Travel Skills Tuesday #6

Welcome to Travel Skills Tuesday! in these weekly issues of my Travel Newsletter I’ll drop travel tips and tricks with a shared topic! The theme for this “Travel Skills Tuesday” newsletter is…

How Far In Advance Should You Plan a Trip

Planning a trip can be overwhelming. So where do you start? More importantly WHEN do you start planning your trip? In this week’s issue I’ll be sharing all the things I consider as I’m deciding WHEN I need to Plan, Purchase or Reserve the different parts of my trip.

• ✨Pros and Cons of Planning In Advance

• 🕛When in Doubt, Space it Out

• ✅My Go-To Timelines for Planning International and US Trips

Pros & Cons of Pre-Planning

Here are a few things you should consider when you Plan, Purchase or Reserve items for your travels!

❌Cons

• 💵Requires Spend Up Front to Purchase Items

• 🔥What if you cancel? Some purchases are Not Refundable

✅Pros

• ✅Save Your Spot, the exact time and date you want

• 💵Better Pricing when you buy early, prices typically go up

• ✅Less planning to do last minute, things are Done  

• 🙅🏽‍♀️Researching in Advance leads to Less Surprises 

Here’s my Vibe on Pre-Planning Specific Trip Items:

• ✈️Flights & Train Tickets - purchase these WITH refund guarantees, if possible

• 🏨Hotels - I will ONLY reserve these, not pre-pay, because this is usually a big chunk of my trip cost and have reasonable cancellation policies

• ⛷️Attractions & Activities - I definitely pre purchase these to get the exact date and time I want to visit, especially for things that are likely to sell out quickly

• Ⓜ️Transportation - Usually I’ll research this early (ex. metro passes) but not buy it until closer to my trip

When In Doubt Space It Out

My ✨Golden Rule✨ of travel planning is Start Early so you can Space the Planning Out, by completing a little bit of planning at a time.

I refuse to commit blindly to something, especially spending money on it (it’s an issue I know) or feeling the pressure to purchase without researching activities, reading hotel reviews or checking out other people’s opinions of a destination. So giving myself plenty of time enables me to plan comfortably!

My Go-To Travel Timelines

As we’ve discussed, I like to take my time planning. So, the timelines below will seem generous BUT they are far enough in advance that even if I’m a little late on them, I still have plenty of stress-free time to plan. 

Is this saying that you CAN’T plan an amazing trip with less notice or time? of course not. With enough determination, anything is possible. BUT this is my normal pace of planning to avoid feeling rushed or stressed.

Need Help Learning How to Plan Your Trip?

Grab a Copy of My How-To & Travel Skills Handbook! Available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, Google Books & Local Bookstores via Ingram. Thank you for Supporting my Blog & Newsletter by Grabbing a Copy!

You can also steal my itineraries from LydsLifeSkills.com and use my FREE Travel Planning Template via GoogeSheets to plan your travels!

Thanks for Reading! I’m Wishing you a full and peaceful season! Feel free to reply to this email to contact me or request any blog topics!

Keep Traveling & Pouring into Yourself - XOXO - Lydia