Does the thought of planning your next vacation stress you out? Or maybe you’re a planner who’s super-excited to dive in, but you’re overwhelmed by all the possibilities. Either way, you’re not alone! Planning a trip can be incredibly daunting, especially if you want everything to be perfect. There’s a lot to consider, from researching destinations to finding the best deals on flights and accommodations. But don’t worry–because today I’m going to show you how to plan the perfect vacation, step by step!
So sit back, relax, and get ready to discover the ultimate guide to planning your next dream getaway!
Step 1: Define Your Perfect Vacation
First things first, you need to determine the point of your vacation. Are you searching for adventure, some classic fun, or just a relaxing time? Your answer here will help you decide on an ideal location if you don’t already have one in mind. But it will also guide your planning process and help you focus on activities that fit your picture of a perfect vacation.
So take the time to figure out what you want this vacation to look like and accomplish before you go any further.
Step 2: Write Down Your Overview
Once you set your goals, it’s time to look at the broad picture of your vacation.
- What is your budget?
- How many people are coming?
- How long will you be gone?
- What kind of activities do you want to do?
Why? Because these guidelines will help you decide on the ideal location that fits your budget, timeline, and interests! And the perfect vacation needs to tick all of those boxes.
So write these down, then keep them close because you’ll be referencing them later.
Step 3: Choose a Location for the Perfect Vacation
If you don’t already have a location in mind, it’s time to choose one before going any further. If you don’t know where you want to go, I recommend heading to Google Travel’s Explore feature with your goals and overview.
Input your travel dates (or range), home airport, the number of travelers, the max price per ticket, and activity preferences into the filters. Explore automatically generates a list of the most affordable places to travel to with ticket prices and the average nightly hotel rate! And if you click on specific destinations, it will also pull up a list of things to see and do nearby. Pretty nifty, right?
It’s a great way to drum up some ideas if you have no clue where to start.
Once you know where you’re going, it’s time to officially start planning.
Step 4: Make A Realistic Budget
You should already have a starting budget number from your overview. Now, it’s time to break that down into categories to help you stay on track.
I know some of you are thinking, “I’ll just wing this part.” But don’t! The perfect vacation can leave an awful impression if you come back to a lot of debt or have to finish out the month eating ramen noodles every night. It’s so easy to get carried away on vacation, so don’t skip this step!
Define Your Costs
First things first, you’ll need to start breaking down your budget into specific categories, like travel, accommodations, food, and entertainment. Write down a number that you think is reasonable for each kind of expense and compare the estimated total to the budget total.
Then, as you begin to research and book things, mark down the actual costs and adjust as necessary. For example, you might plan for $200 a night for a hotel and $100 a day for a rental car. But as you begin to plan, you find a deal on a hotel for only $160 a night and discover a vehicle costs $150 a day. You can make that adjustment without feeling guilty because you’re still within budget.
You’ll need to revisit this once you start planning your itinerary, but at least get those estimates down for now.
Once you have everything written down, double-check that your final numbers are a) within budget and b) realistic.
Find Your Daily Spend
Next, you should figure out the average amount of money you can afford to spend each day. Remember that this number is for food, activities, accommodations, souvenirs, and daily transportation. You don’t have to stick to this exactly, but it will give you an idea of what to aim for. Here’s how:
- Write down your total budget.
- Write down how many days you’ll be gone.
- Subtract airfare costs from the total budget.
- Divide the remaining budget by how many days you’ll be gone to get your average daily budget.
Now you know approximately how much money you can spend each day without going over budget! Obviously, some days will cost more than others, but the point is to stay around or under that number most days so you’re not caught off guard at the end of your trip.
Step 5: Plan Your Daily Itinerary
People look at itineraries in two very different ways. If you’re like me, an itinerary is a treasure map leading you to a daily goldmine of fun. For others, it’s intimidating and restricting, and you’d rather go with the flow.
No matter where you fall, I almost always recommend some itinerary–even if some days only say, “No Plans Today!” Why? Because if you go on a vacation with NO plans, there’s a good chance you’ll never make any. Or you’ll try to make them too late and end up stressing and missing the event anyway.
Now, if you’re only goal is to relax on the beach and not move for the entire trip, that’s one thing. But if you have any other goals for fun or adventure, planning ahead is always best. You never know when the activity you want will fill up, or you may accidentally overlap available times on things you want to do, causing you to miss out on something fun.
How to Build Your Itinerary
I recommend you take that list of activities you’d like to do from your overview and start researching the area. If you find something that sounds fun, copy the link into a Word Doc or leave the tab open so you can reference it again. Once you’ve found a good selection of activities, compare the pricing to your budget and the available times to each other.
Use that information to decide what you can afford to do and what days make the most sense to do them. And if you need days to relax, write those down, too! If you feel like doing something that day, have a “backup” activity that you could do but wouldn’t mind skipping if you don’t feel up for it. That way, you know you won’t miss out on anything because you slept in too late or sat by the hotel pool for too long.
A defined itinerary is also helpful for keeping track of flights, check-out times, car rental returns, and more “business” items.
Step 6: Gather Your Important Information
Once you have everything booked, it’s a good idea to take all your important information and write it down in one place. You never know when your phone will die (or get lost), and suddenly you have no idea what flight you’re on or where your hotel is located.
So write down all your flight and accommodation information, reservation numbers, phone numbers, etc., and keep that sheet with you while you’re traveling. I’d also recommend sending that information and your itinerary to a trusted friend or family member so that they can help out in a worst-case scenario.
Step 7: Get Prepared for the Perfect Vacation
Hooray! The hardest part is done! You planned the perfect vacation with your desired activities, a reasonable budget, and a great itinerary. So what’s next? Preparations.
About a month (or two) before going on any vacation, I go through a preparation phase where I ensure I have everything I need to enjoy that trip fully. I also use this time to bring myself up to speed on the cultural differences and laws if I’m visiting a different country. If you’re taking a repeat of a trip you’ve done before, you may have this down. But if you’re visiting a new state or country, you don’t want to get caught off guard.
For example, we’re about to go to Ecuador, and our plane will land at the second-highest capital city in the world. So we’re going to need altitude sickness medication! And when we went to Spain and Paris, we needed a power adaptor to charge our electronics. These things could ruin your vacation if you don’t have them handy, so you want to do your research and get prepared.
Top Preparation Questions
I highly recommend you do your own in-depth research on the location you’ll be visiting for tips and tricks from other people. But at the bare minimum, you should go through these questions:
- Will there be language barriers?
- Can I drink the water?
- Do they use a different form of electricity?
- Are the driving laws different?
- Will I need an international phone plan?
- Is petty crime an issue?
- Do I need to buy new gear for any of my planned activities?
Once you’ve answered these questions (and any other questions about health, safety, and necessary gear), make a checklist of any items you’ll need to buy to solve these problems or information you’ll need to look up. Be sure to order your supplies early to make sure they arrive before you leave.
Step 8: Pack for the Perfect Vacation!
The last thing to do is pack for the perfect vacation! If you don’t already have a system, I recommend using a packing list so you don’t forget anything. It can be a good idea to create this list over a few days and add things as they come to mind. If you do it all the day before, you may not remember to pack certain items until you’re already at the airport.
Here are the main categories that should be on your list:
- Clothing
- Toiletries
- Cosmetics
- Electronics
- Snacks/Food
- Documents and Money
- Travel Accessories
- Health/Medications
If you want some help fitting your list into a carry-on, check out my digital download, The Ultimate Guide to Carry-On Packing. It’s a 20-page guide that will help you through every step, from finding the perfect carry-on bag for your travel style to tutorials on rolling clothes correctly and reducing liquids effectively.
It’s free when you sign up for the blog!
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Closing Thoughts
Thanks so much for letting me help you plan the perfect vacation! I hope the information here was helpful and that you’ll take a peek at my Perfect Travel Planner to see if it’s a good fit for you.
If you’re looking for some travel inspiration, be sure to check out the rest of my blog to discover awesome places all around the world! I even have pre-made itineraries available for those who just dread making their own. You can check them out in my Cities to Explore Category.
Good luck with planning your next trip, and I wish you many happy travels!
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