How to Plan a Trip in 14 Simple Steps

Planning that first trip can be exciting - there’s so much adventure that awaits, so many new places to see, new people, to meet and new experiences to be a part of! But all these dreams will remain a dream if we don’t plan the trip. We at Holidify have listed a _ step process on how to plan a trip to perfection, so that you, the traveller, will have a flawless experience.

Here's a Checklist on How to Plan a Trip in 14 Steps:

Choose a Destination
Decide on the Trip Duration
Plan When to Take the Trip
Decide Who your Travel Buddies are or if you want to Fly Solo
Draw out a Budget Plan
Book your Flights
Apply for Visa if you’re going to a Foreign Destination
Decide on Your Stay
Look for Precautionary Measures
Make the Perfect Itinerary
Notify Your Credit Card Company that You’re Travelling
Buy Travel Insurance
Get Packing and Keep it Smart
And Off you Go!

1. Choose a Destination

Be more specific on your travel destination here. Saying you want a trip to America or a trip to Europe won’t cut it. Narrow down on your destinations, choose Paris or Los Angeles instead. Also, would you prefer a nature trip to the jungles of Kenya, a glamourous trip to the stunning Paris, a backpacking trip to the culturally rich Vietnam? This sets a more realistic approach to the trip. After choosing the destination, keep in mind the details of it -

Places to visit in a said destination with other activities
Study the climate and the best time to visit the place
How to reach the destination. Whether there’s a direct flight from your city, or you’d have to make a few stops and layovers (this will help in planning the duration of the trip and how many days/hours go in the commute)

2. Decide on the Trip Duration

This is the essential soup of the trip. There are 3 elements to deciding this:

How many leaves can you take? This depends on how many days of leave you can BEG for from your workplace too.
Based on Costs: Deciding on the duration will put the costs and itinerary in place.
Ideal Destination Travel Duration: To see or explore a destination properly, you would require a certain amount of days. For example, you’d need 10 days to backpack across Vietnam and experience it all. And 3 days to see only Dubai, so spending 7 days in Dubai won’t make much sense.

3. Plan When to Take the Trip

Now that you know where to go and how many days you’ll be visiting the place, you need to do some research regarding the best time to visit the place. Weather conditions have a huge impact on your trip. Make sure you research ‘Best time to Visit (destination) on your search engines so that you get the best months. This way, you can avoid rains, harsh weather and more unfavourable conditions when visiting.

But….if you’re looking for cheaper flights and hotels and can withstand any terrible weather conditions, you can look to visit during the offseason. This depends on your budget after all.

Pro tip: Make sure you plan and book your flights and hotels much in advance so you get the best and cheapest deals on them.

4. Decide Who your Travel Buddies are or if you want to Fly Solo

This determines the essence of the trip; whether you want an exciting trip with your best friends, a peaceful trip with the family, a romantic getaway with your partner or just by yourself, a solo trip to explore at your own pace. Also, you get an idea of the budgets when this is decided.

Trip perks for various types:

Group Trips:

Costs would be divided by the number of travellers
Get better deals on flights when booking many flight tickets at a time
Would bring down your overall budget
You get help in planning the trip (this is nothing like the dreaded group project in college so teamwork is much more fun when planning a trip! )
Never a dull moment with your best friends!

Solo Trip:

Explore at your own pace
You have the options of exploring the best hostels and you also get to meet like-minded solo travellers!
You have the luxury of flexibility in plans. Don’t want to see the Eiffel Tower? Why not? No one’s stopping you :)
You can make an indefinite backpacking trip too!

Now once you decide this, make that Whatsapp group with your travel buddies if you decide to go as a group and start planning it with them. It is also recommended you ask them about their ideas regarding your plan so far and make sure everyone’s on the same page regarding the destination, budget. Also, make sure all your leaves sync.

5. Draw Out a Budget Plan

Now that we got all the major factors in play, make a budget for the trip. Look at the flights around that time, the hotel prices and you get a preliminary idea of all the prebooking costs. Take out a notebook, jot down the various elements and their costs so you get a whole image of the trip financially and if any saving is needed.

Things to Consider When Planning a Trip Budget

Flight prices at cheaper dates
Visa charges
Hotel prices and availability
Commuting costs within the city
Travel costs between destinations if the trip has multiple places in the itinerary
Cost of each meal in the city
Keep a decent sum for shopping and backup costs

6. Book your Flights

Visit Skyscanner and look for the exact date around the time you wish to travel. This should be the first step in booking as it allows you to get the best flights at cheaper rates. Check for the credit cards that offer the best deals on flight bookings.

7. Apply for Visa if you’re Going to a Foreign Destination

One of the most important things when visiting another country is its visa policies. Some countries don’t need a visa based on the nationality you are. So keep a check on that. The destination will have its official government website and it’s recommended that you get started on this right away. First, check for the requirements needed and what you’d have to submit. Then the Visa charges and processing fees. Thankfully all visa processes are online and are hassle-free.

8. Decide on Your Stay

Before booking your stays, decide on what kind of place you want keeping in mind the hygiene processes at the stay. And travellers have the luxury of choosing across various types like hotels, cosy Airbnbs, Couchsurfing, backpacker hostels, homestays, beautiful resorts or booking homes or villas if you’re a large group.

After deciding on this, you book your stay through the various portals like Holidify, Booking.com, Airbnb and more.

Pro tip: When booking, look at the distance and the location of the stay. This helps in creating convenience when commuting to and from your stay to various attractions.

9. Look for Precautionary Measures

Being in a new city and country will be a little alien to you. So it is good to learn more about the city.

Are any vaccinations one needs to take before visiting.
How conservative are the locals
If you’re a vegetarian or a vegan, does the city have food that’ll cater to it? Find all the restaurants available. If not, you can book an Airbnb and cook your own meals!
How safe is the country? Are there pickpockets, are there scams that you should be vary of, how trustworthy are the rentals and other vendors there and other safety measures which can be found when reading forums.
Be a good tourist and don’t litter and treat the other country like it were your own.

10. Make the Perfect Itinerary

Another cross-check with the budget, the trip has to be planned to the very cab ride you take from the restaurant to the attraction. This helps in budgeting the trip better and leaves no room for you to laze around when on the trip. This also helps in assuring that you don’t miss any attractions or activities when in the city. It’s better to not have any regrets once you come back, right?

You can make your very own itinerary here on Holidify.

11. Notify Your Credit Card Company that You’re Travelling

This is an important step as it prevents the transactions you make abroad look fraudulent. Hence, your card NOT being blocked.

12. Buy Travel Insurance

Travel insurance is like a safety cushion when anything goes wrong in your travels. Be it being scammed or robbed, expensive equipment breaking or any other inconvenience, you will be less worried if you have travel insurance.

13. Get Packing and Keep it Smart!

This is important as you need to first know how much the weight limit on luggage is at the airport. Accordingly, pack only what’s necessary and avoid carrying heavy equipment and appliances like hairdryers, etc. And for your toiletries, find travel sizes of the same products so they fit nice and snug. Keep in hand all the medicines and their prescriptions, a first aid kit and other emergency supplies.

Pro tip: Purchase luggage cubes so your things are nice and organised.