How do I plan my trips?
Four exhausted people, five huge bags, and a hotel that would not let us check in early taught me to plan trips differently. This is the checklist I use now, and the story of the day that produced it.
Originally published on Medium.
Do you remember the last trip you took? Did you miss out on some must-visit destinations? Or was your trip a bit lacklustre? Did you face any issues while booking the hotels? or realised that the hotel was just a dingy site with no amenities?
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, keep reading.
This is my story of facing a similar instance, and how I plan my trips now so that I don’t run into a similar situation.
I had just graduated from NSIT. It was my mother’s long-standing wish to visit Vaishno Devi if everything went well in my school and college education. (Such is the love of a mother. You can’t measure it.)
We were all pumped up since it had been a long time since we took a vacation and took the Shatabdi Express train from Delhi. We were greeted by the vast mountains of Northern India. And the railway station was quite clean.
As we reached the hotel we had booked, we got to know that they did not allow early check-in. We had around five huge bags and were running from hotel to hotel trying to find one that would allow the four exhausted visitors inside.
Eventually, we found one.
We were relieved. But this changed my view of how I plan my trips ever since.
Every trip consists of the following attributes:
- Theme/Purpose
- Travel to and from the place you are visiting
- VISA Requirements
- Accommodation
- Travel within the place being visited
- Places you would like to visit during your trip
- Places with good food
- Local Apps to install
- Emergency Numbers for the place you are visiting
- Things you should carry such as Power Banks, Umbrella etc.
The theme of the trip dictates almost everything else. Are you taking a romantic vacation with your partner? Or is it an expedition with your friends/relatives?
Based on these, you can often decide to travel lightweight as well, especially if you would be hopping from one place to another. Alternatively, if you are visiting a resort (*like Maldives in the cover photo *here), you might be okay to pack in a lot of stuff.
I usually start building an organised view of what would happen on a day-by-day basis chronologically in Google Sheets and use that to sum up all of the costs associated. This helps me to ensure that I am not going overboard as well with my expenses.
I hope you found this helpful!
Would you like me to cover some points here in depth?
If yes, please leave a comment below and I’ll create a dedicated post for the same.
That said, if you would like to get updated on when I post next, you can follow me on Medium. I often post Software Engineering nuggets of my learning on LinkedIn as well. Would be really happy to connect with you!
See you soon, friend! 👋
Originally published on Medium.