My First 5 Steps to Vacation Planning- A Guide for the Overwhelmed
Vacation planning is a daunting task, but it can also be a fun experience you can do as a family. About New Years, we start to get the “itch” to decide where our vacation will be that year. I think since the high of Christmas is over and we are facing a long, cold, Michigan winter, we want something to look forward to. In this post, I want to share some of the things I do when we are in the starting stages of planning our trip for the year. Among other various things, here are some of my first 5 steps to vacation planning:
1. CHOOSE A DESTINATION
This goes without saying, right? But the thought that goes into our vacation planning each year is more than simply “pick a place.” We take so many things into consideration.
We pick based on a general budget. Is the place we’re wanting to go within our means this year? Will we be stressed out by a month before if we pursue that trip? All valid questions for people who have mouths to feed, electricity to keep on, and mortgages to pay.
We pick based on ages. Is this an experience we can do feasibly with a 4 year old? Would the 15 year old be miserable, thus making everyone else miserable? What can we plan that is fun for our 7 year old if we go here? Sometimes trips are more feasible for certain ages.
We pick based on our family bucket list. When my husband and I first got married, we made a bucket list of places we wanted to visit. Fun, right? I highly recommend it!
We had destinations on there from Yellowstone National Park to Italy. One year, we looked at it and saw Maine on the list. This is a place I never thought would happen in my life, but we looked into it and decided it was feasible in 2019! That was one of the most exciting trips for me to plan.
And as a bonus, we saw Vermont on the way, which checked off yet another bucket list destination!
2. DECIDE ON WHAT TYPE OF VACATION IT WILL BE
We are big camping people, like all out, all outdoors, tent folks. So, we decide if the destination(s) would warrant tent camping, or a more hotel/resort setting. Our trip to Maine consisted of tents, lodges, hotel, stayed with family, and even a resort. It was quite an epic trip with 6 stops between Maine and Michigan. Once we know this, we can start knowing what to look for when we are diving into the vacation planning more.
These arrangements and plans happened over the months we spent planning the trip. We decided that Maine had to be done in a tent after seeing some beautiful camping options. But along the way, we didn’t want to pitch and take down camp every other day to get there, so hotels and family were the best options there.
However, as we are looking into a Disney World vacation, we are probably not bringing any camping equipment and merely enjoying a hotel setting after long days in the parks.
You don’t need to nail down exactly where you are staying right off the bat, but you want a general idea of the type of trip you’ll want to plan. Rustic camping, hotel, resort, or all in between.
3. START A TRELLO BOARD
If you’re not familiar with Trello, I encourage you to get to know it. Trello has been an awesome tool for helping me plan and keep things organized not only with our family vacation planning, but in many other aspects of my life. It allows you to make “cards” with ideas, which I file under different “lists.” For instance, I may make a list called “things to do,” then as I come across articles and ideas, I add “cards” or list items so I can save those things.
Once I start a board, I can then start dumping ideas into it so they don’t get lost. You definitely want to make a Trello Board as one of your first steps to the planning process.
4. RESEARCH THE AREA AS PART OF YOUR VACATION PLANNING!
To me, this is the fun part. We pick a spot that we think can work, then I turn to Google Maps and Reviews! We decide the things we need to do, then base where were stay off of that. Sometimes we find a great place to stay, then see what’s near there too.
I read articles and other blogs, ask around, and search Google for “best things to do in (enter your destination) with kids” or “fun things to in (destination) in summer.” This helps me in deciding what things are feasible for our family, and which things we’re not in to. I’ll even order a visitor’s guide from the area’s official visitors site.
Maine was so fun to plan because there are countless things to do with kids, in just Acadia National Park alone. We made a HUGE list, then picked our top ones and even made “back up” plans in case of rain so weather wouldn’t take away from the fun. This included top places to eat too! We even check out things to do on day trips or weekend trips, like this one we took to Frankenmuth, Michigan.
5. SET A BUDGET OUTLINE
A major part of vacation planning is having a budget. It’s important to set a rough estimate of the money you think you’ll need for your trip. Consider gas, flights, food, lodging, spending, reservations, emergency, fire wood & ice, tolls, admissions…As avid coffee drinkers, my husband and I even set aside a “coffee fund” so we can splurge on good coffee as that is a vacation treat for us!
Aim high then adjust as you do research. I keep all of this info in Trello as well in my trip board. I take the total we’ll need and break it down by how many weeks until departure so we know how much we need to save each week. Sometimes we’ll do special projects and yard sales to help save up towards our trip!
These are just a few of the early things I do as we start the vacation planning process! It gets us excited and eager to save for something we are all looking forward to as a family!
