Start By Dreaming

I’ll browse my way through Pinterest boards, scroll through Instagram hashtags, play pin the tail on the world map, you name it. There’s so much out there to be discovered, and you may find that there’s something for you in places you never even thought about.

Often, I’ll go to the Explore section in Google Flights or Momondo and just see where I can go for $500. The whole wide world is out there for you to discover!

Narrow It Down

Once you’ve done your exploring, you’ll likely have a couple of stand-out destinations in mind, so it’s time to narrow them down. Consider prices for each location and what dates you’re thinking of going. Some locations are better explored during certain seasons or may have different things to offer certain times of the year.

For example, traveling to Norway in the winter will increase your chances of seeing the northern lights, but if you’re looking to hike you may want to go in the summer. Consider what festivals or events may be happening during your chosen dates and how it could effect accommodation prices and availability.

Do Lots of Research

It’s important to be very aware of what you need to do in order to travel to and enjoy a destination safely. Are there certain vaccinations that you will need to enter the country? What customs and etiquette do the locals practice? What are the rules on modesty and dress? What can and can’t you do there? How will you get around, by car, public transportation or something else? Look at everything you can to avoid culture shock and avoid getting into a sticky situation.

I highly recommend the app Sitata, which gathers all that info about safety, vaccinations, travel, culture, etc.

Book it!

This is often the scariest part, but if you’ve done your research and made all the preparations, then let yourself be adventurous and book that flight!

Choose Destinations in the Area

Now that you’ve booked your flight, you can look more deeply into different cities, villages, national parks and other sights that you may want to visit! I honestly use Pinterest way more than I should to plan trips, but there are tons of people on the site that readily share their travel experiences with readers, so I can’t recommend it enough!

Create a Vague Outline and Budget

I’ll usually create a rough timeline of where I want to be and when. I usually organize it by day, leaving the particular details for later. Be sure to account for travel time between destinations as well as rest days, if you think that you’ll need them.

As for my budget, I’ll consider things like accommodation, food, rental car and gas or cost of public transportation, experiences, any extras that I may want, and I always, always account for an emergency fund, just in case anything goes wrong. It’s always better to be safe! I also tend to overshoot the costs intentionally, just to give myself a little room for error.

Lately, I’ve been using Wanderlog to organize my travel itineraries. They have both an app and a website where you can create your itinerary, complete with maps, photos, flight info and more. I also love that you can send your itinerary to others. I always send mine to my mom, so she can see what I’m doing on my vacation and where I’ll be.

Make Some Plans, Leave Some Time For Discovery

While I do love to plan things and tend to pack my days full of experiences, tours, hikes and all that, it’s also important to leave yourself some free time to enjoy things at your own pace.

Happy Planning!