the poor adventurer's guide to travel planning

Wanderlust Wednesday-Week 7 
We are pretty much in full planning mode for this summer's plans and it's made me realize that I am 100% a budget traveler. This doesn't mean that I couch surf or only eat street food while traveling. It means that I plan ahead. Planning ahead allows me to avoid expensive tourist traps and book travel options when they are most affordable. When it comes to travel planning, I have a less is more policy with spending, which ultimately allows us to take multiple trips a year. With our travel budgets being so tight, there's no room for making costly errors and we've developed a system for planning our trips.

Buy a Travel Book or Two: It may seem odd that I'm telling you to drop $20 or more on a travel book when there are so many free resources out there. Hello Internet! But it's all to easy to skim an article online, pin it to your someday board, and never actually move forward on it. Once you've payed for a book and started reading it...several things happen. One-it becomes impossible to forget about your desire to visit this new place. All you can think about is following through and planning your trip. Two, constantly reading about a place, makes it easier to save up for. And three, travel books are without a doubt the most concise source for all the info you need located in one place. I won't even tell you how many lonely planet books I own, but I love them. With recommended itineraries and budgets given, all the work is done for you. 

Map Everything Out First: Before you start booking flights or picking out hotels, spend a few weeks mapping things out. Plans can change significantly while doing research. It's so much better to sit on things for a while to give yourself plenty of opportunities to tweak and change and add to your itinerary before locking anything down. 

Read Reviews: It can be such a hassle to sift through reviews, but it's one of the most important parts of planning because things are almost never as they seem. Ultimately, taking the time to do this helps you prioritize what's worth spending on and what's overrated. Hands down my favorite spot for unbiased travel reviews would be TripAdvisor. They have reviews for everything from food trucks to the best gas stations. Save yourself money by reading reviews ahead of time. It ensures that you get exactly what you want and that your trip goes smoothly. 

Decide what's Important: Everyone values things differently when traveling. Decide what's most important to you and focus on it. Otherwise, you will quickly go broke trying to do it all. Let's say you're spending a day in New York. You want to catch a broadway show, go out to dinner, and then spend the night. How that plays out depends on you what you value most. Would you rather have orchestra seats, eat a gourmet meal, or spend a night at the Plaza? Obviously, all of the above sounds great, but that will run you $2k just for the day. One will appeal to you more and the others can be substituted with budget-friendly options.  
Balance: Once you've decided what's most important to you, it's still necessary to pick and choose. Don't go overboard. During last year's trip to California, we decided that we valued activities most. Thus, we chose to do two expensive activities…an air ballon ride in Napa and a sunset boat ride under the Golden Gate Bridge. This was balanced by the fact that most of our other activities were nearly free. If you value where you stay most, splurge on a night or two at a luxury hotel, but it's overkill to stay there for an entire week. If there is balance, you still have the opportunity to indulge without breaking the bank. 

Book Early and Book Late: There's value in both booking early and late. With flights, it's normally best to book as soon as possible. The longer you wait, the more flight prices increase. Even if the plane is only half full, they will happily keep raising air-fares. Hotels on the other hand, are the complete opposite. Hotels will regularly lower their rates in order to have full capacity, so booking these later in the game is best. If you're a worry wart like me, I still book the hotel early. Then in the days leading up to our trip, I check to to see if rates have been lowered. If there's a significant price drop(there normally is), I ask for the price difference. If that's denied, I book a second room in husband's name, then cancel the earlier more expensive reservation that's in my name. Moral of the story. Work the system to your advantage. 

Fortunately, I'm one of the weird ones that enjoys planning as I can happily stay up late into the night reading restaurant reviews and comparing airline prices. Even if you hate the planning part, it's worth investing the time into because it means investing less from your wallet.

For more tips on planning and paying for travel, follow along with Making Restorations for Wanderlust Wednesday
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Linking up with Katie, Kerri, and Emily for Wanderlust Wednesday