Guest Post: Tips on Travel Planning (Part One)

For this post, I invited my mom to write about something she does very often: travel planning. My mom has planned almost every one of our trips since I was born and thus has many insights to offer! Throughout all of our trips here are rarely times when our trips don’t go smoothly, and my mom can often come up with some pretty unconventional itineraries that really maximize our experience. Our trips definitely wouldn’t be as fun without her planning! Here, my mom has written some tips for planning trips. Since she packed in a lot of information, I spilt the post into two more digestible pieces. You can find the second part here. I hope you enjoy some of these tips on planning awesome trips!

When I was pregnant with Damini, I was excited to become a mom. The one thing I thought I would have to give up was my dream to travel around the world—but the travel bug in me just cannot be tamed. We took Damini on her first trip when she was two months old, all the way across the Pacific to Hong Kong. Since then, we have traveled to over 100 cities, in 30-plus countries, across 5 continents, and still counting.

There are many things that go into trip planning. Here are the 4 Ws of travel planning:

1. Who do you want to go with?
2. What do you want to do?
3. When do you want to go? And How long can you travel?
4. Whom do you want to travel with?

These are all the obvious considerations, but often we don’t think about why we travel. You may very well be inspired by National Geographic photos of Africa or Tahiti or Italy. You know that you want to go there. But you need to ask yourself why you want to go there and what would make a good memorable trip for you. Just like everything else in life, there should be a purpose and goal for a trip. When you are faced with hard choices during the planning, you can often make a quick decision by circling back to the goal of the trip. So do not skip the “why”!

Very fortunate for us, the four of us all love travelling. Our trips over the years have evolved from more vacationing on the beaches (when Damini and Chirag, her brother, were small) to more educational adventures as Damini and Chirag grow up. We have also done many trips with extended family, like grandparents and younger cousins. All these factor into trip planning to make it an enjoyable experience for all.

I would like to share a few tips on trip planning and many hard-learnt lessons. There are many travel blogs with logistics advice, photos and itineraries. In this post, instead, I want to share some insights on how to plan what is right for you and your travel companions. Travel planning is complicated. If done well, it can take months of planning. Hopefully you will find these tips useful!

Tip #1: Plan your itinerary with realistic expectations.

There is probably a long list of destinations you want to cover. Then there is probably another even longer list of things your companions want to see and do. After all that haggling and compromising, you decided to try to please everybody by covering half of each of wish list. The intention is noble, but in reality, it often just doesn’t make logistical sense.

First of all, it will cost you a good chunk of change to take a detour, and you can end up spending a lot of precious vacation time on endless transit. I was often guilty of doing that, especially in the early years of travel. We were quite poor for several years when Avinash, my husband, and I first met. When we were finally able to afford our first vacation after many years of savings, we decided to go to Hawaii. After a lot of research, I couldn’t make up my mind which islands to choose. Since we had to transit through Honolulu en route to Maui, I decided to spend a night in Oahu, thinking we could get a good glimpse of Oahu if we rented a car.

We landed before noon and I thought we could have a long afternoon to explore Oahu. However, it took us a while to pick up the car, and then we were stuck in traffic trying to check in to our hotel in Waikiki. By the time we were done with lunch and ready to tour, it was past 2 pm. We ended up having to give up on Diamond Peak. All we got to do was drive along the east side of Oahu to Hanauma Bay and then take Damini, then a toddler, to a beach for about an hour. We were in Oahu for a total of 24 hours, and we only got to tour for about

For those who really want to get to know the culture, the history or the geography of places you are visiting, set aside enough time to explore. For a small city, plan a day at least, because of the logistics. For a larger city, such as Florence or Venice, plan at least 3+ days. Often when you plan a three-night trip, you only end up with 2 full days of sightseeing. If you want more than just a photo in front of the attraction, and you want to try the food, see a museum, and say a prayer at the many beautiful churches, 2 full days for Florence is way too short.

I know it is hard for anyone to choose between Florence and Venice, or between Switzerland and France. The truth is that if you don’t make the hard choices when you plan, you will have to make even harder choices on the trip. If you packed too much into your itinerary, you will find that you won’t be able to complete the long list of attractions. When you are packing for your next city, you often wish that you could have just one more day. I feel like that all the time.

Tip #2: Timing is the key.

We went to Maldives in 2008 around Christmas. It was sunny and Maldives’ water was all shades of turquoise and blue. Then we went again in 2009 with extended family. The sky was grey and the wind was roaring. My heart sank when I saw the rough sea, so afraid that our extended family wouldn’t get a chance to see the best of Maldives. Out of the 4 days we were there, we had hardly 1 1/2 days of good weather, and some days, the waves were so strong that they would wake us up from our sleep. It was not until the sun came out I could see some excitement in the grandparents.

Going on vacation in the wrong season can really spoil a trip. You can’t argue with nature. Inclement weather can cause minor inconveniences in the logistics at the least, or it can cause cancellation and major disappointment in more extreme cases. Back to Maldives as an example: you are on a small island with almost every single activity tied to the ocean around you. There are very few alternatives for you except spas and restaurants. One or two days may still be fine. Imagine the disappointment of paying close to $300+ per person per day for food and lodging only to be stuck in the villa for most of the trip. It will make you angry every time you see the photos of the aquamarine water!

When we went to Japan around Thanksgiving, it was during the peak maple viewing time. The ginkgo and maple trees all changed to yellow, orange and red. They contrasted beautifully with the temples in Kyoto. What makes it even more special is that the temple lights up in the night during the cherry and maple viewing seasons, making the scenery stand out both day and night. That becomes a good reason to go there with the crowd, because it is worth it.

For some travel destinations, the low season is unpopular for a good reason. Places that get really heavy rainfall in the low season, for example, should really be avoided, despite the deals you may get. If you have your heart set on a certain scenery or festival, such as the cherry and maple season or the music and wine festival, you should plan well ahead so you have better pricing and options for lodging. When you are traveling during peak season, plan ahead, and you can always change or cancel your reservations. This will work out better than booking late and ending up stuck in less than ideal lodging or paying dearly for a hotel.

Tip #3: Have a “day off” during travel.

You have waited for so long for that vacation and it is almost unavoidable to pack in a lot of activities to make it worth the trip. In reality, after a few days of travel, you are probably more tired than you are from working. The long plane ride, the unfamiliar surroundings, the strange hotel room bed, plus all the excitement of seeing that very famous attraction you have wanted to see, can turn into mere exhaustion. If you have to take a weekend off at home, you surely should build in an off day if you are traveling more than 1 week. Once every 5-6 days, plan a light traveling day, or a half day off. Just hang out at hotel or spend some time taking care of chores: get the laundry done, make last minute arrangements for the activities in the coming few days, or simply catch some sleep.

After a day or even half a day of rest, you will find yourselves energized for the travel to follow. Just like Monday morning at work, your attention span is longer and you are more interested in what is around you. You will find every minute of your travel more enjoyable.

After your long trip, take at least one more day off before heading back to work or school. A rest stop is a must on the itinerary and after the trip!