18 Easy Steps to Planning the Perfect Getaway

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Even when you’re not travelling, dreaming and planning your next trip can be one of the most wonderful and exciting things to do! I love to sit down and read a trip planning guide and think that planning your next trip can also be one of the easiest ways to cure the coming home blues. Especially if it’s to a destination that’s been on your bucket list for a while!

Have you ever heard of the coming home blues? Well, they’re a real thing and you’ve probably experienced them without even realising! Have you ever got to the final day of a trip and thought ‘I don’t want to go home’?

Yep, me too! Every time!

And landing at the airport just confirms the reality that everything is going to go back to normal. After a few days at the office, it’s like the trip never even happened and you look at a photo on Facebook and think: ‘I can’t believe I was actually there this time last week’.

Then, naturally, you start to plan your next getaway!  

the ultimate trip planning guide

So, if you’re looking for a cure for the coming home blues and the ultimate trip planning guide, here’s how to plan your next perfect trip!

1. Decide the length of the trip 

When it comes to a trip planning guide, a lot of people will say to decide where to go as your first step, however, I think differently. If you don’t know how long you can physically go away; you could end up planning a great trip to your dream destination, only to realise you can’t physically go away for that long at all.

Either due to your holiday allowance if you work or funds if the flight is a particularly pricey one. So, I suggest deciding on the length of the trip first.  

For example, if you feel like going away for a long trip, two weeks or more, then something long-haul might be more suitable.

On the other hand, if you only feel like a long weekend trip, then one of the beautiful places to visit in Europe might be more suitable. Once you’ve decided on the length, then it’s worth working out the other factors. 

2. When will you go? 

Once again, a lot of people wouldn’t choose to work out the date of the tip until they had the destination but I think this way round works a lot better, especially if you’re still working full-time.

If you want to make the most of your holiday allowance, consider travelling over national holidays and weekends, although this may be a little more expensive. You might really want to plan a trip in October, and therefore some destinations would be completely unsuitable due to the wet or hurricane seasons.

So, always decide when you’d like to go away, so you can match your destination to the time of year that works best for you. 

3. Look into the costs 

Once you’ve decided how long you want to go away, have a look at the rough costs of going there. There’s no point in planning a trip you can’t actually afford! You’ll need to consider flights, accommodation costs and the costs of necessities like eating out and getting around your destination.

Europe can certainly be pretty pricey if you don’t know how to travel Europe on a budget, but a lot of Asia and South America can be extremely cheap.

However, the flights to Asia or South American countries can be significantly more expensive than hopping across Europe, depending on where you live of course! So, it can even itself out.

Of course, this also depends on the length of the trip again, but it’s always a good idea to gauge the rough costs of a couple of destination ideas before you make any more solid decisions with this trip planning guide. 

4. Decide where to go 

Now, this is the fun part! I love deciding where to travel next and often spend my time filling my brain with travel ideas even when I have no upcoming trips to plan! So, how do I find my inspiration?  

Well, this goes back to the length of the trip. If you’ve decided on a long weekend, have a look at some of the destinations near you. Whether that’s a different European city or a neighbouring US state, there are some beautiful places to visit for short trips around the world.

If you’d rather not leave your country or home town, have a look at some beautiful towns and villages nearby! You can actually be pleasantly surprised by some of the pretty places that are right on your doorstep that you may not have even heard of.

If you’re after a long trip, however, I suggest starting with the ‘Everywhere’ feature on Skyscanner. Once I’ve had a rough look at the costs and what funds I have available, I always head straight onto this app and see which destinations around the globe I can actually fly to on my budget.

I’ll just type my chosen dates into the search bar and it’ll bring me up the estimated costs of flights to hundreds of destinations around the globe! Perfect if you’re after a little bit of inspiration too. 

Make sure to correlate this with the best times to travel to the area by simply doing a Google search for ‘the best time to travel to *your destination*’ or, ‘*destination* weather in July’ for example.

5. Who are you travelling with? 

Once you’ve worked out where, when and how long your trip will be, you’ll need to decide who you’re going with. Do you just want to travel with your family or would you rather go with your significant other?

You might even be planning a solo trip! But who you’re travelling with will alter a lot of the details of your plan, so it’s definitely better to sort this out sooner rather than later. 

6. Start saving money 

Now, it’s time to start gathering the funds together for the trip. Work out how much money you’re likely to need while you’re out there and start putting those funds into a separate savings account.

7. Check for last-minute deals 

Even though you have a destination in mind, it definitely can’t hurt to look at last-minute deals, especially if you’re travelling on a budget. I

always check Jack’s Flight Club which is my favourite source for flight flash sales. They provide wonderful last-minute flight deals and also show you the cheapest routes all over the world. They also flag up error fares which can save you some serious money.

✅ Get a 30-day free trial of Jack’s Flight Club

8. Book your flights 

I always check Skyscanner and Google Flights when it comes to booking flights.

• Google Flights is an incredibly comprehensive search engine and will browse through a magnitude of wonderful offers and its mash-up hacker fares
• Skyscanner has its superb ‘Everywhere’ feature. It also features some OTAs that Google doesn’t.

✅ Search for cheap flights

9. Book Travel Insurance 

Any decent trip planning guide will tell you that one of the most important things to book before you go on any trip is your travel insurance. It doesn’t just protect you against getting ill abroad (although that is a very important thing to make sure you’re covered for).

Travel insurance will also cover you for flight cancellations, damaged or lost luggage and injuries, which is particularly important if you participate in sports like skiing.

When it comes to travel insurance, I always use Safety Wing. They are reliable, their customer service is excellent and they always give a good price!

✅ Grab a quote for Safety Wing Travel Insurance

10. Book your accommodation 

Call me strange but I actually love looking at different types of accommodation when I plan a new trip. I can spend ages searching through a variety of hotels, comparing the benefits of price over the location and choosing where I want to stay.

My favourite sites for finding affordable hotels are Booking.com, Agoda (which is especially good if you’re staying in an Asian country) and Expedia. Also, check places like Vrbo which can save you some serious money in particularly expensive destinations like New York or San Francisco. 

Either way, it’s always a good idea to shop around.

✅ Search for cheap hotels around the world

11. Plan your activities 

Once you’ve worked out everything so far, it’s worth deciding what you’re going to do when you get to your destination. Reading travel blogs is my favourite way to do this as I love seeing other people’s experiences.

I also find that reading from fellow bloggers, as opposed to some of the bigger travel sites, will give you a much more detailed and comprehensive guide on the best things to do as opposed to just the more touristy attractions.

For booking activities, I always use Get Your Guide as they’re great for guided tours and historical and local experiences. Viator are also great for this, so it’s sometimes worth comparing the two to find the best price.

✅ Book activities and tours

12. How will you get around? 

Transport is another very important part of planning the perfect getaway. Some countries have good public transport systems whereas in other countries it’s a lot easier to rent a car.

Do a basic Google search for how to get around the place you’re going and see what comes up. If it’s a city, then I usually find that public transport is fine, especially in European cities and also places like New York and Bangkok, depending on where you go. 

✅ Search for cheap trains and public transport

On the other hand, in places like Cyprus and Southern Portugal, it’s much easier to hire a car because public transport is somewhat unreliable and places to visit are fairly far apart.

You can also use apps like Uber, Grab (in Asia) or Bolt (in Europe) to get around, but also check if these operate in the place you’re visiting. Plus, they can also be a bit unreliable at times.  

For renting a car, I always use DiscoverCars which both offer a range of affordable options. They also allow you to filter by age which is super useful if you’re under 25 when you’re looking as it’ll show any extra fees that you’ll need to pay.

✅ Search for an affordable hire car

12. Check your passport, Visa requirements and driving licences 

This is a seemingly obvious point, however, when we went to Greece my boyfriend’s new passport was only delivered the day that we were due to fly (which was unbelievably lucky!) because we hadn’t realised it was running out.

Furthermore, I forgot to check whether we needed a Visa to enter Cambodia so ended up having to buy one at the border. This wasn’t a problem; however, some countries don’t let you buy at the border so we got lucky again.

Lastly, we were planning on hiring a moped to get around some of the Thai islands, however, didn’t realise we needed to apply for an International Driving Pass in our home country before we could drive – so we didn’t end up doing that either. 

Since all this, I’ve learnt my lesson. It’s so important to make sure you have all the correct documents in place and valid before you travel.

So, this wouldn’t be a good trip planning guide if I didn’t tell you to check your passport expiry date; check whether you need a visa and the country’s entry requirements and, if you plan on hiring a car, check if you’ll need an International Driving Pass. You will thank yourself later!

13. Check if you need any vaccinations 

Though we all have standard vaccinations anyway if you’re going somewhere particularly exotic, it’s always worth checking if you need any additional vaccinations before you travel.

Even extra protection against mosquitoes, or any other type of critter, make sure you get it done – and check all your existing shots are still valid too! Even though you’ll have travel insurance, you don’t really want to have to use it. I always check the Fit for Travel website to see if I need any travel vaccinations.

14. Make copies of important documents 

I’m so over-cautious with things like this but, when it comes to planning a trip, it’s definitely better to be safe than sorry. For things like boarding passes, hotel confirmations, or any tickets that I need, I like to make sure I have both a physical and a virtual copy handy and stored somewhere safe.

I take a waterproof folder with me every time that I travel and everything important goes in there including passports and medical cards.

The last thing you’ll want is to get somewhere and be denied entry because you’ve left your ticket behind or your phone has died so you have no access to your digital tickets. Always be prepared and carry two copies just in case. 

15. Sort out your phone and internet access 

I always use my phone abroad for directions (and keeping my blog up and running), therefore making sure I stay connected is pretty essential.

Check your phone’s roaming charges before you travel – trust me, you don’t want to end up with a hefty roaming bill. If international use is not included, then have a look at where to buy a SIM card or use an eSim.

Quite often you can pick up a physical SIM card from the airport, but that might not always be the more affordable option. If you do want a physical SIM, you can often save quite a bit of money by going outside the terminal.

However, I personally prefer using an eSIM. You don’t have to worry about taking SIM cards out of your phone and swapping them over. I love Airalo.

With them, you simply purchase a SIM card data package while you’re in your home country, then, when you land abroad, turn off your normal SIM card and switch on your data package. It’s really that simple.

Plus, you can use the same app all over the world and the cheapest sims are usually only about $4.50.

✅ Buy an eSIM card for your destination

16. Sort out your spending money 

Whatever you do, don’t exchange your money at the airport! It will be undeniably overpriced and you will be losing a lot. Instead, use online travel money exchange services like Money Saving Expert’s comparison tool which is where I always go to exchange my foreign currency.

It allows you to filter by location which is perfect if you’re trying to find somewhere local where you can go to pick up the cash. However, these days, I don’t tend to get cash out before a trip.

Instead, I use a fee-free debit card for spending abroad. My Starling Bank card comes with me everywhere when I travel.

They use the Mastercard exchange rate (usually the cheapest), they don’t charge you any fees for withdrawing cash, and it’s an entirely internet-based bank, meaning you can manage, and freeze your account (useful if the machine swallows your card) from your phone.

This also means you can withdraw cash if you need to and you’re not left with a ridiculous amount of cash at the end of a trip.

17. How will you get to the airport? 

As you get nearer to your departure date, one of the things you’ll need to coordinate is how exactly you’re going to get to the airport.

Public transport can be an easy option, so it’s always worth looking into this first. However, if it’s complicated, or expensive, then you can also drive, or ask a family member for a lift.

If you’re driving, then the sooner you look into airport parking the better. But, even if you do book in advance, sometimes official parking prices can be a little steep. Check other third-party sites like Holiday Taxis, which can sometimes have some great deals.

Failing that, you can also check public transport. I’ve got the bus or train to and from the airport before and it’s always been easy. It’s not always been the cheapest though, so be sure to check first.

18. Get packing! 

Packing can be fun. It can also be one of the most stressful parts of a trip, especially if it’s somewhere you’ve never been before and you’re not entirely sure what to expect.

Make sure you pack appropriately for the weather; but bring at least one pair of long trousers, even if you’re going somewhere hot.

Check out this guide for packing for a winter trip and my guide to travelling with just a carry-on case, ideal for those who like to pack light. If you’re packing for a traditional summer vacation, here’s the perfect summer packing list too.  

Finally, Enjoy your trip! 

Last but not least, enjoy your trip! Travelling is a wonderful, life-changing experience and, even though there can be a lot of planning involved, it’s honestly one of the best ways you can spend your life.

So, I hope you enjoyed this trip planning guide. Have a wonderful time planning your next perfect getaway and happy travels! 

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