Trip Planning

I am a neurotic planner. On any given day, you’ll find me with three calendars and a few To Do lists! Traveling throughout Europe for three years has taught me how important it is to plan and prepare for trips before you even leave. Yes it may take hours of prep work, but it will greatly determine the trip success and level of your enjoyment! Here are a few tips to consider when planning your trip:

1. Book everything you can online and in advance! This includes restaurant reservations, tickets to tourist attractions, guided tours, etc. This will help ensure that you see and do everything you wanted to at your destination, and will also help you avoid ticket box lines when you arrive. Restaurant reservations can be made via website or Facebook messenger to avoid long distance calling fees and to have a written record of the reservation. Many tourist attractions will allow online reservations several months in advance, so it is quite possible that you could just show up to an attraction and be denied entrance without a ticket. Book tickets in advance to make sure you can see everything!

2. If you have a dinner reservation in Europe, many restaurants will expect that you'll have the table for the whole evening. If you'd prefer a quick dinner (like most American's do!) tell the host up front that you'll be fast and they'll usually accommodate you, even with little notice. This is always worth mentioning as most restaurants will say they're booked for the night, even though it might actually mean that at 7:00PM all the tables will be full. Offer restaurants an early and quick dinner time and you should be able to get into anywhere you'd like. 

3. Download the following apps onto your phone: Yelp, Mapstr, and Trip Advisor. Yelp is my first stop when I’m trying to find good restaurants in a city I’m visiting. You can usually find photos of the food, atmosphere, and menu on Yelp. Mapstr is a great way to map out all the places you want to see, shop, eat, etc. That way, you can just pull up the app and see what you’re near when exploring the city. Trip Advisor is great to discover popular points of interest in the city. It also comes in clutch when a city you’re visiting is not well-represented on Yelp (usually cities which are less visited by Americans). 

4. The best and most unique souvenir you can bring back from your travels is a professional photo of you and your traveling crew! Check out Flytographer and book a professional photographer in the city you’re visiting. Much more reliable than trusting a stranger with your camera and getting a thumb in the shot. Feel free to enter my referral code at checkout for $25 off: CODE47410

5. Depending on your destination, consider traveling in the off-season of October to March. Hotels and flights are much cheaper and the crowds are less crazy, which usually makes for an overall more enjoyable experience. However, if you are planning to visit a beach or island destination, be aware that many restaurants, shops, and tourist excursions close up for the off season. I personally learned this the hard way when I traveled to the Amalfi Coast in November and the boats were no longer running to Capri. Also, when I visited Cinque Terre in December and many restaurants and shops were shuttered up. It’s still a great time to visit and definitely not a deal breaker. Just something to be aware of!

6. We have found it helpful to plan trips using a Numbers or Excel spreadsheet. Just create columns for each day you’ll be traveling and slowly fill in the fields as you make restaurant reservations, buy tickets to tourist attractions, plan excursions, etc. Check out my sample itinerary in the header above!

7. The age old question...is it better to stay at a hotel or an Airbnb? You will find various opinions on this topic as it can be a very personal decision. I have personally done my fair share of both and whole heartedly recommend staying at a hotel unless you have no other option. However, if you are traveling without kids, not picky about cleanliness, and up for an adventure, try your luck with an Airbnb! Just make sure you choose homes with several reviews and read what previous tenants have commented about the property. After too many strange experiences like someone pushing the door open in the middle of the night in a boutique hotel in Prague to “repair a phone”, and a filthy apartment in Rome with a shower covered in black mold, we made the decision to only stay at Hilton or Marriott properties on our travels. It’s so nice to stay at an American branded hotel because there is a standard baseline of services and amenities that you know will be available to you, no matter what country you’re in. But sometimes you can get really really lucky with Airbnb, like the incredible cave house we booked in Santorini that was nestled right at the base of the famous blue domes. Just do your research, read the reviews, and cross your fingers when you book that Airbnb!

8. If you’re a shopper like me or even if you’re not necessarily planning on purchasing much on your trip, my best packing tip is to pack along an empty duffel bag into your suitcase. That way, if you pick up any treasures during your travels, you’ll have extra space to bring them home without having to pay for an extra bag on the way there. Also, most flights are more than happy to gate check bags at the gate so you skip having to pay for an extra bag at check in but you don’t actually have to lug a bag around on your flights.