As the world starts to open up and traveling becomes easier, you may have started thinking more about what your next trip will look like. Since travel can be quite a costly expense, planning your trip(s) in advance can help you save money and ease stress when you get to your target destination.
I recently recorded a Making Cents of Money podcast episode with Nikki Giancola-Shanks and Jake Hamilton about planning travel and keeping your money safe. As a result of that recording, I wanted to put together a few templates based on how my partner and I have planned our trips over the years. To provide some additional context to the templates, I wanted to outline our general travel planning process:
- Brainstorm destinations & activities (This is where we'd look at considerations for traveling with pets)
- Decide general dates (The earlier we plan, the more flexible we can be)
- Determine transportation (We like to roadtrip since we take our greyhound)
- Research & compare lodging options
- Book lodging based on total cost & convenience
- Map travel route to destination with potential locations of activities
- Create a meal plan for the trip
- Check CDC & local alerts for COVID, weather, etc. (Good to check throughout planning process)
- Pack (Having individual packing checklists can help prevent forgetting things like your toothbrush)
- Start your travel adventure!
You can download the Microsoft Excel version or check out the Google Sheets version online.
Happy Planning & Safe Travels!
