Between balancing a job, chores, getting enough sleep and keeping up with your favourite shows, there isn’t much time left to put towards planning a trip. Planning a trip can seem overwhelming especially if you haven’t done it before. The secret is that it’s not that complicated and travel agents won’t tell you that.
Maybe you know it’s not complicated but simply do not have enough time and so would rather purchase all inclusive travel packages. That isn’t the worse thing to do if you don’t mind paying for convenience. I am here to tell you that you can do it yourself. Yes, even with a busy schedule, you can plan your trip yourself. In this post I have broken down how to plan a trip in 4 steps. Keep reading to learn more.
Why planning a trip is better than winging it
1 – You spend less
I get a thrill out of spending as little money as possible on travel. This wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t plan.
2 – You don’t waste time during your trip
Your time off is meant to be relaxing – not stressful. Doing little or no planning shifts all the work you could have done before the trip to during the trip. That’s not fun.
3 – You can fit a lot into a short time
A busy schedule means you don’t get many days off. If you plan, you can fit a lot into a few days. Watch how much I did while in Durban for 48 hours.
How to find time to plan a trip
Planning a trip without a travel agent means you will need to find the time to do it yourself. Later in this post, I go into the 4 steps to complete during this time (transport, accommodation, activities & an itinerary). First, let’s start with two general tips that have helped me create time to get my travel planning done:
Use the in between moments
There are things we need to do and sometimes there are “in between moments” that we can use to get less critical things done. Examples of these “in between moments” are while waiting in the queue at the bank or while using public transport. Use these moments to make progress with your travel planning, even if it’s small progress. I wrote this blog post during a lot of small in between moments. Don’t wait to have a long period available specifically to plan your trip because that time may never come.
Write things down
One of the biggest lies we tell ourselves is that we will remember. If a friend mentions a cool place to try out or you read a helpful recommendation while scrolling through social media, write it down so that you don’t have to search for it again when you need it.
#1 Plan transport
Getting there and back:
- Use Rome2rio to quickly get a list of the different ways (flight vs bus vs train etc) of getting to your destination. This includes travel duration and an estimate of cost. You simply enter where you are going and where you are traveling from and Rome2rio lists each possible transport option. E.g a flight will take 2 hours and cost R2000 alternatively a bus will take 14 hours and cost R900.
- If you choose to fly, use Skyscanner price alerts to receive emails when the price of your flight changes so that you don’t need to repeatedly search the flight. This is a major time saver! No one has time to keep opening up Skyscanner to recheck flight prices.
- Buy your bus/plane/train ticket online or telephonically. You don’t need to sit down with a travel agent to book tickets. Do it online in minutes instead.
Getting around while there:
- Uber is only operational in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban & Port Elizabeth. Consider this if traveling in other locations in South Africa.
- If hiring a car, make your booking online or telephonically and as soon as possible to get first pick of the available cars. This can also be done in minutes online.
#2 Plan accommodation
- Decide your accommodation budget first and use this as a search filter (Don’t waste time looking through options you can’t afford). Booking.com, Airbnb and Agoda all have a filtered search feature.
- Apply all of your deal breaker requirements as filters E.g WiFi, air conditioning etc
- If using Airbnb, apply the “superhost” filter to only see high rated, reliable options
- Use Airbnb lists to get your accommodation search done quickly – this is especially great if planning a group trip
- Note/screenshot the check-in and check-out times when you book so that you don’t need to look for these later
#3 Plan activities
- To get a list of things to do, read a blog about that location. Bloggers give useful information in a concise way so it won’t take long to find what you need. Checkout my blog post on how to plan a trip to Cape Town for example.
- If you want to be extra organised, call each and ask the following 5 questions in one phone call (alternatively do a Google search though that could take more time):
- How much is entrance?
- Do they accept card payments or will you need to pay with cash?
- Do you need to prebook or can you simply arrive?
- Are they open every day or only on certain days?
- What time do they open/close?
#4 Create an itinerary
Once you have your transport, accomodation and list of activities sorted, piece everything together to form an itinerary.
I type mine out on a note on my phone. It doesn’t need to be fancy, just a high level day to day breakdown of what you will do and in what order. This is where the opening times and days of each activity will be considered for the extra organised bunch.
E.g.
- Friday: Catch the bus from Park Station at 5pm
- Saturday: Arrive in Port Elizabeth at 9am. Pick up car from Avis. Stop at Addo elephant Park. Check in to accommodation at Tsitsikamma.
- Sunday: Zipline at CanopyTourSA booked for 10am. Blackwater tubing activity booked for 2pm.
Having a rough plan is especially useful if traveling in a group. Who else can relate to wasting time trying to agree?
I like to use Google maps for a quick check of directions and distances between activities to help me create an itinerary that makes sense.
For a more detailed breakdown of the steps to follow for planning an international trip, read my blog post about how to plan a trip to Greece. Though it is written about Greece, the same steps are applicable for other international destinations.
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Thanks Fari. I’m getting more optimistic that it really might be possible to travel without being rich with 3 months leave a year. Your advice sounds sensible and feasible. I’ll let you know when the travel bug bites me. Soon. 😁
Really detailed and informative! I have to say that I agree with every single point of yours especially using the in between moments wisely as well as planning so you don’t waste time on a trip. Even with a busy schedule, you can always make time for things you are passionate about!