Personal Travel Planning Checklist: Why Research And Travel Planning Is A Great Idea!
What kind of traveler are you?
Are you the one who likes to wing it throughout (because that is “real traveling”), or are you the meticulous planner who gets a dangerously high pulse when something (minor) ruins your perfect itinerary?
Truth be told, I am kind of the “wing-it”-type myself.
But over the years I have learned (sometimes the hard way) that planning can significantly improve my travel experience in all aspects.
Things like research transport options is a great example. I did not do that in Puerto Rico, and then found out there is really no public transport there. And, that you should rent a car in San Juan, in other places the rates are a lot higher.
Yep, that got expensive.
Why Travel Planning Is A Great Investment
Moving on, I don’t mean you need to make “The Plan”, but do the actually planning, and heres why (If you are the strict-itinerary kind of traveler, this might be useful to you, too).
The planning of your trip is going to teach you a lot about your destination even if you don’t make a PLAN.
It will equip you to improvise, adapt and overcome if and when something goes wrong (and keep your pulse steady if your perfect itinerary get scratches).
Especially if you are traveling solo, doing your research and planning for A, B, and C is a great idea.
For parts of your trip, it can also be a good idea to pre-book things you definitely don’t want to miss, and small group tours are an amazing way to explore off the beaten path and implement the iconic destinations in your journey.
Travel Planning Checklist
- Decide on your budget
- Decide on a time period and research great destinations at that time
- Check flight options
- Skyscanner
- E-Dreams
- Google Travel
- Expedia
- Research areas to stay and accommodation (check TripAdvisor and TrustPilot)
- Research sights, things to do, and activities in your destination
- Google “destination + blog”
- Prompt Chat GPT or your preferred AI service
- Search for “visit + your destination”
- Research transport options at your destination
- Research common crimes and what you need to be aware of, as well as day and night and gender issues
- Do you need a travel insurance?
- Do you need any vaccines?
- Should you bring any supplements or medication?
- Are there any special concerns about money/currency or cash vs credit card?
- Should you get a local E-sim card?
- Do you need a visa (and how long can you stay)?
- Is your passport valid?
- Research weather and temperatures for your time of stay
- Are there anything special going on when you are visiting (holidays, festivals, events, etc.)?
- Create a packing list (Google search: “packing for (your destination)”
Check out my recommended travel resources for booking flights, accommodation, tours, visa, and more!
How To Find Great Travel Planning Resources
Here are my recommendations on where to find the best tips and advice for your next destination:
- Search for travel blogs and travel content creators
- Search Pinterest, a lot of really good travel bloggers link to their content from there
- Find travel YouTube channels and Instagram accounts for short and medium form review videos (destinations, activities, hotel reviews, etc).
- Traditional Google searches: try different search terms to get the best hits
- Use ChatGPT or Claude AI (or your AI of choice, suggested prompt below)
Who Are The Travel Experts You Should Listen To?
There are still a lot of helpful blogs, Facebook groups, Pinterest accounts, YouTube channels, and Instagram accounts out there that have vaults of valuable, hands-on information from which you can benefit.
Real travelers who have tested, tried, and experienced your next destination before you.
They have found out what is fun, boring, overrated, unmissable, and not least made the mistakes (and written about it) for you to avoid the avoidable ones!
So, by spending a little time researching, you can end up with a list of things you want to do (or skip), areas or specific places you would like to stay, and special experiences you want (and might have missed if you did not dive into the internet).
All equipped to improvise, adapt, and overcome when things don’t go as planned (or as easy as you thought).
If you are not used to using AI for this kind of search, let me give you an AI prompt below that you can copy/paste (or modify) into AI to help you:
AI Prompt To Help Your Travel Planning
Here is an AI prompt you might find helpful, and feel free to adjust to your specific needs:
“Hi (your AI), you are a local inhabitant in (your destination), and you know the destination inside and out. Now you are going to give travel advice to a friend who will be visiting. Your friend is coming in (month) for X days and is especially interested in (your interests). Your friend is (on a budget/not worried about the budget) for their visit. Please create a list of suggestions for what activities your friend should do while there and why. Make sure you include special local places, restaurants, and activities that are not commonly known to tourists and off-the-beaten-path destinations, as well as what “tourist traps” to avoid. Also include safety tips, transportation tips, and the best way to get around. Lastly, come up with three top-rated suggestions for places to stay in the (budget/luxury) range and explain a little about the accommodation, the area it is situated, and why this is a good choice. Thank you”.
Lastly, what is the most important research to do to avoid f#ck ups?
Well, below you find the things that I like to look into before traveling. They might help you, too!
- Safety issues
- Transport options, walkability, distances
- What time of year is best to visit
- Seasonable highlights
- “Hidden gems” not all tourists know about
- Price levels (and city taxes)
- Checking hotel and accommodation reviews
- Should I get an e-Sim card?
- Tips about language (and online translators)
- Currency conversion and payment tips
Wrap-Up Why Travel Planning Is Important
See?
Spending time and a bit of resources planning your travels does not mean you have to have a rigid itinerary, or limit your travel fun on the road.
In fact, it is quite the contrary. Educating yourself on your destination simply will equip you to have more flexibility, be able to improvise, and know your plan B and C when things does not go according to plan!
Hope some of that was helpful to you; until next time,
Much love & happy travel planning!
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