How to make a free & easy travel itinerary.
I started traveling free and easy for a while now. It takes a lot of time and effort to create an itinerary that suits yourself and your travel mate. This post is for those who don't know where and how to kick-start your planning.
First Step: Which country / countries you plan to head to?
If you have your destination(s) in mind, skip this step and head to the next one.
Otherwise, i'll keep my options open and check out the promotions airline have to offer. Let those cheap flight tickets inspire me.
* Do know the best seasons/months to travel to your destination.
Second Step: How many days you plan to travel?
I make a checklist of all the attractions i want to visit. Then i plot it out in Google Map.
Then, do a rough estimation of the time required to visit the attraction and the distance between them. How much you want to fit in a day depends on how hectic you want your schedule to be, but try not to fit more than 3 major attractions in a day.
Pro - tips: If you are not sure of what are the attractions available in the city, simply get a itinerary from a travel agency. (Most of the itinerary have the "Must-go" attractions planned). Alternatively, many will choose to visit TripAdvisor for ideas.
Food Travel is also important to many people. Remember to cater time to try out the local delicacies and specialties.
Below is the sample of the google map I've plotted for my travel to ROME.
Green Flag : Attraction
Yellow Star : Food
Pink Heart : Hotel / Airbnb
E.g. I've stayed 2 Full days in ROME.
Third Step: Mode of transportation.
Inter-country or inter-cities: Flight / Train / Boat or Self-Drive ?
Within the City: Metro / Taxi / Uber / Bus or walk?
Time VS Money.
It really depends on one's budget. Usually, the more time-saving the mode of transport is, the more expensive it can get.
Fourth Step: Day Trip from local tour agency.
Some attractions are located in the outskirt. Traveling there could be such a hassle with public transportation. Renting a car for one day just doesn't seem economical. I do include a day trip from a local tour agency in between. It's nice to rely on others and not do everything yourself once in a while.
Fifth Step: Choose your accommodation.
Airbnb will be the cheaper option to go for bigger groups.
Three main things i note when i choose my accommodation is;
1. Location - Near to attractions i want to visit / Near metro
2. Budget
3. Amenities - Clean Bed and Toilet is important to me
Sixth Step: Key everything into Google Drive and share it with your travel mates.
Everyone in your traveling group has to agree with the schedule set out. I will set up an excel file and share it with my mate. They have the rights to comments and edit as we plan. No one has to do the itinerary alone!
Seventh Step: Book everything you can Online.
I will book and pay for whatever thing i can online. Be it the hotel rates, train tickets, the entrance fee, the local tour fees, etc..
Benefits include: Reduces the amount of cash to bring for the trip.
Online booking does offer some discount rates.
Don't have to worry about the limited ticket.
Skip the long lines to purchase ticket for popular attraction.
Downside includes: Inflexibility to change plans as most tickets are tied to a date.
No refunds for cancellation.
Keeping a Soft-copy & Hard-copy of the tickets booked.
Do be extra cautious of FAKE website.
However, if your itinerary is planned properly and agreed by everyone. I see no major downside and worries of booking the tickets online.
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