When you think about vacation, you think about spending your time … on vacation. You don’t imagine yourself waking up with no idea of what to do or where to go. If you have ever been in that position, it was probably because you did not have a travel itinerary. A customized travel itinerary manages a lot of pieces of information you need on your trip, so you can maximize your time exploring fun things. A well-planned itinerary can make your travel go much more smoothly.

Start Creating Your Travel Itinerary

Gather All the Information for Your Vacation 

Gather all the information for your trip and put it on a single document before you take off. Even with so many apps available, relying solely on your smartphone can be risky: you may not have access to Wi-Fi, or your battery is out of power. A printed one-page document you can easily keep with you is a ready reference when you need to find a phone number or an address while you are on the trip. 

Below is the important information you want to prepare beforehand:

• Flight and/or Train numbers & terminals, departure and arrival times, and other essential transportation information 
• Hotel names, addresses and confirmation numbers
• Car rental information 
• Restaurant names, addresses and reservation times
• Local emergency contact numbers, including police, hospital, and your country’s embassy, if you are traveling overseas. 

Prioritize the Activities that Interest You at Your Destination

I can imagine that you might want to explore everything at your destination, but the reality is you can’t, and no one can. So, prioritize the activities that interest you into two lists: a list of “must do” and a list of “nice to do.”

Plan no more than 4 major things to do each day. Don’t underestimate how long it is going to take to travel from place to place. If you have some free time left after your “must do” activities, you can pick some other things from your “nice to do” list. 

Remember, you are on a vacation. It is important to maximize your fun, but don’t overwhelm yourself in order to finish your checklist. You will be able to see the most amazing parts if you plan out your itinerary. For example, the Louvre Museum takes a normal person seven days to see every exhibit item, and most people only spend one day or even less there. If you planned out your visit to the Louvre, you could see the most famous exhibits in a day. Take the time now to research and plan the activities at your destination.

Map Out the Places You Plan to Visit 

Get a map from a local bookstore, a nearby AAA office, or a digital map, such as Google Maps, to mark all of the places you plan to visit. After mapping out all the places, take a step back and you should be able to see clusters of the places you want to visit. Those groups can help you divide the area into regions. Organize your activities to finish one region at a time. By doing this, you can minimize the travel time between regions and maximize your time for exploration. 

Leave Room for Unexpected Opportunities 

You don’t have to schedule the time you spend in each place as seamlessly as an Executive’s business calendar. It is not the end of the world if you miss a reservation or run out of time to visit a museum. Be flexible and even leave yourself some free time to roam around the city and discover something that may surprise you. 

Build Your Vacation Itinerary

Here is a simple-to-use travel itinerary template. You can download it on your computer, fill it in with information, and print it when you are done planning. If you are used to writing things on paper, you can print out the blank template or even create your very own template and fill it in with all the information for your trip. With a printed itinerary, you will always find the information you need even if you can’t find Wi-Fi or your phone’s battery runs low.

The template includes five parts of information: 

• Emergency Contacts
• Plane and Train information 
• Car Rental information 
• Accommodations
• Daily Activities

You may not need all of them for one trip. If you don’t need to rent a car then you can leave that area empty this time and fill it in if you need it for another trip. So, you don’t have to fill in every item and you can adjust this template according to your needs for a specific trip, but the template can remind you that some information is important to be aware of before you leave home. 

I hope this article helps your planning and your trip go smoothly. I will see you in my next post.