Trip Planning Fun!

 

Before I head into today's post - I wanted to answer a couple of questions that came up about our trip! We stayed in a hotel this time, since we weren't going to be "home" that much throughout the weekend. We stayed in Traverse City and just drove out to the various destinations. And we SO WANTED to try the Grand Traverse Pie Company, but their hours didn't coincide with our ability to go. Next time we're through that way, though, we have to make it there. We love pie!

Sandi asked the other day how I go about planning our vacations. It’s been a few years since I wrote about this, and my methods have changed with time, so I thought I might pop in today with this quick vacation-planning inspiration for you!

            Ryan and I have a running short list of places we would like to visit in the next few years. Some are close to home and others are farther away. The list includes places like: New York City, Washington D.C., St. Louis, Northwest Arkansas, Mackinac Island, Prince Edward Island, Savannah, Charleston, more Indiana counties, etc. As I peruse Pinterest or read blogs or stumble across ideas on Facebook, I’ll make a note of them on our Pinterest travel board so I can find the information later, when I am ready for it. Having a broad idea of places we would like to go makes these discoveries a little easier. (And, of course, Pinterest makes note of your searches, so if I start choosing something about a location, more ideas for that spot are likely to pop up. I find good ideas that way, sometimes.)

            In addition, if I find anything particularly fun and interesting online, I’ll pin it for later, even if it’s not in an area I ever thought about going. Who knows? It might end up in an itinerary sometime!

EXAMPLE: The boat and breakfast we stayed at in Saugatuck a few years ago was a random online find. So was the fish boil from this trip.

            Instagram is another gem-finder for me. I follow a lot of full-time travelers and am inspired by their recommendations.

EXAMPLES: @adventuresofaplusk, @heartandsaultravel

            Another amazing way to come up with ideas for a trip? Ask the locals! I don’t know people everywhere, but if I know we’re going to a spot where I have a friend or acquaintance, I’ll ask for ideas of where we should visit or eat. Friends have led us to some really great spots!

EXAMPLES: On our honeymoon, our sunset cruise on the Marina Jack II came as a suggestion from my college roommate, Christi, who lived in the area. On our trip to Virginia Beach, Mark and Lynnette introduced us to Colonial Williamsburg.

            When it comes time to plan a trip in earnest, we’ll start by picking our location. Locations are driven by the amount of time we have for a trip, how expensive it’s likely to be, and the time of year.

Right now, since we both have new jobs, our trips need to be fairly short, because Ryan, in particular, is still building up his vacation time. Because we prefer driving over flying, short trips mean close locations.

We don’t mind investing in trips financially, because we prefer to make memories over buying a bunch of things, but if a trip is going to be more on the pricey side, we try to plan it out far enough that we can save up for it.

EXAMPLE: We nixed Mackinac Island for this year. We need to save up for the cost of lodging there.

The time of year also matters. We’ve learned not to try Michigan before June, and that going south (even a little!) in the winter is a good idea. Some places are just too hot or too cold to fully enjoy in certain times of the year.

EXAMPLES: Our trips to the Tulip Time Festival in Holland and Saugatuck were both super cold adventures. And while we enjoyed exploring Chicago in the Christmas-lights of winter, we’d choose warmer weather for next time.

Once we pick our location, we start planning what we’ll do while we are gone. Honestly, most of my research comes from Pinterest. I’ll look up locations and read posts and travel blogs about what it’s like to visit there. Because of our personal preferences, I find that family friendly posts are our best bets. We don’t drink, so itineraries that include a lot of wineries or breweries aren’t for us. We tend to like activities geared for families with kids, actually! If I find something mentioned over and over in posts, I’ll make a note of it as a can’t-miss activity.

We try to find as many free things as possible – and that’s easier in some locations than others. Also, we tend to be the kind of travelers who only go to a location once, so if there’s something we really want to see or do, even if it’s not free, we make sure to do it. We want to see as much of this country as we can, so we don’t usually repeat-visit anywhere.

EXCEPTIONS: We have gone back to Siesta Key, where we were married, and we would go back again, I think, for the nostalgia of it. We would also repeat a stop in Mt. Airy, North Carolina, because we didn’t have enough time to see all the Andy Griffith stops we wanted to explore.

Most of our activities and plans revolve around being outside (hiking, sightseeing, etc.) but we do occasionally visit museums or indoor attractions. Those visits are often ultimately decided by price or by photography bans. I am highly unlikely to visit a place if I can’t take pictures. We’ve done it a few times, but not often.

EXAMPLES: The Louisville Slugger Museum prohibited photos, but we went anyway. The Biltmore prohibited the first time I visited (when I was single) but by the time we went on an anniversary trip, you could take pictures there!

Once I have my list of things I want to try to do, I begin crafting my itinerary. I try to make each day full – but not too full. I try to leave room for spontaneous finds and rest! When making the itinerary, I check to make sure places are open on the day I’m scheduling them, and that we aren’t doing a bunch of backtracking with driving. I try to line things up in order of location so we can see a thing or two on our way to or from any day’s ultimate destination.

If the trip is a long one, I also try to have a couple of “nothing” days so we can really relax – or so we have room to move things around if weather necessitates it. Also, if the trip is long, I try to make sure we have fun activities along the route to the main destination. It helps break up the driving and gives us something to look forward to in the shorter term!

EXAMPLE: When we did our trip out west to see my family a couple of years ago, our stop in Casey, Illinois (small town of big things) was a destination on the way home.

If necessary, we make reservations before we go, so we’re sure to have a spot/time/ticket. Otherwise, we go with the flow!

EXAMPLE: Fish boil was one of these pre-reserved times!

We do have someday long-term travel dreams, and I’ve already begun planning for those trips. They look different, because they will be longer trips, and so for these planning extravaganzas, I’m actually purchasing some travel-planning books to help craft the itineraries. For the kind of travel we do right now, though, we find all our ideas on websites, social media, and personal recommendations!