Trip Planning

I never felt comfortable giving advice on trip planning because I used to travel quite spontaneously and haphazardly. It didn’t matter so much when I’m traveling by myself without an end date in mind, but since I’ve returned to the real world, I’ve had to accept the fact that a time-limited adventure with travel companions can benefit from some planning. As I plan my next adventure, I thought I’d keep track of how I do it 🙂

1. Find a destination
   This may seem like a given, but for me, a lot of times a trip is just about going somewhere new, and I’m quite open to ideas. It’s mostly a process of elimination based on weather, politics, schedule, and price. I generally stay away from cold places and war zones, and also try to avoid diseases like Zika. I prefer my international trips to be at least 10 days to get the most bang for the buck, both in terms of flight cost and transfer time. If possible, I also tag on places I’d like to go if they are within reasonable proximity.If I have some flexibility in terms of dates, I love to play around with Google Flights. You can use the Explore Map option to see the general prices to different cities during the time you’d like to travel. For example, since it’s so easy to get around Europe by train, instead of flying into my final destination of Cologne, Germany, I found some cheap flights to Budapest and decided to start my trip there instead.
2. Plan an itinerary
   There are never enough vacation days to fit everything in, and I decided this was going to be more of an exploration trip instead of a relaxing trip. This means fitting in as much as I can without missing the essence of things, and as a general rule of thumb, that’s three nights in each city.
   
   I usually do a rough plan before booking my flight, starting by opening Google Maps and figuring out how far places are from each other. For this trip, Budapest – Vienna – Prague was the obvious route. It’s always helpful to look up sample itineraries get a rough sense of how many days to spend in each city. You can check travel guides like Fodor’s, tour sites like Tralfagar, or personal blogs. I usually find it easiest to just type “[destination] N day intinerary” into Google.There will always be places that I don’t get time to go to, and that’s ok. Life is about what you experience, not what you missed out on.
3. Find a flight
   If I have specific date constraints and destinations in mind, I like to use skyscanner. The interface is simple, you can see all the sites that offer the same flight and the prices, and there are usually some super cheap options that don’t make it to other sites. Before I book on one of them, I usually Google the site reviews to see whether it’s legit and how bad the customer service is. If there is any chance that you might need to change your flight, don’t use the cheap sites because you’ll never get your money back. A few tips on flights:
   • You can cancel your flights with no penalty within 24 hours if you book with the actual carrier
   • If you have luggage, make sure you check the cost of luggage (and size restrictions) for discount airlines. Sometimes it makes more sense to pay extra on a normal airline that has a cheaper luggage fee
   • If you know you need to check a bag, then purchase the option early instead of at the airport to avoid both hassle and extra cost
   • If you are booking on an international carrier, it may be cheaper to search and book in the native currency instead of USD
4. Figure out transfers
   Most of my trips require hopping between cities, and sometimes it’s not clear from tour guides the easiest way to get from one to another. Flying is usually faster, but add in the time it takes to get to/from the airport, the hassle of security lines, and the additional cost, sometimes it just might make sense to get a good night’s sleep on the night train or bus instead.Again, I turn to Google to look for answers. There are plenty of sites that will tell you how to get from one place to another, and the accuracy is highly dependent on when an article is written. A lot of time local guides have better information than the all-encompassing guides, so I find it a lot easier to just Google instead of go to a specific site.

   I usually try to make sure I know how to get from the airport to my first lodging place and even print it out (or at least save it on my phone). Not every airport has free WiFi or helpful personnel, and you never want to straight up ask the taxi driver to take you to a place without at least knowing the approximate distance or price. Since I usually stay at a hostel or Airbnb, I just ask the host or check the hostel website. I always save the directions (and other important info) with screenshots because you never know when you might accidentally archive an email and then can’t open it without Internet.

5. Booking lodging
   I book my lodging after figuring out the transfers, since sometimes I can save a night of lodging by spending the night in commute. When I travel by myself, I almost always stay at hostels. It’s a great place to meet travel buddies, the front desk usually has interesting activities and recommendations, there’s often free breakfast, and I actually feel a lot safer at hostels than cheap hotels. They are also usually located in the most convenient part of town where you can walk to places. Of course, you have to be okay with the lack of personal space and lower comfort/hygiene standards, but for the most part, I have no horror stories to share yet.Once in a while when I get tired of sharing rooms with people I use my SPG points to stay at a Starwood hotel. It’s nice to treat myself once in a while, have a long hot shower, and replenish my toiletries 😛 The points are depreciating and I find it harder and harder to find dates that work, so it’s worth the splurge.

   When I travel with someone, then it’s always hotel or Airbnb, since price wise it would be comparable to a private room at a hostel, and it is a lot more comfortable. For hotels I like Agoda or HotelTonight for last minute bookings. It’s best to figure out which area you want to stay in and start from there, and definitely read the reviews to find out about the negative aspects.

6. Packing
   Backpacks are great even if you are not slumming it as a “backpacker,” because you’d be surprised how many well developed cities still don’t have escalators in most of their subway stations, and how painful it is to drag a wheelie through the beautiful cobblestoned streets of old towns. I love my front panel loading backpack since it allows me to avoid having to take everything out every night, even if it’s not as comfortable as hiking backpacks for long durations.The more I travel, the less clothes I pack. After a month in Southeast Asia I realized I was pretty much wearing the same 5 pieces of clothing. Clothes dry really fast in that heat. For cold weather it’s even easier, you never sweat and people will only see your thick jacket in all the photos anyway.

   What I consider essentials (I hope you know money and passport are essential):
   – No FX fee credit card (there are so many, I still use my CapitalOne from college)
   – No ATM fee debit card (Schwab has worked well for me, however, you should keep your receipts as a lot of foreign banks do not distinguish between cash taken out and the ATM fee, and you’d have to manually submit them)
   – Sunscreen
   – Raincoat
   – Camera
   – Kindle
   – Smartphone
   – Universal converter
   – Sunglasses

   What I learned to live without:
   – Computer
   – Tablet
   – Jewelry
   – Makeup
   – More than 1 pair of jeans/shorts/shoes
   – More than 1 swimsuit (they dry, and if not, you are planning to get wet anyway)
   – More than 2 bras (handwashing is good for them)
   – Internet
   – A purse (you’d be surprised how much stuff fits into a jacket or tote bag)

   In case you are wondering, the photo above is actually me moving back to the US after living in China for a year, not for any trip 🙂

7. Planning activities
   I don’t usually put together detailed itineraries for places until I get there. Of course, there are things like hot air balloon rides and scuba diving tours that need to be booked in advance, but for the most part, I like to get there and then decide based on my mood and who I run into along the way. In terms of research, I look at the usual suspects, TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet and WikiTravel, to get a general idea at the must dos. If you take a look at the top 10 things to do on TripAdvisor, you’ll at least have a pretty good understanding of how exciting the destination is going to be. I always download a guide to my phone that includes an offline map. Triposo is usually a good bet. I also use maps.me, which allows me to download an offline map of anywhere in the world and works better than Google’s offline maps.I often start with a walking tour in a new city. There are lots of free walking tours run by locals who provide really interesting stories about a city, and even though you are expected to pay a tip, it’s well worth it most of the time. I personally like to find alternative walking tours if I can, since you’ll get to see a very different aspect of the city.
8. Other things
   – Print out your important confirmation stuff (sorry trees) or take screenshots
   – Download more books and playlists than you think you need
   – Download all the other apps (guides, maps, dictionary) before you leave
   – Upload those old photos from your camera so you can have the full SD card for new memories
   – Charge everything before you leave
   – Send your itinerary to someone (I have never done this but probably should)

At the end of the day, it’s all about your attitude, because no matter how prepared you are, things will go wrong. For example, half way to the airport for this trip, I realized I left my one warm jacket. At the airport, I realized I forgot my camera(!). We booked the bus for the wrong date from Budapest to Vienna and ended up spending 4 hours at the bus station, and after my second stop, I already left my universal adaptor at the hotel. Somehow I survived (ok, having a travel companion who doesn’t mind sharing helps), and even had some fun.