Maybe you’re still undecided or maybe you’re ready to dive in head first. Either way we all start somewhere when it comes to our travel ambitions. Before you book a one-way ticket, there are a few things you need to know both about yourself and about your potential trip.

Maybe you never had the time, the money, the freedom, the will or who knows what else, but you’ve barely left you home town and have no idea where to start. Here’s how I go about planning and executing a trip.

You can do these in any order, but I’ve found that this is the best way to plan.

The things I consider are;

1. What is my time frame?

              How much time do you have free for travelling? This can be between anything from a day trip to a weekend getaway all the way to a multi-year backpacking trip.

If you’ve never travelled before, if you’re nervous about long flights or if you don’t want to spend a small fortune on a trip, try a quick weekend get away like a weekend cruise, a spa getaway or maybe visit a neighboring city and take in the sights. These quick trips are great for raising confidence and for getting your feet wet when it comes to new experiences.

2. What is your budget?

              Once you know how much time you’ll spend away from home you need to decide if my budget matches that amount of time.

There are basically no places where someone can spend a month on 100$ sadly, especially when you need to purchase flights. This to factor into this portion include Food, Lodging, Transportation to the destination, transport at destination, activities and tips for any servers or tour guides as well as souvenir you may want to bring home. I also try to put a small amount aside for any emergencies like an uber if I wake up late and miss the airport shuttle or breaking or losing a charging wire (or leaving it at home). Another essential part of this category is insurance. Unless you’re going down the street from your house, you should have insurance.

3. Destination

Now this is the fun part. Where have you always wanted to go? Keep in mind while travelling internationally is fun, there are probably places not too far from you.

This step includes not only deciding where you will be going but what you will see and do while you’re there. The reason this is included is because you should know if attractions are open or not and what travel at that time of year is like. It’s also a good idea to look into what kind of weather can be expected during your time there so you have a better idea what to pack

4. Planning

              This is where the hard work come in. Now it’s time to start looking up transportation to your destination. If you’re driving, you can skip this step mostly, but make sure to look up locations of petrol (gas) stations to make sure you never run out. When you book, check the details immediately to ensure the spelling of your name(s) are correct!

5. Packing

If you haven’t looked into it yet, now would be a good time to find out what the weather will be like. What you pack all depends on your destination, what your needs are and how long you’ll be travelling for. You can find my tips (and lists) for warm weather here and for cold weather here. You should also take into consideration things that you may need personally like a specific soap if you have allergies, an epi pen or inhaler or a doctor’s note in case you’re bringing medication that needs a prescription.

6. Before you go:

Alright, everything is booked and you’re just about ready to go! Here are a few last-minute things to make sure that everything goes smoothly.

• Check in online 24 hours before a flight, you can also take this opportunity for free seat selection if you didn’t want to pay or if you just haven’t chosen a seat yet.
• Notify your bank about your travel plans to make sure you have access to your bank cards on your trip.
• See if you can get a hold placed on you mail for the duration of your trip
• Check with your phone company if you can pause your bill while you travel
• Stop or postpone any deliveries from amazon, a local grocery store or any subscription boxes you may miss while away
• Get care set up for any pets
• Clear out the stuff that will expire from the fridge and countertops, so you don’t come back having to clean
• Make sure you have screenshots or print outs of all your travel documents just in case!
• Reconfirm your lift to the airport/train station/cruise port and the time of pick up and drop off