Apologies for formatting issues. Wordpress isn’t playing well on my iPad (again).
Planning for a long trip might seem daunting, but it’s easier when broke up into manageable tasks. Long gone are the days of showing up at The Louvre, Muse d’Orsey, or Sagrada Familia without a pre-purchased ticket. Arriving in a city without lodging reserved could also be very expensive or you might be sleeping on a bench. Here is where planning ahead can really pay off.
- Decide where you’re going and for how long.
- Decide what time of year you want to travel.
- Purchase your airfare. I recommend watching for discount or mistake fares.
- Start mapping out your itinerary, if moving between locations. To get ideas, I use Rick Steves travel books, Facebook travel groups (shout out to Sandy of Greece Travel Planning), use AI travel tools (such as Wanderlog) or simply googling cities and mapping them to see what appeals.
- Reserve lodgings. I use booking.com for the most part, since I have “genius level” and can get big discounts. But some smaller towns and villages don’t have much available. Rick Steve’s’ books have recommendations, as do the Facebook travel groups, or AirBNB, etc.
- Book airport transfers. This is especially helpful when flying into a large city. On our last trip, we had a transfer arranged when we landed in Rome. And SO glad, because there was a train/bus/taxi strike that day. I don’t know how long it would have taken to get to our hotel without the transfer – we used Welcome Pickups.
- Book train and bus segments. Sometimes these can be bought months in advance, but sometimes not. On our last trip, I bought most train tickets through an app called OMIO. This trip I’m using the Spain train app Renfe.
- Book excursions. I like to get a sample of the place I’m exploring so a food tour is always a good start. However, I’m careful not to book anything the day we arrive, especially after an overnight flight. It’s also important not to try to squeeze too much in. We like slower travel, so end up with most of our non-travel days free. We prefer explore at our own pace.
I start planning my packing strategy pretty much right after I buy my airline tickets.
Is it possible to pack carry-on only for a two month trip? Why, yes it is! There are plethora resources and strategies available. I’ve found travelfashiongirl.com to be incredibly helpful with what and how to pack. She has a website and a Facebook group, which is very active with packing savvy women with great ideas for carry-on only. No worries if you’re an overpacker, it’s a judgement-free forum.
Apologies for the formatting issues. WordPress isn’t playing too playing well with my iPad (again!)
Links to the tools I’ve listed are:
Greece Travel Secrets: https://www.greecetravelsecrets.com/
Welcome Pickups: https://welc.io/rfr/2WzMyvln/WLC9YWRA
Booking: http://www.booking.com
OMIO: https://www.omio.com/
Travel Fashion Girl: https://www.travelfashiongirl.com/
Sounds like you are prepping for another epic adventure… Have a ton
Making frustrations minimized. .so many skills involved
Have a wonderful time!! Love you guys!
Great info and advice Julianne! While not a traveler myself one of the things I have appreciated that my traveling sister does is getting travel insurance – particularly travel medical insurance and she shares the policy information with me. It has helped her and it helps give me peace of mind. She used https://www.withfaye.com/ for her current trip. Enjoy your travels 🤗
Your sister is a rock star traveler. Her long journeys are worthy of a book which I hope she writes.