Trip Planning 101 - How We Start

I figured with a blog about traveling, a series on how we plan our trips would be beneficial. So I'll post this series as we plan our July/August 2018 trip.

Right now we are in the "brainstorming" phase of the planning. Usually, we discuss a bunch of places we would like to go for our vacation. As we do this, we will look for things neither of us has done, or something only one of us has done and it's been a while. During this phase, I go Pinterest crazy. I make trip-specific boards and pin EVERYTHING. Right now, we are discussing doing something in the American Midwest states. We looked at our maps and saw that neither of us has been to Colorado or Wyoming.
In the next part, the "negotiating" phase, we check out where things are in relationship to each other, and we create a list of things that are important to us that are in each area. For this trip, here is our initial list:

• Old Faithful
• Mount Rushmore
• Devils Tower
• Yellowstone
• Denver (maybe see Mile High Stadium)
• 4 Corners
• (Brian) We're close enough we might as well go to Vegas

In this phase, we begin to discuss realistic stuff like drive time and budgets. We begin to narrow down the list. For example, Mount Rushmore is being to pushed to a future trip since it would add about 6 hours each way to the drive time. During this phase, we each will research the area we would like to visit and we discuss things we could do in each area. An example of this is: in Denver, they have kayaking in the summer. Though neither of us has gone kayaking, we think it would be fun if they have a beginners course. We also look for things in our specific areas of interest. Brian looks at tourist attractions, and stuff related to movies he likes. I look for places to take pictures and to try new foods.

This is as far as we have gotten in the Colorado/Wyoming trip, so now I'm going to switch to examples from previous trips.

Okay, the next step is the "budgeting" phase. In this phase, Brian looks at the cost of things and we discuss what (if anything) I need to contribute. The only trip I've had to contribute a significant amount thus far is our 2017 Disney World trip. Usually, he is conscientious of my budget and we are able to come up with fair ways for me to contribute non-financially to make up the difference. This phase can sometimes be rough. For example, in planning our current Florida trip (the one we are on right now), we discussed spending a day at WDW or a day at WWOHP. Being a HUGE Disney fan, the idea of being so close to Disney and not going is rough, as is the idea of being so close to Wizarding World and not getting to indulge in my Ravenclaw nerdiness. We decided not to go into either park this time around because 1) we spent 11 days at Disney last year, 2) the cost is too high for what we can budget for this trip, and 3) Brian has to work this trip so we wouldn't be able to spend a full day at the park anyway. We instead are going to go in for dinner at one of our favorite Disney related restaurants and maybe an evening at Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney). 

After the budgeting phase, comes the "planning" phase. This is quite possibly my favorite stage except for the actual trip. During the planning phase, Brian and I sit down with his calendar and my planner and we work out WHEN the trip will be. I volunteer with Make a Wish, and he works, so we have to plan around those things. For example, our current trip is sitting between several Make-A-Wish reveals I have going on for different kids going on trips in late July and August. We also had to push it late enough to accommodate for an important conference call Brian had for work. The planning phase is also where I go bullet journal crazy. 

I come up with a packing list. Above is an example of a way I plan out what clothes to bring.

We also tend to do mini trips or day trips within our larger trip, so I'll dedicate pages for that like the two below.

In this phase, we also make lists of things not to forget. This leads straight into the "packing" phase. Packing phase is rough. Brian and I can both be a little controlling, so it's hard for us to compromise about where things should go. During this phase, we also do all the laundry and clean the house so everything is clean when we arrive home. I usually will wash and change the sheets on our last night at home. We also use this time to check the car tires, make sure the sprinklers aren't going haywire, and plan what snacks we'd like to take with us. This phase lasts until we get in the car to go!

I hope this breakdown of our planning helped you plan a trip! I'll be doing posts on my basic packing lists and on my bullet journal in the future.