Planning for a Trip

What goes into planning a trip?

Some people are fly by the seam of their pants.  Whereas the Type A bunch (like me!) want to have every last detail nailed down. 

Regardless of your approach, here are some of our go to’s when we set out for our next adventure.

Booking

Ready to make plans?  Here's our advice. 

Budget - First thing's first - how much are you going to spend? You have a magical number in mind on how much you want to spend, but don't spend all that money on air and accommodations alone. You have a vacation to take! While you're researching where to go, take a look at how much you might spend while you're there and how much flexibility you have to alter your plans.  Vacation spending can creep up quickly if you don't plan for it ahead of time and next thing you know your allocated budget has doubled out of nowhere.  

When planning out your trip, find an amount per person you're comfortable with spending daily and add that into the total trip cost.  Any tours you want to do? Price them all out and then decide from there which ones you're willing to cut out if they don't fit the budget.  Add in the cost of meals - Are you planning on doing any exclusive meals?  How much are you going to drink?  How much do you plan to eat?  Figure how you're going to get around & cost of transportation -  charters or public?

Once you've got a rough estimate, see from there if this trip is really doable, even when cutting costs to save some money.  You'll found that there are short cuts to make it affordable - you might just need more flexibility on when to go, where to stay and how many paid activities you do.  If those are non-negotiables, then the world is your oyster and you can find another right fit place to go!     

We can't state how important it is to factor daily spending in your budget. There's no point in going somewhere and not being able to do anything because you didn't plan for it.  And it will also help eliminate surprises from post-trip bills. If you have your heart set on something but don't think you have the means, knowing costs can help you plan ahead to stay with your budget or encourage you to save a little more NOW so you can do everything you plan later! 

Flights - There's something to be said about early bird gets the worm - if you're set on a date, then shop early if you can to guarantee you get the exact flights (and seats) you want!  Otherwise, use these timelines we follow on when to book a flight - 4 months to 3 weeks for domestic flights & anywhere from 66 days to 200 days internationally.  

Accommodations - We book our accommodations with the purchase of our flight because it is very important in  making further plans and easy to get out of the way. We prefer hotels to vacation rentals because of the flexibility they offer and we prefer to book a flexible rate at a hotel to one with a zero cancellation policy.  When it comes to exploring new cities, sometimes your thoughts on where to stay may change. I'm willing to pay a little extra for peace of mind that I can change my plans if my opinions do.  And also know that sometimes the flexible rates can drop in price too - so you can always adjust your reservation to score savings!  If possible, pay ahead for your hotels too - then that cost is eliminated and the only spending you'll have is on the extras during the trip. 
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Travel Insurance - We always, always, always purchase travel insurance once we've booked our trip (flight, accommodations and car all at once)!  There are plenty of companies out there, but we prefer Travel Guard as we have found the best rates with them regardless of our journey.  Travel insurance can cover you for anything from trip cancellation to trip interruption to or medical coverage if you need to visit a hospital while traveling internationally. For any of the above, just having that safety net for a few hundred extra dollars is worth it.  

Once you book your flight, stay and ride (or within 24 hours), buy insurance!  They need the total cost of your trip and where you're going as part of pricing your plan, so its better to know those totals upfront. Its also important to buy within the first day, because if you want or need additional coverage, you need to purchase the waiver within the allotted time period.  Yes, plans change and you have the flexibility to adjust, but you need to have those elements secured and its worth every last penny in our experience. On our trip to Brazil we faced an over 12 hour delay due to mechanical issues with the plane - and though the airline provided us with an overnight hotel and meal vouchers to get us until our next flight, we still had out-of-pocket expenses incurred. With our travel insurance, we were able to write off any essentials the airline didn't cover and receive reimbursement fairly quickly after submitting our claim to Travel Guard.   

If you travel often, we would recommend looking into purchasing annual travel insurance.  Annual travel insurance can save on individual trip costs and the need to shop for insurance every trip. Annual travel insurance plans vary so shop around to find the best one that works for you and your traveling needs.  Regardless, we can help find insurance needs! 

Planning

Now that we're booked, what do we do next? 

Activities - Book and plan anything you want to do ahead of time. We learned this the hard way when scheduling our trip to London. We booked back in July and then sat on making an agenda for a little too long. There really weren't tours we wanted to do - except the Warner Brothers Studio Tour of Harry Potter. By the time we got around to picking a date, we missed our window for booking this tour - we failed to find out that they sell out months in advance. We tried up to the very last minute to score tickets, but with no luck.

Try to plan ahead where you can and book when you what you must do - especially with plans that are time sensitive, like limited engagements or show tickets. All other plans you have time to shop around for the best price, like one of our absolute favorite sites for tour options, Viator. The site combines various tours into one selling hub to make shopping easy - tour information, length of time, and cancellation policy are all described in each listing. Once you're booked you're given contact information for the actual tour and you're ready to go! We love the ease of navigating the site and finding a variety of plans that can fit our needs!

Map it Out - There are so many great websites and apps for making your trip really come to life and one of our favorites is Google Maps. We love to read up and watch travel blogs on a place we're planning to visit and at the same time take note of key places we want to experience. As we read or watch, we drop pins on a Google map we've created for that city, so we can later start to make an itinerary of what we want to explore. We try to connect the dots (pins) to make realistic walking tours and also color code each day so we have a full guide map laid out. This tool has truly been wonderful in our travels; we can plan our days near each other and make sure we're not wasting precious time (or money) on unnecessary commutes!

If you rather have all your plans made for you, we love Citymappers for itineraries planned from start to finish which include estimated travel times for best planning your day. If you rather explore as you go, and you plan to travel down a road less traveled, try Roadtrippers for cool places to see as you go!

Plans & Flexibility - We lay out all our plans on a calendar, so the whole family can see what we have on the agenda & we can work around, when things come up. We found this extremely effective for our longer trips to keep us on track and to also use as a reward tracker for the kids. Yes, we're on a break from the real world, but etiquette and behavior shouldn't be. We're all entitled to frustration or slight grouchiness because of hunger or lack of sleep, but to let it ruin everyone's mood is not something we tolerate. We strive to make sure that the kids (and adults) work out any issues, shake it off and carry a positive attitude the rest of the trip. For the little ones, we make sure to reward positive behavior with stickers on a calendar - if they collect enough, they earned a special souvenir by the end of the trip.

And just as anything else in life, plans change. You may have hit a delay, or inclement weather has made your outdoor plans non-existent, or it took longer to do one thing which altered what was scheduled for later. Whatever it may be, know that plans may not go accordingly and allow yourself to accept that. You may also just run into to something much better because you weren't looking for it, and it made your trip extraordinary. Accept that you need to have a positive attitude and a plan B when traveling and it'll help your journey go smoothly.

Phone Plan - If you don't have an international cell plan and want to use your phone abroad, look for what options might work for you. Some like to go the route of an international SIM, whereas we opted to check with our provider (AT&T) for plans that work. We knew we needed at least one phone to use to call locally and access Google maps. But we didn't want to be limited on data usage (or pay for the surcharge). AT&T has a $10/day option starting from when you turn your phone on in international soil for a rolling 24 hours. This plan not only gave us flexibility to shut off during the cruise, but also allowed us to use without any wasted time.

Cash & Cards​ - Most, if not all places, accept most major credit cards. But we had instances where we needed cash on us. To travel, we converted Euros before departure to insure we had cash for our first transfer. Otherwise, we could have paid as we went. We bank with Bank of America who has sister banks worldwide - at those banks we could use the ATM fee free and only pay the conversion for cash pulled. We had several in our proximity in each of our destinations, and going forward we will be mindful of this and the amount we pull prior to traveling.

As cards go, Visa is king internationally  Make sure you at least have access to one while traveling. Personally, we prefer to use our American Express because it allows us to travel without foreign transaction fees. Whatever option you pay with, make sure they're aware of travel plans so you don't get declined any purchases and also make sure you bring up a back up card in case one stops working or goes missing. Designate one card for charges you weren't expecting, particularly for an emergency, so you can still have a disposable amount on another card.

Packing

We feel like we've got our packing down to a science, many times traveling with just one suitcase for all four of us.  What & how do we pack it?  

Carry-On - We always pack the essentials to bring on board, in case anything happens like a flight delay or lost luggage. We've learned this through experience about this so we always make sure that we have the following on us to get through any delays.

• Medicine - We bring the following in case we need immediate access for unexpected under the weather occurrences -  Tylenol, Benadryl, cough syrup (or sore throat lollipops), thermometer and a small first aid kit. We pack all these items in a small toiletries bag so we can pull out at security for scanning, making the boarding process easier.  And because they are medicine, you can bring through security without any issues as long as its pulled out of your main bag and in original packing. 
• Chargers - Any and all, including adaptors for international use since western plugs will not work. We love our Sharper Image brand one since it is compact and multi-use.  It is essential to have these on you, even in the case of fighting a delay and needing to keep little ones occupied. 
• Toiletries - In a separate small toiletries bag, we will pack toothpaste, toothbrushes, and deodorant to have for an overnight flight or in case of a long delay. We learned this the hard way with our delayed overnight flight to Brazil (and our refuge hotel not having toothbrushes - nor anywhere near by to purchase). And just in general, after a long (or overnight) flight - nothing like brushing your teeth to make you feel brand new to start the trip.
• Accessories - I'll bring stuff for myself including a sweater, flip flops, a book or magazine, iPad (with movies downloaded), headphones and snacks (for me & extra for the kids) to have on the plane. These are my non-negotiables that make a flight easier for me.
• Purse - I'll pack a small purse inside my carry with my important items that I need access to.  That way I can drop my carry-on off (if the room isn't ready) and at least have the things I need on me. The items we couldn't forget to bring and have always accessible  - camera, credit cards (all alerted to travel plans), ATM card, cash (both a few dollars and more Euros), paper copies of our passports and our printed schedule/reward tracker.
• Kids' Bags - The kids each get their own carry-on bag when traveling so they can have easy access to their unique activities and snacks to let them get by the trip. In the case of our Europe trip, I also packed PJs and flip flops in each bags to allow more room in the suitcase (we're down 8 pairs of shoes this way) and so they could sleep in the comforts of home and then change back to clothes for the arrival day. Once we landed, they went into the previous day's clothes and we they got a "fresh start" for day one of our trip (and one less outfit to worry about) - two for the price of 1!

Luggage - When we pack for an extended trip, one thing we try to do is pack interchangeable pieces so we can use less, more often.  Below is a sample of how we packed for 17 days in Europe. 

• Shoes - 1 pair each of Sneakers, flip flops and dressier shoes.  And with those options I'll wear my sneakers since they're the bulkiest; I'll pack a pair of flip flops or sandals,  that I can use on the plane if I want something more comfortable; and I'll pack one pair of dressier shoes or sandals if I need something to dress up an outfit. Same goes for everyone else, and with wearing one and packing another carry on, it allowed us more room in our luggage.  
• Pants/Jeans  - I packed a pair of jeans and a pack of slacks for each of us to use for any cooler days or nights, which we had more of than expected.  I'm glad we decided to pack one more, which we were initially going to forego, because they definitely came in good use. 
• Shorts - We a pair and packed an additional pair to wear throughout the trip. 
• Shirts - An easy tactic we found to making this happen is to choose a color scheme that coordinates with all that you're bringing. So I had about 5 shirts each that I rotated throughout the trip; I packed a few more for the boys since they wouldn't have the option below of dresses. 
• Dresses/Rompers - I packed about 4 total for E and I since they were definitely easier to wear on hot days. 
• Bathing Suit - we had a few days at sea on the ship so I bought a swim suit for each; but if you know you'll be pool (or beach side) more, than pack a few more!  But remember, key is less is more to maximize what space you have. 
• Rain Jacket - We opted for rain jackets for all since we didn't know what the weather would bring.  We were also able to use the rain jackets for cooler nights. Each of ours were from Target and lightly lined which made them easy to use in both cool and rain. 
• Toiletries - We packed the bare minimum in our suitcase but anything else we needed but couldn't get through security - including hair products, full-size sunscreen bottle, and other essentials items to make traveling feel a little more at home.  Including some dry shampoo/conditioner - nothing is as wonderful as having an excuse to sleep in and not have to always do you hair!

Top Kid Hacks 

Here are some of what we found to be the best tricks to keep a kid happy on a trip. 

• Snacks and some comforts of home (a book or a toy)
• A good pair of headsets to watch on board movies - they don't need to be expensive though!  Target carries great fitting over the ear in Bullseye's Playground for only $5!
• A pen, (colored) pencils/crayons and notebook to write or draw about the trip. 
• Scavenger hunts for each city so they stay actively engaged on the journey. 
• An old phone to serve as their own personal camera and keeper of a few apps to keep them busy. 
• Find postcards to send home - its a fun souvenir to also bring joy to their little friends back home!

Above all, pack a good sense of humor for any of the unexpected that pops up.  They always will!  J caught the stomach bug in Europe; or should we say, he caught the stomach bug stateside and it manifested in Europe. Talk about your worst nightmare!  But luckily we were well-equipped this trip (unlike any before) with Benadryl to keep the nausea at bay and give him a few hours of lost sleep; along with patience and lots of prayers that none of us would get it on the flight home!

If traveling wasn't an adventure, then I don't know what else it would be.  But how else would we ever learn what we're made of?  Hope that some of our school of thought helps you as you start to plan your next adventure somewhere! 

And if all this seems but overwhelming to you, we can help make those trip plans - and then just leave the packing to you!