Trip Planning Tips I Swear By
Presenting the trip planning tips I swear by, and I really mean it. At this point, I can plan a 7-10 day trip in just 2-3 days flat. I figured out the perfect order to plan, no doubt. Planning a trip shouldn’t be overwhelming, and let’s be honest, in this economy,y paying someone else to do it? Bold move. Using AI, what if it’s wrong? The only sources you can truly trust are locals, bloggers, and travelers who have been there before.
Instead, take a page from my playbook. I’m sharing my go-to guide and favorite trip planning tools that help me build custom itineraries for destinations around the world. Let’s make planning part of the fun with these trip planning tips I swear by!
Guide To Trip Planning
Trip planning a trip is like putting a puzzle together. You have xyz already on your bucket list, and given your flights and accommodation, you can choose x amount of time in x city. Once you figure out all the logistics and pricing, you can prioritize one city over the other. Once you have all the pieces together, I urge you to build flexibility into your trip. Leave some space for spontaneity. When you touch down you might have a list of other places to visit instead. The key is, you’re not truly going to know what you want to do unless you are physically there. Be open to changing the plans and new ideas, it’s one of my favorite parts of traveling. Ready for my go-to trip planning tips? Let’s get into it
- Securing Your Flights. The first step to trip planning is securing your flights. While you’re in the process, look ahead at significant dates like annual celebrations, festivals, converts, cultural observations, and worldwide events (ex: Julibee, World Cup, Olympics). If you’re visiting multiple cities, plan to see the city with the best nightlife during the weekends. You can probably still find a nice spot during the week, but it’s not guaranteed so make sure you’re planning that accordingly.
- Research The Best Neighborhoods. I love to start by Googling, “best neighborhoods in x area”. When I Google this, I get great insight from fellow travel bloggers. They usually provide a few options with key highlights, such as x city is, ‘perfect for families’ or ‘more local’, or ‘most charming’. Based on that, you decide what matters the most to you. This step is key because while you’re looking at things to do, you can assess which area they’re in. You’ll start to notice correlations. Perhaps the cool hidden gems are in the top-rated local neighborhood. Evaluating commuting times are also really important. How far is it from the airport, tourist destinations, etc?
- Pro Tip: If I can give you any advice, location is so important. It’s worth it to splurge for a more ideal location than the latter. Saving $50/night, $100/night in a cheaper, more remote area might cause a lot of logistical troubles and long commutes.
- Google Top Experiences. Next, I Google, “best places to visit in X city” & try to focus on travel bloggers, locals & credible sources for their authentic insight and reliable information. After reading, I categorize the list into two parts: 1- top places to visit & 2. Hidden gems that are featured less than 2 times. This gives me an idea of the top tourist attractions with local tips, insights on prices, times, locations, and whether they overall felt the experience was worth it. If there’s anything notable that helps an experience stand out (ex, the oldest bookstore in the world), I’ll make a note to go there for its historical impact.
- Pin Locations On Google Maps. Place a pin on all the locations you’re interested in going to on Google Maps. You can get fancy and color coordinate based on food, hotels, airport, bars, & activities to stay organized. This helps you visualize where most of your top places to visit are.
- Revisit Top-Ranked Neighborhoods. Then, you go back to the top neighborhoods and see if any of those are close to any clusters of locations you just pinned. Here, you’ll start to notice that maybe all the touristy locations are in the same area. Most likely, accommodation there is more expensive because it’s convenient. This is where you will use your best judgment, depending on your travel style, to decide which locations are ideal to stay in.
- Choosing Accommodations. To help decide where to stay, I check the cheapest full apartment/home options (not private rooms for security and safety reasons) on Airbnb or Booking.com. Research local transportation, either using Google Maps or Rome2Rio to help see how easy it is to get to your place from the train station, airport, ferry etc. Think about how long you’re staying in x location. If you’re leaving the next day, choose a spot that is closest to the train, for example.
- Search on TikTok: I do a quick search on TikTok, “best places to stay in x place” about 2-3 months before leaving. The algorithm will start serving you content that you can share to the group chat! Not only will you get insights on top places, but also get served content on local tips, information on their culture, phrases to say in x language, and even regional news that can help you plan your trip.
- Make an Itinerary. Now that you have everything, I’d make a Google doc listing important information (flights, visas, travel insurance info, etc) along with the rough plans for each day. Here you can start to search Airbnb Experiences, Get Your Guide, or Viator, and see which experiences are most affordable and selling out quickly. When you book your experience, add the confirmation number to the doc in case you need it for any reason!
- Download Offline Maps. Before embarking on your journey, I’d download the offline Google Maps of where you are going to help with any logistical planning. If you don’t have great international service, this saves you so much time, stress & data! As you start finding new places from TikTok, Google searches, wherever – add it to the doc!
- Taxi From the Airport. Consider this an investment in your trip. Not only does this car ride make you feel ready to take on the world, knowing you’re in a new place, but you can ask the taxi driver for local advice, their favorite spots, and any tips. Hands down favorite way to get an understanding of the culture and people is through little experiences like this.
- Be Flexible. One of the greatest pleasures of travel is being comfortable with the unknown. You might find a really cool place to check out that changes your plans, so what? Go with your instincts and remember that it’s a vacation, so relax and have fun!
More Trip Planning Tips on The Blog
If you’re looking for a carry-on that is compact, durable, and just pure perfection, check out the blog here for my #1 pick, along with some tips for packing a carry-on here, Carry On Packing Tips.
There You Have It
Planning a trip is not an easy task, but with practice and a little hustle, it feels so good to feel prepared and knowledgeable about your trip. If trip planning isn’t your forte, I have tons of recommendations for top destinations across the world you have to visit. If you have any other trip planning tips, let me know in the comments, and happy planning!
what do you think?