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#1
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How do you plan your trip?
I am very curious how people plan their trips. Some people plan way
ahead, like a year or two, some people just do it on the fly. Some people photocopy important info, and glue to a notebook; others don't even bring a guide book. I have been put together a spreadsheet where i have different worksheets to cover different areas of the trip, like maps, calendar, airfare, itinerary, etc. I found it very helpful. What are your travel planning experience? Any useful tips/tricks you'd like to share? L1 |
#2
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How do you plan your trip?
L1 wrote:
I am very curious how people plan their trips. Some people plan way ahead, like a year or two, some people just do it on the fly. Some people photocopy important info, and glue to a notebook; others don't even bring a guide book. I have been put together a spreadsheet where i have different worksheets to cover different areas of the trip, like maps, calendar, airfare, itinerary, etc. I found it very helpful. What are your travel planning experience? Any useful tips/tricks you'd like to share? Plan??? Get passport and airline tickets. Pack. Take money, ATM card and charge card. Rent a car and wander. I have made three trips to Europe over the last ten years. On the first one we got a Eurail pass ahead of time, booked out first and last night hotels and followed our noses for 15 days. One the second trip, I traveled with 4 other people, and most of the trip was planned ahead of time. That was much less enjoyable, so for the third one, we flew and took care of some things that had to be taken care of, duty visits and such, and then wandered aimlessly for two weeks. We had a ball. |
#3
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How do you plan your trip?
L1 wrote: What are your travel planning experience? Any useful tips/tricks you'd like to share? The amount of planning I do is directly related to the length of the trip being taken as well as the variety of things to do once there. Little planning is needed if all I want to do is sit on a nice beach somewhere. Basically what I try to do is figure out a time plan. What do I want to do, how long does it take and how does it relate time wise to other activities I want to do. This allows me to plan most of my days in advance taking into account travel times, relaxing and some time to just decide on the fly. |
#4
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How do you plan your trip?
L1 wrote:
I am very curious how people plan their trips. Some people plan way ahead, like a year or two, some people just do it on the fly. Some people photocopy important info, and glue to a notebook; others don't even bring a guide book. To each his own, but I find that planning detracts tremendously from the enjoyment of travel. I want to be surprised. miguel -- Hundreds of travel photos from around the world: http://travel.u.nu/ |
#5
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How do you plan your trip?
"L1" wrote in message om... I am very curious how people plan their trips. I chose somewhere I would like to go and when I would like to go there, preferably at least 30 days previously, as that usually ensures better prices for the tickets. I book, as necessary, airline / channel tunnel tickets, hotel accommodation and / or a hire car. If it is somewhere I've not been before, I will probably buy a guide book around the time I make the arrangements, but it is usually unopened when I pack it. If the country is one where a combination of English, German and French won't help, I will probably buy a dictionary too. (I've never found phrase books much more use than pointing at a word in a dictionary). That system of planning has stood me in good stead for more than 40 years. Colin Bignell |
#6
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How do you plan your trip?
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#7
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How do you plan your trip?
Padraig Breathnach wrote:
(Miguel Cruz) wrote: To each his own, but I find that planning detracts tremendously from the enjoyment of travel. I want to be surprised. You don't believe that planning obviates the possibility of surprise, do you? If anything, it adds to it, because you have the surprise when the plan fails, or the greater surprise when it succeeds. Okay, that's true. For maximum enjoyment, then, I should spend two weeks poring over a guidebook to Japan and then board a plain for France. miguel -- Hundreds of travel photos from around the world: http://travel.u.nu/ |
#8
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How do you plan your trip?
On 11 Feb 2004 16:09:33 -0800, L1 wrote:
What are your travel planning experience? Any useful tips/tricks you'd like to share? I haven't had very good luck with unplanned trips. We spend a lot of time wandering around not knowing what to do, one time to the point that we missed a flight (this was not in Europe, fortunately). I spent an awful lot of time planning our 3+ weeks in Europe. It was fun, though. I planned it down to specific maps for every leg (we drove), alternate things to do in each area, and of course hotels. I started with one of Rick Steves' tours, and made several changes to fit my own preferences. I even had several local maps & I knew roughly where things were in many of the towns. In each town, we just had a small list of things we wanted to do, and we just sort of played by ear what we do on a day-to-day basis. Everything went superbly. Many of the hotels we stayed in had prime views and reasonable prices. Its kind of cool to get up in the middle of the night to go to the head, and see the Eiffel tower glowing outside the window. There was very little of the frustrated wandering that can waste so much time (especially if you're on foot). We made several unplanned day trips, including a totally unplanned day in Munich that was a blast. Getting rooms for more than two people, particularly if you're picky about smoking, can be very difficult. This is why I was so strict in the planning. Having lots of reservations saves time of hotel-hunting, but it also forces you to stick to that schedule. If you have only one or two people and don't have an issue with smoking rooms, you could just put together a schedule (and a list of good hotels for each town) and play the whole thing by ear. -- -BB- To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least) |
#9
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How do you plan your trip?
On Thu, 12 Feb 2004 01:28:16 GMT, Miguel Cruz wrote:
To each his own, but I find that planning detracts tremendously from the enjoyment of travel. I want to be surprised. Last week I was in San Francisco on business. We were starving on arrival, and walked out to get some lunch. We wandered for well over a mile, through various streets, and finally gave up and settled for a dive sandwich shop. The next day, we found that there were a lot of nice restaurants only a block from our hotel - in the opposite direction from the one we'd walked. That was a surprise. -- -BB- To reply to me, drop the attitude (from my e-mail address, at least) |
#10
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How do you plan your trip?
"nightjar .uk.com" nightjar@insert_my_surname_here wrote in message . .. "L1" wrote in message om... I am very curious how people plan their trips. I chose somewhere I would like to go and when I would like to go there, preferably at least 30 days previously, as that usually ensures better prices for the tickets. I book, as necessary, airline / channel tunnel tickets, hotel accommodation and / or a hire car. If it is somewhere I've not been before, I will probably buy a guide book around the time I make the arrangements, but it is usually unopened when I pack it. If the country is one where a combination of English, German and French won't help, I will probably buy a dictionary too. (I've never found phrase books much more use than pointing at a word in a dictionary). That system of planning has stood me in good stead for more than 40 years. So how do you know where you want to go, where you want to stay, and how long without reading a guidebook or two? I love trip-planning. All that anticipation is almost more fun than the trip itself. For each stop, I educate myself on the attractions in the district. Then, according to the weather and how we feel, we can pick from several options. I reserve all accommodation ahead. My rationale is for short stops, you don't have to spend time finding a place to stay. For longer visits, it's harder to find 4 or 6 days in one place on short notice. And I can spend my time at home finding a really memorable place to stay. The Internet is a wonderful tool for us planners. I particularly value the mapping programs that, for a particular journey by car, show you the route, its length, and how long it takes. Marianne |
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