I have so many friends and family members that get nervous about planning a vacation. That is partly why I decided to be a travel agent after having my first child. I’m not an agent anymore, but I now know that the logistics are what confuse and frustrate most people when it comes to planning a trip. That is why I am sharing my method of planning a vacation! To those of you who LOVE to get all of the details of a trip together, first of all, you are my people. Second of all, you may already know this information, and I always love learning how other people do things, so feel free to comment! And for those of you who have no idea where to start, this is for you!
Step 1: Decide your vibe
Some vacations are for exploring, some are for relaxing, and some are for both! Decide what it is you want to accomplish most during your precious vacation time. Want to be in the hustle and bustle? New York City, London, or Rome would be great. Want to sit on a beach and drink margaritas all day? Mexico is the perfect spot. Want to spend some family time in the mountains? Pagosa Springs or Asheville would be perfect! Once you decide your vibe, it is time to move to step 2.
Step 2: Pick a place and time
Once you know your vibe, you can narrow down a place and time. These are bulked together because you can’t think of one without the other. For example, love the mountains but hate the snow? Colorado is great, but go in the summer, not the winter. Or, do you want to go to the Caribbean, but don’t want to worry about hurricanes? Go in the early spring. Also remember that both of these things affect pricing. If you’ve always wanted to stay in the overwater bungalows in Bali, but don’t have the money for a long haul flight, try the overwater bungalows on many of the Caribbean islands. Or maybe if you’ve always wanted to visit Paris, but you need to stay on a budget? Go in the winter. It is cold, but it is much cheaper!
One more thing to think about before booking is to make sure your ID and passport are up to date. If you’re planning a domestic trip, you’ll need a Real ID to fly starting May 2023. I talk about it more in depth in this post. If you’re flying international, make sure your passport doesn’t expire within 6 months after the END of your trip. Basically, if your passport expires in a year, go get it renewed asap. And if you don’t have a passport, go apply for it now! You can’t do that too early. I never book anything unless I know these things are good to go. You can’t travel without them!
Step 3/4: Book your transportation and hotel
Okay, whether you book your flights or your stay first will depend on what is most important to you. If you’ve had a specific hotel/resort/vacation rental in mind to visit, but it is booked out six months in advance, you’ll obvious need to check their availability and get that booked first, then book your transportation. But if timing is most important, book your transportation first to make sure you can go at the time you need to, then find a place to stay. Since I tend to book flights/cars first and hotels second, I’ll break it down further below in that order.
Booking your transportation
First of all, decide whether you are driving, flying, or cruising. Depending on where you are traveling, you are almost always going to have more than one option. For example, if you want to go to Europe via NYC, you can fly and get there in seven hours. Or, you can take a transatlantic cruise, which obviously takes days, but then the travel is part of the experience! For most vacations though, flying or driving will be your main options. If you are within driving distance of your destination, decide if being in the car for that long is something you want to do. If not, flying is your choice. If you have a large family and want to save a bit of money, load up the SUV and make a road trip out of it!
For international flights, I typically book anywhere from 8 months to 6 weeks out. I know that is a wide range, but it depends on the location you’re flying to and seasonality. For domestic flights, I usually do 4 months to about a month out, again, depending on the situation. I’ve noticed anything closer than that and the prices go up.
If you’re planning on renting a car, I used to book it as soon as I had the dates and location set, but not anymore. Still do this if you plan on using a regular car rental company like Avis or Alamo. Especially right now, as there is a shortage in rental cars. And since you don’t have to pay ahead of time, you can cancel and rebook if the prices go down. But I switched over to using Turo and I’ll never go back. If you’ve never heard of it, it is like AirBnB for cars, and you can usually get a much nicer car for much cheaper than the traditional car rental sites. I’ve only had one hiccup where we received a car and the A/C stopped working, and the guy got us another car that same day. We love using Turo! You can book them even up to a couple of days before the trip.
Booking your stay
Now to choose your stay. If you like the comfort and predictability of a hotel, go for it! Especially if you can get it free through credit card points. We do this often. Honestly, when you’re in a new place, it is nice to be able to go back to a hotel and know exactly what to expect. Another option is to stay in a short term rental, like AirBnb or VRBO. I love the fact that I can get a whole house for about the same price as a hotel room in most places. I also love staying at resorts, especially all-inclusive ones. They are usually the more expensive option, but when you get your meals and drinks packaged in with what you have already paid, it is worth it!
Ready to book your stay? I’ve made it easy for you. Click here to start your search!
Step 5: Book the extras
Once you have the big stuff set in stone, now it is time to decide what will make up your days! Want to eat at a specific restaurant? Make a reservation – OpenTable is my favorite app for that! Want to go on a sunset cruise, guided bike tour, or a food tour around the city? Book it on Viator! I definitely do recommend booking these things ahead of time, but you can wait until you leave or even after you get to your destination, just know that some tours will most definitely be sold out by then. And that’s it! Those are the five things that you’ll need to focus on to get your vacation planned! There are a lot more smaller things that you need to think of… I could get WAY more detailed. Maybe one day I will, but for now, that will get you where you need to go. I hope this is helpful! If you do things differently than me, comment below so that I can learn, too!
P.S. I love using Viator to book any tours or excursions on my trip. There are tons of options to choose from. Click here to book yours!
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