The Traveling Runner

I ABSOLUTELY love planning trips. I consider it a hobby that I want to share with my followers, family and friends. I want to take my experience, passion and love for travel and impart my knowledge on you! Therefore, I recently began a series on IG that gradually walks you through the steps of creating a travel itinerary. I use this same thought process when I plan trips. I have the first two steps outlined below with the third step coming to IG this upcoming Saturday (4/13/24).

The creation of an itinerary can be intimidating, frustrating and overwhelming. I know many people have felt those same feelings, myself included. When I started to plan more and more trips for my husband/myself and my friends/family, I realized it is a fun process that can be perfected! I created a framework, 3 step process, to make the process fun and easy!

Step 1: Brainstorm the “bones” of your trip. Answer the following questions:

1. Where do I want to go? International, within the country I reside, only one city, multiple cities, etc.
2. Can I take off from work and for how long? What dates work for me? Think about peak times to travel across the globe (I.e. do you want to avoid the rainy season in the Maldives or Central America? Or do you want to go to Australia during their summer in November-March?). Another example, if you do not like crowds, consider traveling to Europe in the spring or fall (aka: shoulder season). Europe is VERY crowded in the summer and you can expect long wait times for attractions.
3. Depending on the time of year you are considering for your trip, take note of holidays specific to that country/culture and religious holidays. For example, consider if you want to travel to Dubai, UAE during Ramadan.
4. What method of transportation am I ok taking when I arrive at my destination? Bus, metro, taxi, private car, Uber (in some locations). I love connecting with local culture through riding public transportation. The price, efficiency, and proximity is hard to beat.
5. Do I want to be busy with minimal down time? Or do I want to have 50% of the itinerary consisting of planned activities and 50% downtime? Or do I want to have 90-100% downtime?

Answer the above questions before beginning step 2.

Step 2: Finalizing the “bones” of your itinerary. Answer the following questions based upon your answers in step 1.

1. Start by picking a starting and an ending destination/city. The starting and ending location can be the same if you’re planning on flying in/out of that same city. Are you adding cities or locations in the middle of your itinerary?
2. What do I want to see in this city or location? Make a list of popular attractions, museums, historical sits, etc. For examples, are you going to Florence, Italy and want to take a day trip to Pisa? Or do you want to go to the Uffizi Art Gallery? Plan to see no more than 2 attractions and/or museums a day for a highly active itinerary. See less than 2 attractions a day if you want a lighter itinerary. (NOTE: In my Athens, GR post, I talk about how to classify your itinerary. Refer to that post for a definition of light versus medium vs heavy itineraries)
3. If you want a heavy itinerary lasting 7 days or more, consider adding a few cities and repeating the previous step for each city you choose. Are you renting a car to travel between the cities? Flying? Or taking the train. Decide the mode of transportation at this point in the process. Deciding this now will assist you with the next several steps.
4. Determine your budget. Google is a great resource to narrow down hotel options based on your budget. You can filter the search to only allow you to see hotels within your budget.
5. Once these questions are answered, begin to identify a central location in relation to all the attractions you want to see. Once again, google maps is really helpful for this!
6. Next, research accommodations at the central location identified in number 6. If you are renting a car for several days, make sure your accommodation has parking. If you are a big public transit fan like myself, find hotels or rentals near bus and/or metro stations!

Answer these questions and stay tuned for next week’s Planning Saturday!