I don’t know about you but I’m mostly stuck inside with gloomy, cold, wet weather in the mid-west. Naturally I thought now is a great time to discuss how to make travel planning easier, and share our 2023 travel plans!
How to Make Travel Planning Easier
Before we share our travel plans for the year, let’s go through the process we use to make travel planning easier.
Identify Timeframes on the Calendar
The first step is identify events going on throughout year we need or want to be available or home for. Things like work events, personal/professional conferences, family events, weddings, etc. This helps us determine when travel makes sense, and when it doesn’t.
From there we will look at what’s open in our calendar and pencil in tentative travel dates.
And yes, things do and will come up throughout the year… Such as the summons I just received for Jury Duty for the third quarter (doh!). Didn’t expect that… But we do the best we can.
Identify & Schedule Travel “Rocks”
Once we have an idea of the time frames we can travel, we identify our big travel “rocks.” You can ask the magic travel hack question at this point for help deciding what kind of trip(s) you want. When I use the term “travel rocks,” these are trips we want to prioritize for the year.
For example, when his family decided to go on an Alaskan cruise together, we prioritized scheduling the trip because we were coordinating with his parents and brother. Another example is the trip to Michigan with my mom–we pinned down dates just a few weeks ago so the dates are held. Same situation for a family trip we’ll take to Florida over Christmas.
When we think of our travel “rocks,” we also look for opportunities to optimize travel. Business trips can be a great way to optimize to control costs and explore new places!
In 2019 he had a conference in Phoenix, AZ. I flew out with him and enjoyed the resort while he was at the conference. After the conference ended we rented a car and did a ten day road trip to Zion National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, and Page, AZ. Part of our lodging was paid for at the swanky resort, and his flights were covered through the conference. It was a win-win for everyone!
As you plan your travel “rocks,” think of these types of opportunities!
Decide Where to Go
After we’ve identified and scheduled our big travel “rocks,” I ask myself the magic travel hack question and consult my never-ending list of trip ideas to decide where to go.
Does anyone else keep a list of places they want to visit? If not, starting a list will definitely make travel planning easier when you dream of a vacation and need inspiration.
I keep a simple note in my phone with trip ideas, typically with more doable trips towards the top. For example, a trip to Italy is on our list. However, traveling to Italy is further down the list since we bought our RV.
Depending on our availability and the ideas we have, I’ll do quick research to see if a trip makes sense for the timeframe we have open. We typically aim to be outdoors and enjoy nature when we travel. We prioritize visiting places during the off-season when they aren’t as busy, but also consider the weather for the time we have available.
As an example, visiting the Seattle area including Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, and North Cascades National Park, is high on our list. It has been high on our list for several years. However, every time we try to plan a trip to Seattle we have not been available during the right time to hit shoulder season and decent weather. While I believe if you wait for the perfect time to go you will never go, we also know what’s important to us when we travel. We will keep the Seattle trip high on our list until the right opportunity arises (I’m hoping next August/September).
If the travel plans makes sense based on our availability and the time of year we plan to go, I’ll look into lodging (campgrounds or hotels) to see what is available and the cost. If reasonable lodging is available, then we’ll make our final decision, determine exact dates, review cancellation policies, and book. For bigger trips (such as the Alaskan cruise) we typically purchase travel insurance.
For 2023 we have some time in October & November open, which is a great time to visit fall destinations. We’ll see what I come up with!
Decide What to Do
After travel plans are confirmed and booked, the fun part starts. Well at least in my opinion! What’s that, you ask?
The final step in how to make travel planning easier is to decide what you will DO during your trip! Many overlook the critical step when they plan travel. Once the travel is booked, many think, “Done!” and move on.
And, sometimes that may be true. If you are going for a vacation purely to relax on the beach, then maybe you don’t need to do much planning or research.
However, if your travel involves more than relaxing, be sure to research your destination(s) to get a general idea of what you will do, popular restaurants, etc. I use Trip Advisor destination forums when I research for our travels.
Since the pandemic I have found many places require advance planning and often times reservations. This includes places even like national parks! You may not be able to schedule popular tours, activities, or restaurants last minute
If you have a “must-do” activity, tour, restaurant, etc. on your list, be sure to research to determine what amount of advance planning is required. If it does require reservations, then you know what you need to do to avoid missing out on your must-do. When we book travel far out, I’ll use calendar reminders to ensure I make a reservations within the correct timeframe (and so I don’t forget!). Sometimes reservations are only accepted 1, 2, 3-months, etc. in advance. and calendar reminders can be very helpful.
Whatever you do, take this final step to make travel planning easier!
Our 2023 Travel Plans
We are excited to share our 2023 travel plans, especially since things will kick into high gear very soon.
In less than one week we will load up our RV to seek warmer weather for the entire month of February! He has always dreamed of snow birding (escaping cold weather for warmer weather), and we are making that dream a reality! We plan to spend time in Jekyll Island, GA, Oak Hill, FL, and then Pine Mountain, GA as we head home. This will be our second 4-week trip in our RV. We are staying in each location longer (6-12 days) during this trip to make it more relaxing, especially since he will be working. We cannot wait!
In June we’ll take a much smaller jaunt for a long weekend in French Lick, Indiana (a fabulous place for a short getaway, btw!).
In July I hope to have a do-over to visit my mom’s hometown in the tippy-top of the Upper Peninsula. Last year we made it to Marquette when I got sick, which turned out to be COVID. Needless to say we had to immediately turn around and drive home.
In late August and early September we will travel to Alaska for a two-week adventure! We’ll spend time around Anchorage and Seward before taking an Alaskan land/sea cruise with his immediate family through Holland America.
This will be our first time in Alaska! The land tour portion of our cruise takes us to Denali National Park, and we also plan to visit Kenai Fjords National Park in Seward. We already booked a flight-seeing tour of the Misty Fjords National Monument out of Ketchikan. I can’t wait to report back on our Alaskan adventure!
We’ll finish off the year with a stay on Anna Maria Island, FL over Christmas with his family.
So far travel in 2023 is looking good. I’m sure we’ll sneak some more plans in there!
I know so many of you have tips on how to make travel planning easier! Please share below in the comments!
And, if you have any recommendations for things we should check out while we’re in Alaska, I’d love to hear them! Tell me in the comments below!
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