What can you do when you really want to take a vacation but aren’t in a position to travel? Plan a future trip! In this post, I’m sharing what you can do right now to plan your dream vacation while you’re stuck at home. Includes: how to start planning a trip, tips for creating a vacation fund, and lots of inspiration to fuel your wanderlust. Ready for an escape?
There are lots of reasons that you may not be able to take a trip right now. Whether it’s financial reasons, a busy work schedule, lots of obligations on your plate…
(or let’s face it – Coronavirus), if you find yourself stuck at home take this opportunity to dream and plan a future trip!
You’ll be so glad you thought ahead and started planning. Because when your situation changes, you’ll be ready to go.
Let’s Plan Your Dream Vacation
Think about it: why do women dream about their wedding day at a young age? Because we know it’s coming! And it’s just so. much. fun. Planning a dream vacation can give you that same adrenaline rush. The anticipation builds and it really gives you a sense of joy (and an escape from the mundane). So let’s do this!
In this post, I’m outlining 8 easy steps you can take right now to plan your dream vacation. Here’s a sneak peek:
- Where to look for inspiration (plus super cool virtual tours)
- Advice for choosing a destination
- The best time of year to travel
- How to “backwards plan” for success
- Creating a travel fund you can stick to
- And lots more…
1. Get Inspired!
Let’s start with the good stuff. Where do you want to go? What is your dream destination? Start by exploring online and make a list of what gets you excited. This is your chance to dream! So don’t self-edit, just write down everything for now.
Ready to start brainstorming? Here are a few fun things to get you started:
- 100+ Incredible Things To Do Before You Die
- The Best Podcasts About Travel To Inspire You
- 12 Famous Museums Offering Virtual Tours
- Best Virtual Vacations Around The World
2. Narrow It Down
Now that the wheels are turning, I bet you have lots of ideas. Step two is narrowing down to one destination. To make your decision, you’ll want to take into consideration things like budget, timing, how much time off you can get from work, etc.
Will you be traveling alone or with others? If you have travel partners, talk to them so everyone is in agreement on where to go. It’s important to decide on location so you can get the ball rolling with the other steps on this list.
3. Be Smart About Timing
Now that you’ve chosen a destination (wow, exciting!) start to think about the timing of your trip. You’ll want to decide on a general timeframe (it doesn’t have to be 100% finalized at this point). When you take your dream vacation will be impacted by several factors, so here are a few considerations:
- What will the weather be like?
- Is it peak season or shoulder season?
- Are there important dates I should avoid? (includes things like the birth of a child, wedding, graduations, etc.)
- What uncertainty am I dealing with? (possible relocation, global pandemic, travel restrictions, etc.)
- How long will my trip be in length?
Your goal here is to choose a general time. For example, fall 2020 or spring 2021. It’s never 100% foolproof to choose travel dates, because things can change, and unforeseen circumstances arise. Just do the best you can and remember to be flexible.
4. Decide On Things To Do
Step four is to discover all the activities and experiences you want to enjoy (this is my favorite part!) Chances are, you already have a headstart on this one, because often we choose a destination based on what it’s known for.
When I started to plan my wedding/honeymoon in Italy, I immediately had tons of ideas for what to do on our trip. The amazing pasta, historic sites and beautiful landscape of Italy are what made me choose it in the first place!
A few of my favorite resources to get inspired and find unique activities are Yelp, Pinterest, and of course travel blogs.
5. Plan The Logistics
Your next step is to begin researching hotels and transportation. You don’t have to book anything yet (although you can if you want to). That will all depend on your comfort level and the length of time leading up to your trip.
What I recommend is to do an online search and bookmark or save any great hotel reviews you find, or any blog posts that inspire you. As for transportation, simply decide whether you’ll get there by bus, car, or plane.
6. Budget and Create A Vacation Fund
Now that you have a good sense of the details of your trip, you can begin to estimate how much it will cost. Start by plugging in dates and destination information into airline and hotel websites. To help you plan, here’s a great resource that will do the math for you – Travel Budget Calculator.
7. Plan In Reverse
You’re almost there! The next thing you’ll want to do is to “backwards plan” your dream vacation. Put simply, take the budget you determined in the last step and divide it by the time you have leading up to your trip. Here’s an example:
($3000 Travel budget) divided by (10 months before trip) = ($300 amount to save each month)
Now you can plan accordingly by setting aside money each month. Keep in mind you can always adjust some of the details of your trip to make it work for you. For example, if you decided to extend your trip in length, change dates, etc. you can simply recalculate.
8. Take Action
Ready to take action? The last step is when you begin to book your trip, request time off work, and put things into motion. You can also begin the fun task of buying luggage, planning your vacation outfits, and watching travel vlogs about your destination. You’re practically there!
Plan A Dream Vacation While You’re Stuck At Home
Did this post inspire you to start planning a trip? Comment below and let me know: what’s the first place you’re going to travel to? I’d love to hear from you!
Just to quickly recap, here are the 8 easy steps you can start today from your couch:
- Get inspired
- Narrow it down
- Be smart about timing
- Decide on things to do
- Plan the logistics
- Budget and create a vacation fund
- Plan in reverse
- Take action
