"Plans are nothing; Planing is everything" - Dwight Eisenhower
"Let our advance worrying become advance thinking and planning" - Winston Churchill
"Never look back unless you are planning to go that way" - Henry David Thoreau
"Without leaps of imagination, or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning" - Gloria Steinem
Planning travel is so tiring! I really should be used to it by now but a las I am not. I really don't know how these travel companies do it. Here I sit with a list of places I'd like to visit, comparing and contrasting airlines, hotels versus self catering, car rental and all of that versus time of the year. There is a lot to think about when your planning a trip.
Here are the things I focus on first.
1. Where do I want to go?
2. When is shoulder season? It's a huge mistake to travel during peak season. Your wallet will thank this tip. The only thing you'll miss is crowds.
3. Which airline is the best for family flying and cheap?
4. Which airline do I know won't hassle me about my baggage? We only ever Carry On. I'm against checking. You never need that much stuff to check a bag. And that is even with a baby.
5. Timing versus leave? Always very important to minimize the amount of leave.
6. Accommodation - hotel/b&b/self catering/hostel/etc? Which is good for where and with a baby? This is usually the easy part.
7. Trip schedule - where to go? what to do to maximize the time and sites? We hardly stay in one place for more that 2 to 3 days. Before the baby it was 1 to 2 days.
8. Must see's? - check with all people attending. Don't want to miss anything.
9. Trip Budget -
So your probably thinking Trip Budget?!?! That should be number 1. Don't worry! I think about the funds constantly. Everything is scrutinized. And especially now that we are dealing with cuts. It's time to figure out what's important. Is it more important to sit around our house all day every weekend while we are living in England for only a certain amount of time? Or should we do what we came here to do and see the EU? Just like planning a wedding (or anything really) we decide what can be cut that will be of little importance to us.
This is how I cut back on our trip expenses without cutting the trips altogether....
a. take into account all transportation - flight, car, parking, etc. - which is cheapest?
b. hostels are awesome! Even babies like them!
c. sites are expensive - pick the must see's and really see them! Don't skip anything!
d. eat locally! markets are all over and yes you can get a loaf of bread, some cheese and make a sandwich while your site seeing.
e. no alcohol! Why do you want to get drunk in a foreign country? Especially if you don't speak the language. Stick to 1 or 2 drinks. Anything more could get into a misunderstanding very easily. *unless your in Belgium. They have separate rules.
f. no tipping - hardly any tipping in the EU anyway. Love that!
g. research everything! Your not the first to do anything! Someone else has already done it so look it up, ask questions and don't be disappointed!
h. souvenirs? We very rarely buy anything. Pictures are our souvenirs. Plus, we can't allow the extra space in our luggage. But really if there is something local to the region that we can't live without we will get it. But it's always cheap. A tile of a Madonna and child from Italy, beer stein from Germany, but pictures are our main take away.
Enough of blogging... back to the travel planning I go....
