I’ve been travelling internationally for 20+ years and have the planning phase down, in fact, I love it. If planning a big complicated trip has you stressed, relax, you got this, just follow my step by step process.

Step 1. Set your budget and choose the destination

Always plan your trip as far in advance as possible, it’s cheaper and there’ll be more options available to you. Get real about your budget and then choose an affordable destination. Ideally have a vacation fund set aside, but if you don’t, you’ll want to save some money for your trip before you go on to the next step. If you already know where and when you’re going then skip ahead.

Step 2. Draft an itinerary

I use a good ol’ excel spreadsheet for this step, it’s not pretty but it helps me get an at-a-glance picture of where I need to be on which dates. Below is an example from my Canada trip last year, I’ve drafted the dates and rough amount of time in each place as well as a couple of things I want to see in each place. You might want to use Google Maps, and their My Maps tool to check your planned travel route makes the best possible sense. Just create a new map and then plot your places of interest on there, easy peasy.

Step 3. Book the essential activities

This might be controversial, but I would actually book any activities/tours that are in high demand or have limited spots available before booking any flights or accommodation. If your whole reason for travelling to a destination is for a specific seasonal activity (eg. summer polar bear viewing in Hudson Bay), then you might have to change your draft itinerary based on the availability of Hudson Bay polar bear tour operators. If the activity/tour is only available for one set of dates during your trip, then you could have to faff about changing flights and accommodation if those were the first things you booked. Also, there might be accommodation and flights included in certain activities/tours. Once those things are locked in, update the spreadsheet. On the below example I highlighted the flights and accommodation that I needed to book in the next step.

Step 4. Book transport + accommodation

I’d start with the international flights, followed by any internal flights and then accommodation. A great tip is to always use an incognito browsing window to compare flight and accommodation prices. Ever noticed that when you’re looking at flights/hotels on a site and close down the window, when you go back to the site later the prices have unexpectedly gone up? Use in-private browsing and this doesn’t happen. I also always use comparison sites to find the best available fare/rate and then check on the airline/hotel website to make sure it’s not cheaper to book with them direct. Hotel transfers and car hire should be the next thing on your list to book. Add the details to your spreadsheet like the organisational maven that you are!

Step 5. Visas and vaccinations

This is an important one, some countries will deny you entry if you haven’t applied for a visa in advance or haven’t been to get the necessary jabs. Allow plenty of time before you travel to arrange these things, if you need a visa to be processed super-fast this’ll often attract additional fees. I’d recommend looking into vaccinations 6 months before you’re due to travel and visas at least 2 months before you travel.

Step 6. Travel insurance

Never leave without insurance. Yes it’s an extra expense that might be for nothing, but so much can go wrong even if you’re an uber-organised travel pro. The piece of mind insurance offers is worth the money, I’ve only had to make a claim while travelling once – it was for emergency dental (pesky wisdom teeth!) and was so glad I was covered.

Step 7. Important Research

Here are some of the things I’d be sure to note about my destination: Currency conversion, tipping expectations and which forms of payment are accepted. If you need to get currency exchanged before you go because credit cards are not widely accepted at your destination, make sure to plan for this. Consider any cultural/religious differences to your home country, eg. Women being expected to cover their shoulders and knees, or holding hands with a member of the opposite sex in public being prohibited.

Step 8. FUN Research

Have a look at some restaurant reviews for your destination and maybe research other sightseeing activities that you’d like to “play by ear” rather than book in advance. Where are the best spots for an epic sunset? Keep a list of these things handy on your trip. Always leave some flexibility in your itinerary, some days you’ll be full of energy and want see/do loads, and other days you might just want to chill.

Step 9. Upskill

I always try to learn a few words in the local language to make life a bit easier when I get to my destination. It’s always handy to know how to ask where the bathroom is, and generally people appreciate it when tourists make an effort to fit in. Got a brand new fancy camera for your upcoming trip but aren’t sure how to use it? Practise shooting with different settings and in different lighting conditions, or even book a photography course. It would suck to miss a once in a lifetime photo op because you don’t know how to use your gear.

Step 10. Packing

I use the Stylebook app to help me pack the right amount of clothing for my trips and love it because “Type A” over here. You can also just try on outfits and take pictures on your phone which is less time consuming than setting up Stylebook, but you don’t get to see everything beautifully laid out on a nice white background. I try to make sure that everything I pack is climate, activity and culturally appropriate, can be mixed and matched (all tops go with all bottoms and one or two pairs of shoes go with everything). Here are some of my packing lists if you struggle with overpacking:

UK + Italy (late Summer/Autumn)
Indonesia (Sumatra)
Colombia (Bogota, Amazonas, Los Llanos, Caribbean)
Abu Dhabi + Africa (Summer)

Aaaand bonus tip – make sure you start your trip off on the right foot by showing up to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Book your airport transfer well in advance and build in extra time for traffic delays. Don’t be that sweaty stress-head trying to negotiate your way to the front of check-in and security queues because you didn’t’ allow yourself enough time to get to the airport.

Hope this post was helpful!