The Itinerary - How to plan your next Trip

We all agree that some basic planning is essential for your next trip. But just in case...If you are not sure why it is needed have a look at our previous Blog Post "Why planning is essential for your next trip".

When we talk about a plan for a trip, you probably came across the word "itinerary". May it be because of the blog post you read or your search results about planning your next trip on the web.

Just to make sure we are all on the same page let's define it:

 

What is an itinerary?

An itinerary is an outline for your next journey. It is a plan which covers at least the dates, the route of the trip, the places to visit, and accommodation. Depending on your sophistication it can include more things, such as transportation & attractions. We often like to think of an itinerary as a dedicated calendar for a fixed period of time (your trip). In it, you will fill your daily plans with as much detail as you like. 

 

Before we show you how to plan an itinerary we want to answer the following question:

 

"How much of a trip do I need to plan in advance?"

 

You might even wonder: "Do I need to plan the whole trip in advance"? As you might already guess there is no one size fits all to this question. This comes down to you as a person. How often do you travel and how comfortable are you with the unknown? If you are adventurous and like to figure things out on the fly, you might only book your flights/rental car and go from there day by day. On the other hand, if the thought of booking accommodation the day of already stresses you out, you might want to put a solid effort into planning your trip details. Also if you are not traveling alone, but with a group of people or your family, some more planning before the trip will be required.

In the end, it is a decision you have to make for yourself. Because from our point of view, a trip should be fun and exciting but also give you a break from the day-to-day stress. So be sure to plan according to your piece of mind.

So let's get more concrete here and look at it from two perspectives:

Scenario 1: You are traveling to a location where you've already been to:

This is probably the easier one to create a plan for since you already know quite a bit about your destination. You know where to stay and the means of transportation. In this case, there is very little planning needed and you can play it more by ear. It might make sense to do some research for unique experiences which you haven't done there yet. May it be the Speakeasy bar you didn't know about or the concert of your favorite artists who's in town while you're there. Be sure to check out the event calendar beforehand and also see what other people are doing there.

 

Scenario 2: You are traveling to a completely new location.

In this case, there will be some more planning effort needed to create your itinerary. As mentioned before that also depends on your level of adventure and travel experience. Either way, we recommend having at least a plan for 60% of your trip. Note, having a plan doesn't mean you have to book everything in advance. But at least you have the options to choose from and it will give you some peace of mind when you get there. It is also important to not overdo it with planning. On the one hand, it will give you a lot of stress investing all the time upfront, trying to be perfect. On the other hand, if you have a jammed calendar during your stay it might not give you the break you needed. 

Important: Don't try to cover all the tourist spots and attractions. For most of the locations, this will be way too much and you are not able to enjoy the places you visit fully.

 

Sketch your itinerary

For creating your itinerary, there are many apps and tools out there to help you. However, sometimes it's also best to start with a blank sheet of paper (physical or digital) over a glass of wine. Make it fun. When it comes to defining the content we usually approach it in a similar way:

 

Define the basic boundary conditions of your trip:

This includes deciding when to go and also for how long to stay. The "when" might depend on your vacation schedule or maybe an event that triggered you to go there like a wedding or a concert. 

If it is a new location and you are trying to figure out how many days you should stay there, it makes sense to do some research first.

 

Research

The basic research should help you to get an idea of the attractions and places to see according to your interests. Based on how many things end up on your list and also your days of time off, you can decide on the duration of your stay. Here are some things we do when researching a new place:

 

Schedule the big rocks & let the rest happen

After your research let's start filling your itinerary with life and write down the "big rocks".

Calendar:              Start by Listing the days and dates you want to be there

Transportation:     Fill in the dates and times of your flights, rental car pickup/drop off, train arrival/departure, etc. 

Locations:             If it is a trip with multiple destinations, write down when you want to be where

Accommodation:  Fill in the places you already booked or want to stay at

Fixed Events:        The wedding which brought you there in the first place, the concert you booked online, or the reservation at the unique restaurant you always wanted to go to, etc. 

 

Leave some room to explore and be spontaneous:

We call it scheduling the big rocks on purpose. These should be the important things giving your trip structure. However, the same as in life, it doesn't mean we want to plan every hour of the day. In the end, life happens. May it be that you need a break and want to sleep in, or learned about this new place to be, from a local, which you want to check out. Keep some free space on your calendar while you're there. 

 

 

Create a "Mini Bucket List" for your trip

What we also like to do is create a "Mini Bucket List" focused on your destination. Meaning a list of items we identified in our research, found interesting, and would like to check out. These might be more than we have time for, so that's why it is a list we can choose from depending on our mood and other factors such as bad weather. Our list usually includes:

 

Pro-Tip: You can already look up the locations in google maps and flag them as places you want to visit. So if you're strolling around, you can always check out what's close by.

 

 

Now you're ready to get down to the drawing board and plan your next trip itinerary. We hope you got some valuable insights from this blog post. Spending the time to create this overall plan will give you some peace of mind if you don't try to be perfect. 

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Congratulations on your next planned trip. Get excited, arrive there, and leave room for the unexpected.

 

Explore more - Worry Less

 

Your Wanderlusty Germans