7 Steps to Planning Your Next Trip

Are you getting the itch?

No not that itch!

I’m talking about the travel itch.

The travel itch hit me when my husband graduated from college and started his career. Prior to that, we lived off of my income alone, which supported us, but there wasn’t much we could add to our vacation fund after paying bills and funneling into savings. Don’t get me wrong, we took long weekend trips to the beach and other areas within driving distance, but we had never gone on a long distance vacation until 2021 when we took our first trip out west to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone National Parks. From that point forward, I was determined to make traveling a priority, and I have ventured more and more.

I have developed a great system of how to make planning easier, and I am excited to share it with you today! So without further adieu, if you are ready to make traveling, no matter the distance easier, then check out these 7 of steps I have shared with you to make planning a breeze.

This post may contain affiliate links which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through links, at no additional cost to you. I will ONLY recommend products that I have personally used and I am grateful for any links you may decide to use. Learn more on my Affiliate Disclosure page.

1. Pick Your Destination

The first step to any trip is choosing where to go. If you are like me, your bucket list is long, and continues to get longer as you scroll Instagram feeds of beautiful destinations in the world. So how in the world do you make a choice??? There are several factors to consider such as finances, allotted vacation days from work, time of year going, and the amount of sites in the surrounding area,. As you evaluate these factors, your choices start to align, making the process of elimination easier.

For example, our most recent trip was to Zion National Park and other nearby attractions during the beginning of October. What helped me choose this destination were a couple of points. We would be traveling alone, rather than with family, which meant we would not be splitting the cost of lodging, groceries, car rentals, etc., so I knew I would need to pick somewhere affordable with these expenses. Secondly, this time of the year lined up with both our schedules. I would be out from my full-time job as a teacher on fall break, and my husband had gained enough hours from our last trips to build up the amount of days needed to take off again (we went for one week). It would also mean the weather would be cooler out in the red rock deserts of Utah, which was ideal. Lastly, there were several other nearby places we wanted to see, such as the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and Bryce Canyon National Park.

2. Choose the Time to Travel

After you have your destination in mind, it’s time to choose what time of the year you plan to vacation to your destination. Again, there are lots of items to consider, but the biggest is considering the best time to visit the area. For example, we chose to go to Zion in the fall because it is a smaller park, so we would beat the crowds and it would be cooler temperatures. All the major areas in the park would still be open prior to the winter season, so we would get to do all our activities planned. Another example is this summer we are planning a trip to Glacier National Park. For this park, October would not be the ideal month to visit for us because parts of the park would be closed due to the winter season.

3. Decide on Your Lodging

This is always my next step after choosing my destination and time of travel. Choosing wisely where you are going to stay during your vacation can make your trip more enjoyable. There is no really right or wrong place to stay, but the biggest factor I consider is the travel distance to my attractions. I tend to stay in a house when we travel due to the amenities of having a full kitchen. This allows us to make quick, easy meals and save money by buying groceries instead of dining out for every meal. I also like to choose housing options that have laundry amenities, so I can wash all our clothes before packing up to come home. I also find that houses are typically cheaper than hotels, KOA’s, or other options. While this is not always the case, this is what I have discovered when planning most of our trips.

Another consideration is if I will need multiple lodging places or just one for the destination. When we went on our first big excursion to the Grand Tetons and Yellowstone, we chose a house that was in the middle of both locations. While this sounded good in my head at the time, looking back now, I would have booked two different houses because we spent 4+ hours driving to and from the parks everyday all week. I have learned from my mistake, and if there are multiple destinations I am planning to visit that are spread out, I will divide out how many days I intend to stay in each area and find lodging close to the first set of days, then we will travel to our next lodging site later in the week when it is time to move on. This ensures that I am spending more time fulfilling my plans, rather than driving back and forth. I usually find the best deals for lodging options on VRBO or AirBNB.

4. Find your Flights

This step seems pretty straight forward, but I want to give you a couple of tips to make finding your flights a bit easier. I always start looking at booking my flights after I have my destination, time, and lodging chosen because depending on where I am staying, is going to depend on where I fly.

I always use Expedia when booking my flights. I signed up for a free account that allows me to earn money back on all my purchases, whether I use the app for flights, hotels, car rentals, etc. Not only this, but I also choose Expedia because I can see all the different airline rates, times of flights, and I can enable monitoring, so I can get notifications on particular flights when prices fluctuate before booking.

Now that you know what tool to use, let’s talk about how to choose the best flight available. If you are looking for cheaper airline options, I like to use Southwest. Although they are not going to have the same accommodations as a major airline, the fares are usually more affordable. A couple of downsides with Southwest are you do not choose your actual seat until you are on the plane. Instead, you choose your section when you book your tickets. When your section is called is when you board and proceed to the plane to choose your seat. Secondly, Southwest is not always an option at all airports. They only fly to specific destinations. For example, for us to fly Southwest, we must travel to Atlanta, rather than going to the closer regional airports like Knoxville or Chattanooga. If you are willing to pay more, you can choose some of the major airlines. I have had poor experiences with United, so I tend to stray away from them. My most frequent flights are with American Airlines; however, I have flown Delta as well. Both of these airlines have always resulted in positive experiences.

Some other things to think about are departure, layover, and arrival times. If you are driving a long distance to the airport, it may be a struggle to book a departure time of 2:00 a.m. (most airports you want to arrive at least an hour and a half earlier than the departure time). On the plus side, the airports are typically less crowded at night. Arrival times can determine what your first day at your destination will be like. If you are arriving at 2:00 a.m. to your destination, but can’t check into your lodging until later in the afternoon, you are going to have to find a way to waste a lot of time.

My last tip to consider is deciding if you want a direct flight or a flight with a layover. Although it can seem like layovers are time wasted, I choose to go with flights that have some type of layover. Flying can be down right uncomfortable for long periods of time on the plane. I usually fly in economy and after a couple of hours, those spaces get tight and uncomfortable, so a layover allows you to at least move and get some exercise as your travel. One things to note is the amount of layover time you have. Be sure not to book a flight with a layover time too short, making you miss your connecting flight.

5. Booking Your Transportation

When booking your transportation, again, there are lots of options to choose from. Some places may have public transportation that are a more viable choice than renting a vehicle for the duration of your trip. If you are looking to book a vehicle for your trip, I have a couple of recommendations.

First, I have had poor experiences with the cheaper options at the airport, like Budget. When we were returning to Jackson Hole Airport leaving The Grand Tetons, we filled the car up at the very last gas station in town. From that gas station, the airport is a few miles. Because it wasn’t filled to the absolute brim when arriving (I guess they wanted us to buy a gas tank to fill up at the airport before returning it???), we were charged an absurd amount, and dealt with horrible customer service. Since then, I have only used Enterprise or Turo.

Enterprise is great, but sometimes they are a little pricey. However, some business companies have great discounts they give to employees continuously. For instance, my stepfather-in-law worked at Walmart and they give their employees discount codes every month, most being 50% off. Even if. you are not the employee, you can still use the code at checkout. We have never had anyone question us when picking up the car (asking for Walmart employee validation). I have used Turo once and would definitely use them again in the future. These are vehicles that everyday individuals rent out in their area. The biggest downfall with this program is not all car insurance companies will cover this type of rental since it is not through a legit rental car company, so I would advise calling your insurance just to verify before booking.

6. Additional Fees to Consider

On your checklist of planning should be researching if there are additional fees you will need to pay for the attractions you plan to see. For example, most of the National Parks in the U.S. have some type of entrance fee. Some even have additional vehicle fees that must be booked in advance prior to entering or require permits for specific hikes. Obviously, if you are partaking in any activities such as boat rides, rafting excursions, or anything like that, those will have a cost as well.

7. Planning Your Itinerary

This last step goes hand in hand with all the other steps listed above; however, I start to make my final adjustments as the time of my trip approaches. Depending on where I am going, will determine when I start the initial plannings. For example, when I was planning our trip to Zion National Park, I needed to plan some aspects more advance because a couple of the hikes I wanted to conquer required a permit and were released 3 months in advance of our trip. For these permits, I needed to have anticipated dates planned to submit my application. As I am planning our trip to Glacier National Park, I know I will have to reserve vehicle passes 120 days in advance for certain areas of the park we will be visiting.

The way I create my itineraries is using a Google Doc because it is accessible anywhere while I am traveling, as long as I have my phone. I write out the dates of each day we will be traveling and bullet point highlights for that day. If we are traveling to different places, I map out the mileage and estimated time between all the stops. If I am including hikes, I will put the trailhead name, where to access the trail, and how many miles it is, along with an estimated time frame for completion. If there are specific sites I want to see at specific times of day (sunrise/sunset), then I will note the time of those occurrences and calculate the time frame needed to get to the destination by that specific time.

If you would like a copy of a previous itinerary or an editable version, send me an email with details! I would love to help you plan!

That’s it! With these 7 steps, you are well on your way to planning your next adventure! If you have any helpful tips, drop a comment below, or if you need additional assistance, please contact me. I would love to make your next bucket list destination a reality for you!