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Someone recently asked me for help in planning an itinerary on an upcoming trip to a place somewhere up northwest. I was also able to plan the itinerary for several trips that I’ve gone to in the past couple of months and I’ll say that it’s not really an easy task since there a lot of factors to consider.
Planning for your trip is very important since it will not only save you time but it will also help you save money especially if you are travelling on a tight budget.
Assuming that you have already booked your plane fare for your upcoming trip and spend your holidays to Dubai, here are some factors that could affect planning your itinerary.
You and your Travel Companions
If you are travelling on your own, this factor won’t be a problem. Planning your itinerary would be easy.
a backpacker and 2 jetsetters
However, if you are travelling with someone or with a group of individuals, you should be familiar with their needs and wants. You must consider if they are the type of travellers who would prefer comfort or if they are the adventurous gals who can stand sitting on a dirty, non-airconditioned train and live in a cheap hostel that has bedbugs all over the place.
You have to ask beforehand what their preferences are so as not to waste your time in planning for your itinerary and having to cancel each plan you listed at the last minute because Companion A will not stay in a fan room and Companion B refuses to sleep in an air-conditioned room. You must also know if they’d prefer a country side tour or would go gaga seeing the sight of a beach nearby. Unless your group agrees to go on your own ways to discover the city according to each one’s preferences, all of you must reach an agreement before you plan for the trip.
Travel Destination
Unless you are familiar with the place where you will travel, you must be prepared for the unexpected.
know what to expect in each country’s cuisine
Research is key to a successful trip. Today, we are lucky that we have access to a lot of travel information online and you need to utilize these available resources to get to know more about your travel destination. Read blogs, forums, travel books and other sources online. You will find a lot of information from them which will help you plan for your trip. Consult with your friends or those you know who have gone to those places and ask for their travel advise and opinion.
Time
Be realistic in planning for your trip. If you are arriving at 4pm, consider the travel time it will take to step out of the airport and reach the place where you are headed and do not plan to have an early dinner by the bay and watch the sunset if you are unsure that you could make it.
Bangkok streets at night
Also, do not try to squeeze in a lot of tourist destinations on a day tour if you do not know what the traffic is like in a certain place. Do not squeeze in an itinerary that’s ideal for an 8-day trip when you only got 6 days including plane and boat transfers.
Budget
You must know how much you are willing to spend for the trip. This will determine the type of accommodations you will book, what mode of transportation you will take and where you should dine for your daily meals.
how much is your spending budget?
Knowing how much you’ll spend will give you time to save up or perhaps give you time to notify your companions you won’t be joining because you can’t come up with the money needed.
Flexibility
If something goes wrong with your plan, you must prepare a Plan B.
made a detour here while wandering around Bangkok on my own
If you or your travel buddies suddenly gets bored with a packaged tour, immediately stop it for you might not recover from being tortured on having to continue a tour. Remember that you’re supposed to be in a “vacation mode” and you should be enjoying your trip. Be flexible, not only with the travelling bit but also with the budget as anything could happen within the course of your trip. You may not know it, but you might end up spending too much on souvenir items and completely forget that you are already spending the money alloted for your taxi fare in going back to the airport.
By now, you may think that planning your travel itinerary is a hard thing to accomplish but planning for your trip and for the others could also be exciting and at the same time rewarding after you’ve accomplished your goal.
Well, these are just my thoughts and how I plan for my travels. Just remember that you should enjoy this and if you get a headache out of planning your trip, just relax and probably continue the planning when you get your clear mind back 🙂
Having said all that, are you still willing to make your own itinerary or will you let someone else do it for you?
On a lighter note, the absence of a plan can also be a good plan, don’t you think? 😉
Nina recently asked me this. Ano kayang meron?
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1. book a promo flight super prior the travel date (nooo waay kapag reg fare!)
2. study the map. (yan eto weirdo ako. gusto ko kabisado ko ang route ko. alam ko location ng airport, layo ng bawat spots. hehe)
..the rest follows like yours. ^_^
(anu ba, di pa din pala kita na-add sa blog roll ko. lagay ko now)
hahaha. kaloka ka talaga chyng! salamat sa pag add sa blogroll mo ^_^
di ko maintindihan bakit sa lahat nga matitinong comments yung sayo lang ang bumabagsak sa spam ko. could it be your blog title? LOL. oh well, ok lang. i screen the spams din naman 😀
napagawa lang ako nito coz di pala complete yung entry ko sa planning stage ng trip namin sa BKK & SR tapos may nagtatanong kasi na pupunta doon ngayong May 😉 may part 2 pa nga to eh. as for your #1 item, given na sya chyng. dapat promo fare talaga. yung #2, saka ko na sya i-study pag andun na 😉
i also noticed mali ang link ng blog mo sa site ko. kasalanan to ni james! LOL. i just copied his links eh. hehe. peace james! anyway, updated it na rin.
Everything depends on the time and budget for me. I’ll start from there on what type of accommodation, food, activities, transpo etc. 😀 I am more of a ‘bahala na’ traveler when i am traveling alone or if i’m with a group of cowboy people. Planning a trip for a large group can be a bit frustrating (especially with last minute cancellations or may other preferences without saying beforehand pft), pero fulfilling din kapag successful 😀 Hoping to travel with you rin soon 😀
hi mica, yeah kanya2x lng ng diskarte sa pagpla-planning 😀 hope to travel with you soon too! 😉
.. nice tips! i need to improve my itinerary plans and budgeting. on my last trip, i went above my target budget. dropping by from chyng’s blog. 🙂
hi rob, thanks for dropping by. discipline lang talaga kelangan. before, I also don’t count where my money goes when I travel but because of blogging and the lack of funds, i was able to pursue my travels while keeping a tight budget. you can do it! 😉
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