Top 11 travel planning tips

I think my second calling in life was to be a travel agent. I seriously LOVE planning vacations and small little trips. I actually enjoy doing all the research, finding all the must-hit restaurants, boutiques, trails, coffee shops, bars, unique attractions, etc. My family tends to put it all on my shoulders, which I'm secretly (until now) okay with. So, because we have a pretty big trip coming up in the summer of 2020, I've been doing quite a bit of planning. And I thought...HEY! Why don't I share some top tips for travel planning with my subscribers?! GREAT IDEA...right?!

Here goes:

1. As soon as you know where you're going, turn on google flights tracking; this will track all possible flights to your destination so you are alerted when prices drop (or go up).

2. Always check all home-share/rental options, like Airbnb, before going with a hotel. Generally you'll find MUCH nicer options with more space for a cheaper price.

3. ALWAYS check the box that says "entire place to yourself" when booking through these rental services. Unless you don't care about showing up to the place and potentially having a strange family living there during your entire stay, watching your every move. It has happened to people very close to me *cough* mom and dad *cough*.

4. Read reviews. Don't settle for anything less than 4 stars. There ARE amazing places out there for really reasonable prices. I think reviews can be misconstrued when looking for materialistic things like clothing or shoes...but 100% go with what people are saying when you're booking your vacation. Don't want to get there and the place is a complete dump.

5. Google. Google everything. It's a great place to find "must-see" attractions wherever you're going. You can find blog posts from people who have stayed there before or who actually live there, with tons of recommendations.

6. Check Groupon for deals on excursions, if that's your thing. You can find some pretty good discounts, but once again, be sure to check the reviews (and fine print) before purchase.

7. Check your money saving apps, like Rakuten and Drop, for offers on flights, hotels, rental cars, etc. We were able to get 4% cash back on our rental car for a wedding this past fall.

8. If staying in a home rental, such as through Airbnb, use your host for tips on where to eat, good bars to check out, trails you can't miss...all the things. Since it's their home, they're going to have a lot of good info for you.

9. Plan out your must-hit spots using Google Maps. You can pin each location to see where it is on the map so you can then be sure to hit locations that are near each other at the same time. That way you're not spending the majority of your trip in the car. It also helps to see how long it's actually going to take you to travel to a specific destination, in-turn making sure you aren't planning too much or too little.

10. Plan time to rest and relax each day. If you're going-going-going all the time, you're going to exhaust yourself and you'll come back from your "vacation" feeling even more tired than you were when you left. This is where getting a vacation rental, such as a house or condo, comes in handy. Chilling in a hotel room isn't as relaxing as a full-size house where you can maybe relax on the back patio with a glass of wine and (hopefully) an amazing view.

11. Use online resources, such as TripSavvy, to determine the best time to go to your planned destination, both weather-wise and cost-wise. You can usually find a happy-medium.

There you have it! My top 11 travel planning tips to make your vacation as breezy as possible. The whole point of a vacation is to relax and recharge, right? So planning ahead helps make all of that come to fruition! Happy planning!

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