How to Plan the Perfect, Flexible Itinerary for a Trip
One of the best things about going on a trip is the anticipation of it. Getting excited about my travel plans is almost as good as the trip itself. And it makes the trip last longer. Part of the hype is making the plans. I’m going to tell you how to plan the perfect, flexible itinerary.
Ok, so itinerary isn’t an awesome word. When I think of “itinerary,” I think of a schedule that has every minute accounted for. This is not that kind of itinerary. Have you ever been on a trip and all you do is ask yourselves “what should we do today?” Literally everyone has been in that situation, whether it was on a vacation, or spending a day with a friend. And it’s miserable! The day or trip turns into doing whatever comes up first on your phone. Honestly, it’s a waste of time.
Preparing for a trip and making an itinerary is honestly fun and beneficial. Not only will you be prepared and get excited for your trip, but you also won’t waste any time when you’re there.
Step 1 - Search for Things to Do
First, I search for things to do where I’m going. My go to search engine is Pinterest, and I have an incredibly organized board for travel tips. I’ll also use Instagram, Tik Tok, and good ol’ Google, too.
When I visit my in-laws in California, we stay in Yorba Linda. But I also search for things to do in Orange County, Southern California, and other towns that are near it. If I find something that interests me, I’ll pull it up in google maps and see how far it is from our home base. If it’s a reasonable distance, I’ll add it to my list of possibilities.
And for everyone, a reasonable distance will be different. We typically do a day trip with my in-laws when we’re out there, so even if something is 2-3 hours away, I’ll put it on the list.
Step 2 - Organize the List of Possibilities
When I make my list of possible outings, I also note where it’s at. If I want to go to Heisler Park, I’ll make a heading called “Laguna Beach,” and put it under that. I end up with several things to do in different areas like Laguna Beach, Santa Ana, Los Angeles, etc.
Step 3 - Consult Your Travel Partners
I went on a trip to Miami with my college roommates at the end of summer. I ended up making a google docs for us so we could list everything we thought was interesting, and then put it in categories based on location (like step 1 and 2).
Then, we each marked things we were dying to do with our own color. That way, we could make sure each of us got to do something we really wanted to do. We could also see where there was a consensus, like everyone wanted to watch turtles hatch and go to a rooftop bar.
Consensus matters when you travel so everyone can have a good time. This is kind of obvious, but it’s important to remind yourself (ahem, myself), that the trip is not all about you. Sometimes you have to sacrifice doing something you want - or doing something you don’t want - if others do.
Step 4 - Group Activities Together by Day
Once you have your organized list of possibilities, and you know what you and your travel partners really want to do, group those into days by location. If you want to go to the Garden of the Gods, and your friend wants to go to a spa in Manitou Springs, you can do both on the same day since they’re a matter of miles from each other.
You can also assign activities to a day and then go from there. Say your friend wants to go to South Beach in Miami, and you want to go to the Everglades - obviously do those on separate days. Then fill in the blanks for the rest of the day. Did you also want to see the murals in the Wynwood neighborhood? Add that to the day you’re going to South Beach.
From there, I keep my list of possibilities on a note in my phone throughout the week. If we’re still up for doing something after our outings, we have a list of possibilities and we aren’t scrambling to find something to do. But if we want to go home for the day, we can do that without being disappointed since we did what we really wanted to do.
When we go to California, we typically plan 1 or 2 things per day that will only take up half the day. Jason and I have very different ideas of vacation... I love to be on the go during vacation, and he loves to chill and do nothing. So, we compromise and spend half the day out, and half the day in.
Step 5 - Assign the Days to Actual Dates
Once you have your days planned out, assign them to a specific date. Be mindful about the days of the week when you’re assigning days, especially if you’re going somewhere notoriously crowded on the weekends. We’re going to see the poppy fields this March in California. I picked to go on a weekday in the morning so we don’t run into crowds when taking pictures.
Step 6 - Look up Restaurants
Although I love to try new restaurants and eat good food, I usually leave picking out restaurants until I’m done picking out activities and assigning them to days. I don’t want to spend time looking at coffee shops in LA if we don’t even end up going there. (Unless there’s a place you really want to go to, and then you can plan around that.)
Once I do have our days figured out, I’ll look up coffee shops and restaurants in the area. I typically search on Yelp and Tik Tok for places to eat.
Voila, you’re done! This type of scheduling helps me to get excited for my trip, have a plan, and also allows for flexibility. It’s nice to be able to sleep in a little bit, have a chill morning, and still do something amazing that day.
Let me know what tips were helpful to you!
