Travel planning – top tips for organising your dream holiday

Travel planning without the stress

Almost a third of us book our summer breaks in January, to give us some light at the end of the winter tunnel and something to look forward to. This is usually plenty of time to plan – bar the last-minute dash to the shops for suncream or travel adaptors! But a real trip; the one you’ve always promised yourself or imagined with your best friend over a cappuccino, can take travel planning to a whole new level!

That’s why we asked our brand ambassadors to help us create ten top tips for planning the ultimate trip. So, if you’re gazing out of the window and wondering if this will be the year you finally make it to Chile or take the ultimate ‘Thelma and Louise’ road trip – yes, it will!

Because travel is the only thing you buy that makes you richer.

How our ambassadors plan their dream holidays

Planning a big holiday can seem daunting – but travel planning is half the fun! The more you research, the more organised and confident you’ll feel.

Our brand ambassador Peach loves an ambitious trip and already has a trip to the Far East in her sights this year. She recommends using social media for inspo, especially for places to visit, and checking other people’s reviews too: “If it’s heavily advertised, and looks like a good bet, I then look at pricing. If it is affordable, I may as well try it!”

“I like seeing what local events are happening. For example, I was able to go to the Hong Kong book and stationery fair two years ago and I’d love to go again!”

“I’d also look at the locations of the main places you want to go, so you know how to get there! If you don’t drive or have your own car, look at transport links to make sure the places you go aren’t too far. I also use Google Maps to check transport and distances.”

Booking and packing well in advance, is all part of the fun and reduces last-minute stresses. “Pack a week early,” Peach advises.

Brand ambassador Chloe planned a trip to Japan. She suggests bookmarking all the places to visit on a map and then finding the most conveniently located hotel for them all.

“For our trip, we also made a ‘plan of action’ before booking, so we knew roughly where we wanted to visit. This makes it so much easier to decide how many days you’ll need somewhere.” And she also recommends researching local transport “so you know how far the nearest train or bus is from your hotel.”

“These tips made us feel confident that we had checked everything before going ahead and booking.”

When you’re travelling of course, even the best laid plans can go out the window. But if you start out with a solid, well-researched travel plan, you’ll feel far more confident and relaxed about being spontaneous and tweaking your arrangements.

Travel planning – trips within the trip

Brand ambassador, Lois, always gets ahead with her travel planning. “Starting out with an itinerary as a rough plan is so useful, especially as trips are so precious and time goes so quickly. You don’t have to jam pack your time with things to do, but having an idea and working out some of the logistics upfront can take a lot of stress away.”

“And especially if you’re going with a bigger group, it can save those moments where no one can make a decision because everyone’s being polite! Save time and decide earlier!”

Don’t plan alone!

Alex, who organised her trip to Canada from scratch, reminds us that putting together a big family adventure “takes careful planning, organisation, time and effort!”

“A few years ago, we planned a Canadian road trip which involved booking five different hotels and navigating almost 2,000km in two weeks! Booking flights, car hire and different hotels for a longer trip can be very time consuming, so start well ahead.” You’ll get the best deals, too.

You could consider sharing the travel planning with your friend or partner, or even a teenage member of the family. Delegating some of the organisation halves the work and doubles the fun. You’ll bounce ideas off each other and feed off each other’s excitement.

Giving kids specific tasks such as researching fantastic picnic spots, places to snorkel or secluded sandy beaches keeps them involved – even if it does give them the perfect excuse to stay online for another hour!

Our ambassadors’ top ten tips for trips

🏝️ Work out your overall budget including travel, accommodation, a daily budget for food, entrance fees, insurance AND spending! How much will you need to save, and how long will it take?

🏝️ Research the weather at the time you want to go. Nobody wants to hit Bali in the monsoon season!

🏝️ When planning flights or travel, include the whole travel time, not just the flight. From the moment you leave home, to when you’ll need to be at the airport. Add an hour for last-minute travel delays –and a recce of duty free!

🏝️ Check everyone’s passport is up to date, and you have all the visas, vaccinations and prescriptions you’ll need; local currencies too – not everyone uses Apple Pay!

🏝️ Decide on the type of trip you want. Organised, or self-guided? Plenty of nightlife, or a ‘get-away-from-it-all’ break?

🏝️ Know anybody who’s already been? Ask them for their dos and don’ts!

🏝️ And find out about things like tipping, safety in taxis or on the street, and any cultural no-nos.

🏝️ Don’t forget the travel insurance!

🏝️ Research the local cuisine, especially if you have any special dietary requirements. A hungry holiday is not a happy one.

🏝️ Build in downtime to your travel planning! It’s a holiday, not an endurance test.

Don’t forget the travel journal!

Once we’re away from our daily lives, we can often feel our creativity start to flow, and keeping a travel journal is a wonderful way to capture some of those unforgettable sights, sounds and moments. But who says you’ve got to wait until you’re there to get started? Creating your holiday to-do lists in a specially chosen journal means you have a complete record from start to finish.

And when you’re about to leave, pop some 0.5 or 0.7mm Sarasa Clip gel pens in your hand luggage, or even a Zebra Journalling set for longer trips, so you can make notes as you go – in the moment – and then journal at your leisure. The best souvenirs are the ones you create yourself.

And just to make sure nothing gets forgotten at the last minute, check out our stress-free holiday planning blog for the two-week countdown to a perfect getaway.

“Say yes to new adventures!”

Holiday adventures should be as enriching as they are inspiring, and a bit of forward planning will take you – quite literally – a long, long way.

…and if there’s any chance you can fit us in your suitcase…😉