The right way to Plan a Journey: A Month-by-Month Information

Posted: 4/2/2024 | April 2nd, 2024

Journey planning generally is a daunting process. Flights, insurance coverage, gear, itineraries, lodging, and a lot extra all have to be thought of and sorted out earlier than you go.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed, particularly while you haven’t completed one thing like this earlier than.

After over near twenty years of touring the world, I’ve deliberate numerous journeys and holidays for myself, pals, and household, even group excursions. To start with, it was trial by fireplace. I learned a lot of lessons the hard way. Nonetheless, that helped me develop an environment friendly guidelines that ensures I don’t miss something vital through the trip-planning course of.

One large query I get requested loads is when to begin planning. To reply that query, this put up breaks the planning course of down into month-by-month steps so you may plan your subsequent journey with ease.

Right here’s how one can plan a visit:

12 Months Out: Determine on Your Vacation spot(s)

Lots of people discuss vaguely about journey: they by no means say the place they’re going, simply that they’re going. They may speak about it for years earlier than really departing (in the event that they go in any respect). But it surely’s a lot simpler to achieve and plan for the objective of “I’m going to Paris for 2 weeks this summer time” than “I’m going someplace.”

If you have already got a dream vacation spot in thoughts, nice! If not, listed here are some posts that can assist you get began:

However, this far out, the actual factor you need to do is begin saving cash and determining your prices. Lodging and flights are the apparent ones, however how a lot do eating places, points of interest, and different actions price? Understanding these prices will permit you precisely estimate how a lot cash you’ll want. Right here is how one can analysis prices:

1. Purchase a guidebook
2. Take a look at my free travel guides (we break down all prices for every vacation spot)
3. Skim the price of residing on Numbeo.com
4. Google costs for main actions you need to do, comparable to scuba diving, vineyard excursions, and so on. (Get Your Guide is an efficient place to begin)
5. Use Skyscanner or Google Flights for flight costs and join alerts to get emails if the worth adjustments
6. Use Discover Cars to cost out (and guide) a rental automobile if you happen to want one
7. Use Booking.com and Hostelworld to analysis lodging prices

Which will appear to be loads however you simply need to get a normal concept of how a lot it is advisable to save. You possibly can head to this page to see all my articles on how to save money for your trip.

12 Months Out: Begin Gathering Factors & Miles

When you’re working to economize, get a travel credit card so you may earn miles and factors without cost flights and resort stays. It’s what has saved my prices down and me on the highway for thus a few years.

Today, most playing cards have welcome affords of 60,000-80,000 factors (some will be as excessive as 100,000) while you meet their minimal spending requirement (usually $2,000-5,000 USD inside a 3–6-month time-frame). That’s sufficient miles for a free round-trip financial system flight to Europe from the East Coast of North America.

For extra data on this topic, try these posts:

As well as, get a fee-free ATM card. I exploit Charles Schwab, however there are many different banks that don’t cost ATM charges (don’t neglect to test your native banks and credit score unions too). Here’s how you can avoid bank fees while traveling.

8 Months Out: Visa Necessities, Passports, and Vaccines

When you seemingly received’t want a visa to your required vacation spot, you must nonetheless test to verify. If you happen to’re a US citizen, use the State Department’s search tool to find out about your vacation spot’s entry necessities. (Canadians can use this search tool.)

Moreover, ensure that your passport is legitimate for not less than six months after your journey ends. Many international locations require this for entry. Passport software and renewal wait occasions will be lengthy (the usual is 6-8 weeks within the US), so do that as quickly as attainable.

Additionally, analysis if you happen to want any vaccines in your journey as many international locations require vaccines to enter (and I don’t imply COVID). You possibly can study extra about nation necessities and proposals on the CDC’s website. They may help you discover a clinic close to you as nicely (if you happen to’re within the US).

4-6 Months Out: Ebook Your Flight

One of the best time to guide your flight is usually round 3-4 months earlier than your departure, or 5-6 months earlier than if you’re going throughout a vacation spot’s peak season. This isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, although, so use it as a information.

Listed here are two articles on how one can rating an affordable flight:

If you happen to’ve signed up for a journey bank card and acquired your sign-up bonus, use your miles to guide your flight and/or resort. The additional out you guide, the extra availability there will probably be. Use instruments like Point.me and Awayz that can assist you discover the perfect redemptions in your factors (for flights and inns, respectively).

However even if you happen to aren’t utilizing miles or didn’t discover a low-cost flight deal, there are nonetheless some ways to keep away from being the particular person on the flight who paid essentially the most for his or her ticket. My two favourite websites for locating low-cost airfare are Skyscanner and Google Flights.
 

3-4 Months Out: Ebook Your Lodging

If you happen to’re touring for underneath two weeks and have a set schedule, guide lodging all through your journey. If you happen to’re visiting through the excessive season, it’s additionally a good suggestion to guide the whole lot prematurely. For journeys longer than two weeks, I recommend reserving solely the primary couple of nights of your journey. As soon as there, you might find yourself wanting to alter your plans primarily based on insider recommendation from different vacationers and/or resort/hostel employees. I favor having flexibility, so I at all times simply guide just a few nights and go from there.

Listed here are my go-to websites with regards to discovering the perfect offers on lodging:

• Hostelworld – Hostelworld has the most important number of hostels and is my go-to web site for locating reasonably priced hostels.
• Booking.com – Reserving.com is the perfect total platform for locating finances inns and guesthouses.
• Agoda – Agoda has the perfect outcomes if you happen to’re heading to Asia (although it typically has good US offers too).

I like to recommend checking the cancelation coverage of wherever you guide. I like having the pliability to cancel if one thing comes up.

If you happen to’re on a good finances otherwise you need to join with extra locals throughout your travels, think about becoming a member of platforms like Couchsurfing or BeWelcome. These communities permit vacationers to stick with residents without cost as a kind of cultural trade.

Lengthy-term vacationers may try housesitting or WWOOFing as nicely, as they each provide free lodging (in trade for pet sitting or farm work, respectively).

2 Months Out: Plan Your Actions

Now it’s time for the enjoyable a part of journey planning! Meaning studying books about your vacation spot, studying normal journey suggestions, connecting with on-line communities, and pre-booking any obligatory actions.

Pre-booking ensures you don’t miss out on issues that you just actually need to do in your journey. If you happen to’re going to a well-liked vacation spot, excursions and actions replenish rapidly, and if you happen to’re going to a smaller place, actions or excursions may solely run on sure days and have restricted availability.

Both approach, Get Your Guide the perfect place to seek for and pre-book actions, excursions, and tickets. Native tour operators and points of interest can listing their choices on this on-line market, so you could find tons of stuff right here, from meals excursions to museum tickets with skip-the-line entry.

1 Month Out: Get Journey Insurance coverage

Get travel insurance. That approach, these purchases are protected ought to one thing occur that makes you cancel your journey.

Lots of people assume, “I’m wholesome. I don’t want journey insurance coverage.” However journey insurance coverage is rather more than simply medical safety. It covers you when your digital camera breaks, your flight is canceled, a member of the family dies and it’s important to come residence, or one thing will get stolen. (That’s why you’ll additionally need to familiarize your self with any common travel scams to look out for, in addition to how one can conduct your self in an effort to mix in to keep away from wanting like a goal for petty theft.)

Sure, it’s an added expense. But it surely’s at all times higher to be secure than sorry. I by no means depart residence with out it, as a result of I’ve seen firsthand simply what can occur on the highway.

I by no means thought I’d pop my eardrum whereas I used to be scuba diving in Thailand, break my digital camera in Italy, or get knifed in Colombia.

Sadly, unhealthy issues can occur while you’re touring. True, these occasions are few and much between. However they will price tens of 1000’s of {dollars}. If you happen to’re not ready to pay out of pocket, purchase journey insurance coverage.

Listed here are some posts on journey insurance coverage to get you began:

I by no means depart residence with out journey insurance coverage. You shouldn’t both.

7 days out: Pack!

Your journey is sort of right here, and it’s time to pack! It may be tempting to need to deliver the whole lot with you “simply in case.” However with regards to journey, much less is extra. Whereas what you pack will depend upon the place you’re going, keep in mind that you don’t have to take the whole lot you personal. You should buy stuff you want and do laundry on the highway. On the finish of the day, it’s important to carry the whole lot you deliver. So deliver much less!

I journey with a 45L REI bag after which a smaller day bag. Here’s my suggested packing list that can assist you take simply the correct amount of stuff and keep away from overpacking (here’s a list for female travelers).

Moreover, deliver any prescriptions you want all through your journey. Strive to not depend on filling these overseas (although deliver a prescription and physician’s observe simply in case).

With the whole lot taken care of, it’s time to go in your journey and have enjoyable! Make an inventory of last-minute gadgets it is advisable to pack the day of (your toothbrush, glasses, cellphone charger, and so on.) and test in on-line beforehand (you are able to do so 24 hours prematurely). (If you happen to’ve acquired lounge entry via a premium travel rewards card, you may end up wanting ahead to attending to the airport early.)

If you happen to’re feeling nervous, don’t fear. That’s completely regular. Feeling anxious or not sure is one thing each traveler experiences. However you’ve made it this far. Belief your planning and observe your instincts. You’re about to have the journey of a lifetime.