For me, planning a trip abroad is the beginning of the overall travel experience. Researching the places I have chosen to visit is an exciting time of discovery. Carefully sorting through the points of interest within a particular city or learning its history becomes more exciting when you know you will be soon walking its streets.
But perhaps I am getting ahead of myself. What if you haven’t decided WHERE you would like to travel? You certainly can’t plan a trip abroad without a destination.
To help narrow your focus, you’ll need to be honest with yourself. What do you enjoy doing? Do you favor a beach with turquoise water or a city with nightlife; an adventurous trek amongst the ruins or a leisurely cruise down a river; an all-inclusive resort or a luxe spa? To sort from among these options, you’ll also need to determine a budget. Your travel budget must be the initial focus of your trip abroad, in order to determine the length of your stay as well as the quality of accommodation you can expect. To set a budget, you will need to consider the cost of airfare to your destination, the type of transportation you will use once you arrive at your destination, the amount of money you can reasonably expect to spend on a hotel, apartment or home at your destination, the cost of dining out, the cost of admission to places of interest, and of course the cost of adult beverages. You might also want to consider whether you will need a guide at your destination.
Of course, once these matters are settled, the fun can begin. You can start planning your trip abroad.
The first thing I do upon deciding to go on an international trip is to buy a guide-book about the location. I may do some internet research to find out which guide books provide the best, up-to-date information on the location. There are many, many guide-books to choose from. I tend to like Lonely Planet Guides and Moon Guides. I have also enjoyed Birnbaum Guides, Michelin Guides and DK Eyewitness travel Guides. The best way to find the guide that is right for you is to go to a brick & mortar bookstore and browse. You will quickly find that you tend to like the format of one over the other; the content of one over the other; or the features of one over the other. Choose the one that works for YOU. I know a great many of you are technology savvy. Almost all of these guides are available for your iPad or tablet, which you can take with you on your trip. My only caveat is that iPads and tablets run out of battery at some point. Then you’re stuck. I like a regular old-fashioned book. I can turn down pages, highlight, tab and index to my heart’s content. The book fits in my day bag that I take with me each day, and it’s available to fact-check when there is no internet service.
As far as how to plan your trip, once you’ve decided upon a destination, I find that it’s best to focus on one or two locations within a country – and to spend several nights in those one or two locations, rather than trying to capture the essence of an entire country in your two-week time frame. Spending time in one or two places allows you to get a real sense of the people, the culture and the local flavor of each place. It allows you to “fall into” a place and become part of its fabric. Rather than jumping around for a night here and a night there, spending several nights in one or two locations makes the trip more enjoyable, less stressful and more of an authentic experience. Remember, you can always go back. A trip doesn’t have to be a “death-march” to the finish line. It should be a journey. It should refresh you, rather than stress you out.
With that in mind, pick two cities or areas of the world you may want to see on your trip. Hopefully they will be near to one another as this makes travel easier. But if they’re not, you’ll figure it out. Don’t worry.
Open your guide-book and start reading. You will find that as you read about a country a city or an area of the world you are interested in, you will become drawn to other areas, as well. Don’t cross those other areas off your list as possibilities for your trip merely because those areas were not on your “bucket list”. Travel is supposed to be a journey. Part of the journey is in the planning. Perhaps the destination you thought you wanted to see does not seem as interesting as it seemed before you started reading your guide-book. Perhaps an area nearby holds more allure. Don’t be afraid to “think outside the box” and challenge your previously held impressions of a particular location. For example, after reading a guide-book about France, you may decide that Paris is not for you, but the Provence area seems more of what you were looking for. Or that Nice could be nice but the Languedoc region of France appeals to you more. Perhaps you had never heard of the Languedoc region until you read the guide-book, but now you find it irresistible. That’s FANTASTIC!! By reading the travel-guide, you’ve just opened your world to places you’d never imagined you were interested in.
The Sahara.
And that, my dear is why traveling is a journey, not a destination.
Now that you’ve decided on your two locations, you will need to find airfare. I always book my airfare BEFORE I book my accommodation. Why? You will not know your exact travel dates until you know when flights are available to your destination. There are many travel websites you can visit in order to select airfare. Sites will be able to compare and contrast travel dates, times and prices. You can select your flight on your own, if you are a do-it yourself-er, but I strongly recommend using a travel professional to plan the rest of your journey.
Yes, you can book your hotels on-line. Yes, you can read TripAdvisor reviews. Yes, you can read the description of each property on the property website. But nothing can replace the expertise and know-how of someone who has been there, knows people who have stayed at the hotel, is familiar with the amenities, and has a personal relationship with the management staff. Nothing. Period.
And you must remember, you don’t know any of the people who have written the reviews on TripAdvisor. Do they travel the way you travel? Do they like things the way you like them? Hopefully, you will develop a relationship with a travel professional who you trust. That person will find out exactly what you want and need. That person will have contacts at the place he/she selects for you. That person will be available to contact should something go awry. That personal service is not available when you book your property through Expedia, Travelocity or Kayak.
The relationship between you and your travel advisor should be a “give and take”. You should feel free to make suggestions about what you are interested in seeing or where you are interested in eating. Those suggestions are valuable input for the travel professional, when planning your trip. If you have a food allergy or special dietary requirements, a handicap or a special need, your travel professional will ensure the hotel or restaurant you select can accommodate those things. Now, I am by no means suggesting that you use a travel professional to tell you where to eat each meal or what to do on each day of your holiday. Rather, I am suggesting that you supplement the information you learn by reading your guide-book, with the professional experience of someone who has visited a place or has contacts in that place. Remember, this is not a scripted event, but a time to wander, discover and experience. You want to “get lost” in a place and get to know it.
In sum, planning your trip can be a rewarding, educational and enjoyable part of the over-all journey. And, as I always say: A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Travel on.