden deals based on layovers and errors in flight postings. There’s a story of a man who flew somewhere for $10 because someone made an error in the price. Back to the Bora Bora example, Skyscanner’s cheapest flight price was about $1200 where as Skiplagged showed a layover in Bora Bora for $700…that’s a HUGE amount to keep in your pocket from a little extra research. You’d be surprised how strange flight pricing can be. I once chose three destinations and just re-arranged the flight order but had a big difference in price each time. For all inclusive destinations and flight packages I usually use redtag or Expedia. Keep track of the prices on a piece of paper for your final budget.

If you have time and want to save money, my favourite mode of travel is actually the bus. Did you know there are certain countries in Europe that you can bus to for 1 euro… I bused from Paris to Amsterdam for 1 euro with Megabus. It was an extra 8 hours on our itinerary, but it was scenic, there are bathrooms, and you don’t have to deal with airports. Flixbus is another great discount option as well. The other big money saver is using Ferries. Again you would need A LOT more time, but there are night ferries with cabins you can sleep in if you book ahead of time. I slept in the main lounge area on a ferry ride from Croatia to Italy and it wasn’t all that bad. Trains are another option for great scenery/experience, but unless you book ahead they can be more money than flights. In Europe one of my favourite sites is Go Euro which allows you to compare prices on different modes of transport whether it’s flight, train, bus etc.

5. Itinerary Prep

First I make a list of these things I KNOW I want to see. Then I keep 3 windows open. I start with Pinterest, a great place for travel inspiration/blogs about your destination. I type “Top things to do in ____”, “locals guide to ___” or my personal favourite “Strange/unique things you can do in _____”. BUT sometimes Pinterest can be deceptive: you see something that looks really cool on Pinterest but is underwhelming in real life. Recently everyone is an expert photo editor, SO I google image search the same thing I saw on Pinterest to find a more accurate image. Also, sometimes people label things on Pinterest incorrectly so it doesn’t hurt to google fact check. The other window I have open is Viator or TripAdvisor lists of “Top things to do ____”, this is a great spot to check excursion prices and get ideas about day trips. If you’re in one country and you want to see another but not stay there overnight, day trips are a great option.

source: clairicegifford.prosite.com[/caption]

6. Mapping Itinerary: This part is crucial. It’s nice to have a list of things you want to do, but sometimes one activity is on the opposite side of the country from another. I number my activities and draw a little outline of the country. I use google maps to search where every activity is, how far it is from where I’m staying and how much it cost to get there. I jot down my numbered activities on the map. When this is done hopefully you’ll find majority of your numbers in one area. If you have 4 activities in the south and one in the north, 8 hours away, it makes sense to take that one out and stay in a southern city. You could look into car rentals if you want to do it all.

7. Budgeting Itinerary: Once you’ve narrow down your activities, list the prices beside them. This will come in handy when you do your full trip budget. It’s also a great idea to search line and price hacks, for example do you know that on Fridays after 6 the Louvre in Paris is FREE for people under 25? AND there is a secret passage way with less lines? I looked this up before we left and it saved us money and time.

8. Accommodations:

source: Momtastic.com[/caption]

Now that you know where you are staying, you can look at accommodations. This part depends on what kind of traveller you are. If you have a big budget and like to stay in luxurious places you can look into travel packages on Expedia. For hotels I use booking.com that way I can choose based on my budget. To save money I use Hostel World, this site has great choices if you’re on a budget and want to meet other people. It’s a great option for solo travellers. There’s also couch surfing which I have yet to try myself. Couch surfing is a network of people with an extra coach/bed you can crash on free, but they usually expect more interaction with you or it’s often nice to leave a small gift. And finally my personal favourite, the popular Airbnb. I first used Airbnb in Venice and it was an amazing experience. We had clean rooms in a unique house with free breakfast and a helpful host. Airbnb is perfect for budget and luxury travellers alike because you can find full apartments for cheap OR you can find unique luxury vacation homes. Airbnb wasn’t as big when I first started travelling but I’ve been using it a lot more and it’s great! Choose a couple that are within your budget and write them down. YOU CAN SIGN UP WITH MY LINK AND GET 25$ off your first booking: https://www.airbnb.ca/c/kaileeg14?currency=CAD

9. MATH: Now that you’ve done all your prep work you can run your budget and see how much money is required for your trip. This is the final and most important step. I like to cover all my bases so here is what my math chart typically includes:

*total flight/transport: tally up all your flight and transport prices (car rental, bus etc.)
*Accommodation: have a scheduled made for how many nights you want to spend in each place and tally up staying price ie. 100$ a night x8
*Excursions: this is where your activities list comes in handy. Add up the excursions and see what you can take off or add
*Food: You should plan a daily budget that covers things like food, local transport, or shopping. For Europe we originally budgeted 100$ a day, which ended up being way too much so we lowered it to 70$. Base this on rough food prices and how often you eat out. 70$ worked for us because we grocery shop and only ate out one meal per day. Multiply your budget by the days you’re travelling (obviously this doesn’t apply to all inclusive trips)

Total: ADD all those prices together and that is a rough estimate of how much money you will need for your trip. Always assume it will cost more for un foreseen circumstances ie. if your budget comes to 1,500$ just assume you will need to have 2,000$ saved.

Recap:
1.How Long Do I Have?
2.Where Do I Want to Go?
3.When is the Best Time to Go There?
4.How Will I Get There?
5. What do I want to See//Do There?
6. Where Specifically Are the Things I want to See/Do
7.How Much are the Things I Want to Do?
8. Where Should I Stay?
9. What is my Expected Budget? How Much $ will I Need?

Resources:
*Google Maps
*Skyscanner
*Skiplagged
*Expedia
*Redtag
*Megabus
*Flixbus
*GoEuro
*Pinterest (also other blogs//Instagram)
*Viator
*TripAdvisor
*booking.com
*Hostel World
*Coach Surfing
*Airbnb

I know this seems like a lot of work and it’s not necessarily for everyone, but this is how I visited 13 countries in only 2 months and was still be able to see//do everything on my bucket list. Hopefully you found some of these tips helpful for planning your next adventure. Do you have a travel prep routine or do you prefer to wing it//use travel agencies?? Let me know in the comments below!:) If you don’t have time for my travel method feel free to leave me a message about your trip ideas and I’d be glad to help you with resources and planning!?