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Like all great travellers, I have seen more than I remember, and remember more than I have seen.
Benjamin Disraeli
I am such a planner for everything we do! I LOVE starting to think about our next vacation way ahead of time. It gives me the time to think about what we want to do, what our must-see/must-do things are, and to plan to trip of our dreams! Most importantly, it allows me time to budget and save money so that we can do everything we want without breaking the bank. Let’s get started with planning your trip! What should you do first?
Create a Dream or Vision of What You Want the Trip to be
- Research the place you are wanting to visit.
- Create a ‘must-do’ list. (this one is always fun!)
- Estimate the cost of the trip based on the time of year you will be staying, flight, transport, hotels, food, tours, souvenirs, and whatever else you have your heart set on doing while there!
- Start to plan your budget.
6 Months to 1 Year
- Narrow down a date of when you want to go on your vacation.
- See if you need to get any immunizations for the destination you are wanting to travel to.
- Check your passport! If you don’t have one, make sure to get one! If you do have one, make sure that it is still valid and will be valid for the trip. A passport must be valid at least six months from the date you are traveling. For our last trip, I had to get the name changed on my passport since we had just gotten married.
- If you need a visa, be sure to apply for one!
3-6 Months
- Book your flight(s)- make sure to get travel insurance!
- Finalize your itinerary. Get more specific with what you are wanting to do while on your trip. If you’re like me and love to be super organized, create a day by day itinerary so you have an idea of what you will be doing each day you are there! You don’t want to miss anything, so having an itinerary can help you to be sure to fit everything in.
- Book your hotel(s) (accommodations).
- Book the things that you will be doing! Things like tours, events, activities. It is best to book these in advance because many things will be sold out, or the lines are very long to get into on the day of.
- Book your transportation from the airport to your hotel and vice versa. Something we like to do is stay at the airport (if possible) the night before we head home! It makes the process so much easier.
Related Post: The Ultimate Packing List
1-2 Months
- Purchase anything special you may need for the trip. Make sure your luggage is in good condition and can handle the trip!
- Get an International driver’s license if you will need one.
2 Weeks
- Notify the bank of your travels. If you are visiting multiple places, let them know each place you are going.
- Write a packing list so you will not forget anything!
- Review and finalize all of your plans.
- Confirm your flight and bookings.
- Hire someone to house sit while you are away. If you have pets, hire someone to dog sit as well, or find a kennel to board them.
- Put a hold on your mail or have someone pick it up for you while you are away.
Related Post: What to do at Home Before Leaving for Vacation
1 Week
- Order currency for the place you will be visiting if necessary.
- Print out copies of all your travel information (accommodations, tour information, tickets, as well as your personal information have an extra copy).
- Give a copy of your itinerary to a friend or family member so that they will know where you are during your stay. You can never be too careful these days!
- Check the weather at the destination you will be traveling to. This will ensure that you pack the proper clothes and shoes.
- Pull out that packing list and get started!
- Get EXCITED about your trip!
If you’re wanting to plan a trip like a professional- check out this guide for some help!
I hope you have found this list to be helpful! Have a blast on your next trip, I hope it’s magical!
Don’t forget to follow me on social media to keep up with all of my travels and fun adventures.
Until next time,
Catherine
It’s so exciting planning a trip, I just can’t wait to be able to do all the planning and booking…great tips
It is so exciting 🙂
I’m a crazy planner so I love your list breakdown. I desperately want to plan a different kind of special trip later this year but drawing blanks. I will take your advice and dream and research! 🙂
Yay! Dreaming and researching are my favorite pars. It’s so much fun! I hope you figure out the perfect vacation.
I really love this monthly checklist to help prepare for vacation! I am a little nuts about planning and being organized so tips and advice on how to handle pre-vacation planning is just up my alley! I appreciate this info so much!
You sound like me! I love the pre-planning and making sure I have all my ducks in a row. I hope this article helps!
Great travel checklist when you have a big vacation coming up. You always want to make sure you have all your information pulled together.
I agree! It’s very important to have all your information together when traveling.
I’m not much of a planner but this monthly travel checklist is perfect! I like how you’ve broken planning a trip down into smaller steps. I’ll be using this next time we book a trip!
I hope this helps you! I plan everything I can, lol
Great breakdown of the must-do’s for travel! Love the travel checklist!
Thank you!
This monthly travel checklist is so helpful when planning a vacation. It’s a perfect resource for a fun-filled getaway.
Thank you!
Good Idea! I like to plan out in advance a monthly travel checklist so that I don’t miss anything. Thank you for sharing some tips to help to remember.
You’re welcome! I hope these tips help you plan the best trip 🙂
This is a great breakdown of steps to do to plan trips. I love the planning and dreaming phase of trips. Things tend to work out better the earlier you prepare.
I love the planning and dreaming phase of trips as well. I love to have everything planned so the trip can go as good as possible!
Planning is half the fun! I love getting ready for trips!
I Agree! It’s so much fun planning and enjoying the trip.
Great idea to have a checklist to prepare for vacation. I don’t usually plan this much, but like to write of list of what we need to pack.
A packing list is also very important!
This travel checklist is excellent! Planning a trip is so enjoyable for me. That’s why I recently became a travel agent, so I could help other people.
That’s so much fun! I have thought about being a travel agent many, many times. I plan all of our trips and I enjoy it so much. I love the research and finding deals!
I appreciate this monthly checklist for vacation! We are going on a summer trip in June and I will definitely have to take advantage of this. I am a planner as well and try to make sure there are no surprises to the best of my ability.
I like to make sure there are no surprises as well. If possible! Sometimes you can’t plan everything, which is fine, but I like to try! Lol
The monthly checklist is a great way to keep everything running smoothly. Thank you for sharing.
It definitely helps me keep my planning running smoothly.