How to plan a trip? How to put together a travel itinerary? These are very frequent questions that travelers ask themselves and, although there is not a single valid answer, in this post, we are going to leave you some recommendations that can help you plan trips from scratch, to embark on that adventure you long for!
Many times it happens that one gets dizzy with so much information and that makes even more doubts arise during the planning process. For this reason, the idea of this article is to leave you with a brief summary of what we consider super important for planning trips, and then you will see what information is useful to you, and what will be useful for another trip!
Now yes, look for a pencil and paper to take note that here is our list with the steps to plan your next trip. We hope it will serve you!
Choose The Destination
It seems quite obvious, but sometimes one wants to start planning trips without being clear about the destination or destinations. So for your plan to be effective, the first step in organizing your trip is choosing the destination.
It is always good to read about each place and its peculiarities, such as those attractions that make them unique. Immersing yourself in the environment and culture of a place will always help you move around in them too.
To make the choice, they can help themselves by reading travel guides. The best you can find is the Lonely Planet ones. These guides have everything about the countries or cities: useful telephone numbers, routes, culture, local customs and much more. You can download the lonely Planet Guides app.
Define Trip Duration
After deciding on the destination, the second thing they should think about is the time available for the trip. It is necessary to know how many days or weeks they have, or at least an estimate, so they can begin to budget for the trip, a key point when planning trips.
Keep in mind that the longer you stay abroad, the more the fixed costs of the trip are amortized, such as tickets and visas, if required.
On the other side are the variable costs that will depend on the duration of the trip. They will have to see how much money they have and based on that, how much are the most they can spend per day.
Is This Trip Better To Do Alone?
Another of the key points will be to establish whether they will travel alone or accompanied by family, friends, partners, etc. What do you prefer or what is better? That is something that only you can answer!
What yes, keep in mind that this point most likely influences your expenses, since in general the costs are lower when accommodation or food is shared, and it can also generate changes in the routes and visits that you make in the trip, depending on what each one wants.
In the case of traveling with other people, we recommend reviewing the travel itinerary and the routes you want to take before embarking on it, in order to be able to agree and then nobody feels upset with the plans once they are already on the trip.
What Type Of Trip Do do You Prefer?
Taking into account the points that we mentioned previously and the budget that they have, they can sit down to define the type of trip that they are interested in doing.
This point is very important since here you are going to decide if you only want to travel for a few weeks with a tourist visa, or if you are looking for a longer trip that allows you to do more things, such as work or live in another country.
Perhaps you are thinking of applying for a Working Holiday Visa? Do some volunteer? Take a language course abroad? Or why not, combine any of the above! It’s just a matter of deciding and cheering up!
Check Requirements And Visas
Once they are clear about all of the above, they should begin to investigate what the requirements are to enter the country of destination, if there are any, this is essential when planning a trip. For example, do you need a visa to enter the country? Do they require any type of vaccine to enter? among other things.
On the other hand, remember to verify your passport, that it is valid and that it is valid for at least 6 months from the date of your trip, and that it has room for new stamps. Some countries even detail the number of pages you must have blank for this to be valid.
We recommend that if you have to do some type of procedure, such as applying for a visa, do it in time, so that later you can relax and enjoy planning your trip with the peace of mind that you already have that resolved.
Find Flights
One of the most important issues when planning trips is air travel. There are many sites and web pages that you can use to get cheap flights. Several platforms allow you to consult and compare budgets.
If you want to tour Asia, the lowest prices are usually found by AirAsia. Another option that has very good prices is FlyScoot, which is from Singapore. Finally, we know that Jetstar also has good offers.
If you travel to the United States or depart from there, it is worth looking for flights on Cheapoair, there is a varied offer and good prices.
If you’re leaving from New Zealand or Australia, they have travel agencies that claim to beat any price, like Flight Center New Zealand and Flight Center Australia.
Find Accommodation
What do you prefer to rest? Staying in hotels, apartments, cabins, resorts, or some other place? The options are endless! They can use platforms like Booking.com or Airbnb to reserve or rent their accommodation!
In the event that they choose to stay in a hostel, they can check the Hostelworld site and find the one they like the most among the thousands registered worldwide.
In case you are going to travel on a limited budget, or simply prefer to save money on accommodation as much as possible, we recommend joining Couchsurfing. It is a network of travelers who are willing to provide you with a chair or a bed to sleep in and even show you around the city for free. This option will allow them to meet local people and thus have another perspective of the country they are visiting.
Regardless of the option, you choose to stay, remember to organize it and book it in advance based on your travel itinerary, thus avoiding any setbacks.
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