Welcome back Gallivanters!

Are you type A or type B?

If you are unfamiliar, there are seemingly two categories of people: Type A and Type B.

Type A people can be…particular, driven, very well organized, and maybe just a little aggressive and assertive.

Type B people are typically more laid back, go with the flow, and have no idea where their license is right now. 

Quick survey to determine your type!

When planning a trip, do you:

1. Make a time-stamped itinerary, stress over the minute details, and seem to have a very difficult time relaxing.
2. Pack the morning of your trip, show up at the airport 10 minutes before your gate closes, and decide what to do, or even where to stay, after you touch down.

Congratulations! If you chose A, you are Type A. If you chose B, I won’t be traveling with you in the foreseeable future.

Just kidding, I am a self-proclaimed AB person. 

I love to make itineraries, but I also love to allow room for spontaneity and magic. 

So today, I’d love to share just how I begin to plan a trip, so that no matter what your personality type is, everyone can relax and have fun, all while checking off everything on your itinerary.

Researching

Doing your research is a crucial first step to planning any trip, no matter your personality type. For example, traveling internationally requires extensive research on the legal requirements to enter into a foreign country. For U.S. citizens, a big change is coming in May – you are now required to have a “Real ID” to fly domestically. So, in order to go on this dream vacation, you do have to be allowed on and off the plane – so this is just one example of something you need to make sure you know.

Now, it’s important to determine/have a rough estimate of how long you plan staying, consider looking up the recommended amount of time to visit your destination online.

Don’t know where to go? I’d recommend searching online for other travel blogs like mine! Of course, on this blog, we have my “A Day In” series, but there are so many other blogs, youtube channels, instagram pages and websites dedicated to helping you find your next destination and even what to do when you get there.

Most cities have their own Guides available online for the Top 10 things to do as a first-time tourist, and this would be a great place to start.

Planning

Now for the fun stuff! What are you interested in seeing? Do you like to see the architecture and art museums? What about adventure, thrills, and nightlife? Are you a foodie through and through like me? Great! Now that you’ve done your research about what’s recommended for you to do, you can consult your group, or just look internally for what sounds like fun to you!

I recommend starting by making a list, in random order, of all of the must-sees and must-dos you’ve come up with.

After doing your research on where to stay, you can use any maps service available to you, Apple Maps or Google Maps are both great, and plot out how far everything is from your accommodation. Apple Maps allows you to drop pins and save them to your own Guide to keep track of all the fun and interesting places you’ve found that you want to go to.

Finally, you can start off by listing off each day, Let’s say your trip is a Thursday – Sunday, 4 days in total.

I’d use all of the pins on your map and divide out by the city or region, one day for each region you make, so you aren’t backtracking and are making the most of your time.

Let’s say our flight arrives that Thursday around 11:00 A.M., and the airport is approximately 45 minutes away from our accommodation in the city. I’d probably give yourself a few hours between your expected arrival at your accommodation and your first planned activity. After all, you never know what can happen with delayed flights, check-in time at your hotel (most check-ins aren’t until 3:00 p.m./4:00 p.m. in the afternoon, but do your research.) 

So this is what your plan could look like:

Thursday:

1.  Arrive in xyz at approximately 11:00 A.M.

(Airport to accommodation – approx. 45 mins)

2. Drop off bags at accommodation (approx. 12:00 P.M. – hotel allows guests to use designated storage area and hold our bags for free)
3. Walk around, explore, grab coffee (Cafe xyz is right next to our accommodation, and one block away from our next activity).
4. Check into hotel (3:00 p.m.)
5. Sight seeing (4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.)
6. Dinner reservations at 7:00 p.m.

Booking

Now that we have everything listed out day by day, according to location, timeliness, and activity level from day to day, we can start to book our trip!

I don’t have any recommendations when it comes to booking the hotel first or the flight first, but I do use Google Flights and Hopper to track when the prices are lowest.

After getting the flight and hotel secured, we can look back at the list and do more research as to see what activities may require reservations, what can be booked in advance, and even making note of special days you get discounts on admission.

Alternatively, some activities or museums may have certain days and times they may not be open.

Another example, I am planning a trip right now, and as a professional foodie, I want to go to a very popular restaurant I found online. 

Instead of thinking we can just walk up day of and get a table for four, I decided to check the website to see if I could go ahead and make a reservation.

Typically, I love using apps like Resy or Open Table for this, but this particular restaurant is so popular, they only open their online booking time slot 28 days in advance of the day of the desired reservation at 12:00 P.M. EST. 

I would book as much as you can in advance, as this saves you both time, and most of the time money.

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Thanks for checking out the blog y’all!

Goodluck with all your research, planning and future bookings.

And have fun on your trip!

-Allison