I love planning trips. There are just no two ways about that. So you'll understand when I say that Planning the Honeymoon has been a dream come true!!! W is awesome that way. He tells me where he absolutely wants to go and what he wants to do and lets me do the rest my way. And because of that, the last two months of Lonely Planet guide reading and Online browsing have been absolute bliss.
Our destination: Italy. Though we explored a few other options (prompted mostly by trigger happy me... who wanted to go pretty much everywhere, including, Antarctica), W was pretty clear that he wanted to go to Italy. So Italy it is. To tell the truth, I am much excited about Rome (the Vatican, the Pantheon, the Colosseum, endless amounts of Gelato... yummm!) and Florence. Apart from all the gorgeous architecture, rich history and fabulous museums, Italy is also supposed to be a Gastronomic delight - a very important consideration for two foodies such as ourselves.
The thing that excites me about planning a trip (apart from the actual trip that is), is the thrill of figuring out which specific places to go to and getting awesome deals online. Here's my little two bit on planning a trip:
- Decide the trip style - are you going for a luxury vacation or a more functional (the room is there to sleep in and I don't need silk bedsheets) one?
- The country/region you want to explore. Very important. Else you will be inundated with choices.
- Decide if you are going to travel light or heavy. Keep the country you are going to in mind when you decide this. In Italy for example, most of our friends have told us that there will be a lot of walking involved so we've decided to travel light. This will also impact what kind of local point-to-point transportation you can take and the kind of accommodation you book.
- Explore the various options in the region with an open mind. While we started out thinking we would cover Rome, Venice, Florence and Naples, our route map finally reads Rome-Como-Modena-Florence. Only two of the original four have survived. And with good reason.
- Talk to people, read up, explore blogs. You never know what will excite you. And you totally don't want to come back thinking, "I wish I had gone here instead of there". And that's also the whole point of planning a trip yourself - that you can visit places that tourist groups don't normally plan for.
- Check on modes of local transport, tourist passes etc. Browse websites like tripadvisor and lonely planet to see what other travellers are saying, what suggestions they have for you.
- Also check any websites run by the tourism department of the country you are visiting. For example we checked Italian Toursim and Tuscany Tourism. It is on the Tuscany tourism website that we realised we could actually stay in a villa/farmhouse when visiting Florence and the tuscany region (It's the reason Florence didn't get booted off that itinerary).
- Explore various types of accommodation - today there are more than just hotels available as choices for accommodation. Explore what bed and breakfasts, home stays and unique dwellings have to offer. They bring economy, interaction with locals and memorable experiences with them. Sites I would recommend include Tripadvisor and Airbnb.
- Check all Visa requirements and timelines so that you don't have to cancel your trip for that lamest of reasons - No Visa!
- Check on what local transport you are going to use from one point to the next. Book all major routes in advance if possible. You get some amazing price offs when you book early. In fact, I was almost scared off travelling to Europe when I saw the cost of the Eurail pass and by feedback from a friend. But when I actually explored Italy's train service provider more closely (Trenitalia) I figured that the two of us could cover all our point to point travel within 100 Euros.
- Draw up a budget plan after your initial research and stick to it. It's very easy to get tempted and swayed and you won't realise when the budget shoots up!
- If you are travelling as a couple, no matter how much you like taking the decisions, get HIM or HER involved. It won't be a pleasant experience for either of you if your partner or travel companion isn't on board with your travel style and plans.
- Talk to people and figure out the essentials that you MUST carry: plug convertors, umbrellas, hats. No matter how trivial they sound, you don't want to be stuck with a phone you cannot charge. :P
There you go! My two bit on a Do-it-yourself trip to anywhere in the world.
PS: Do it yourself is so much cheaper and a truckload more fun than a packaged tour. <3 <3 <3
