{"id":4244,"date":"2014-05-06T09:09:01","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T13:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/?p=4244"},"modified":"2019-06-07T14:14:43","modified_gmt":"2019-06-07T18:14:43","slug":"tips-for-travel-pre-planning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/06\/tips-for-travel-pre-planning\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Travel: Pre-Planning"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m a bit of a planner and love organizing.\u00a0 I used to love planning our trips, booking the airfare, finding hotels and exploring all the things we could do in each city.\u00a0 I quickly discovered that I needed a way to organize all the information for our trips so we could use it and my time wasn\u2019t wasted.<\/p>\n<p>Over a few trips I developed a way to document everything so we would have it all accessible and usable at all times.\u00a0 I compiled all the information into a word document which we then kept in a large plastic envelope while on the trip.\u00a0 As we visited places, we added the maps, guides and tickets to the envelope so everything was kept together and nothing got lost.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00915.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-4252\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00915-199x300.jpg\" alt=\"SONY DSC\" width=\"139\" height=\"210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00915-199x300.jpg 199w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00915-300x452.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00915-600x903.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00915-166x250.jpg 166w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00915-680x1024.jpg 680w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00915-1000x1505.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00915.jpg 1520w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 139px) 100vw, 139px\" \/><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00914.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-4251\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00914-300x199.jpg\" alt=\"SONY DSC\" width=\"300\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00914-300x199.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00914-600x399.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00914-376x250.jpg 376w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00914-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00914-1000x664.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/DSC00914-390x259.jpg 390w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4245 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-1.png\" alt=\"travel tips 1\" width=\"210\" height=\"199\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-1.png 648w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-1-300x285.png 300w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-1-600x569.png 600w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-1-263x250.png 263w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 210px) 100vw, 210px\" \/><\/a><a style=\"text-decoration: none;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-1.png\">I set up the document with the information we needed first at the top like flight (including confirmation number, flight number, departure and arrival times), car rental (including confirmation number, rate and car type) and hotel information (including address, phone number, confirmation number, rate, check in\/out times and directions if taking public transport).\u00a0 Originally I did my documents in a standard format, but I quickly learned I could fit much more to each page, both saving paper and making it more convenient to view things on the run if I formatted it into two columns.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-3.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-4247\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-3.png\" alt=\"travel tips 3\" width=\"1131\" height=\"507\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-3.png 1131w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-3-300x134.png 300w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-3-600x269.png 600w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-3-390x175.png 390w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-3-1024x459.png 1024w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-3-1000x448.png 1000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1131px) 100vw, 1131px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-4248 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-4.png\" alt=\"travel tips 4\" width=\"446\" height=\"315\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-4.png 705w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-4-300x212.png 300w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-4-600x425.png 600w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-4-353x250.png 353w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 446px) 100vw, 446px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>After the hotel and flight information, I added what there was to do in each city we were visiting.\u00a0 I included the address, phone number (if available), opening hours, admission fees and sometimes directions or public transport lines.\u00a0 I also made a spreadsheet for our days showing which attractions were open which days and what the hours were so when planning our days we could quickly see what the options were.<\/p>\n<p>The first few trips, I also looked up recommended restaurants and added those to the documents as well but because we were usually on foot and exhausted by the end of the day, we never made it to any of the places so I stopped adding that information. \u00a0We have had very few terrible meals when just wandering in off the street into a place so just stuck with our meal choosing method of random selection!<\/p>\n<p>I also usually tried to look up the weather not only to pack accordingly but also to keep in mind when planning our daily activities and what to wear and bring along each day.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t always put the weather on my document, but when I did I used many different systems.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4250 aligncenter\" style=\"font-size: 14px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips.png\" alt=\"travel tips\" width=\"534\" height=\"94\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips.png 742w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-300x53.png 300w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-600x105.png 600w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-390x68.png 390w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 534px) 100vw, 534px\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4246 aligncenter\" style=\"font-size: 14px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-2.png\" alt=\"travel tips 2\" width=\"449\" height=\"145\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-2.png 624w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-2-300x97.png 300w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-2-600x194.png 600w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-2-390x126.png 390w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 449px) 100vw, 449px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>And being the neurotic organizer and saver that I am, I also kept track of all our expenses.\u00a0 My goal was to stay under \u20ac100 per day for all food and attractions and usually we were able to stay under \u20ac200-250 per day overall including airfare and hotel (depending on the place we were and hotel rates).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4249 aligncenter\" style=\"font-size: 14px;\" src=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-5.png\" alt=\"travel tips 5\" width=\"512\" height=\"247\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-5.png 731w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-5-300x145.png 300w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-5-600x290.png 600w, https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/travel-tips-5-390x188.png 390w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I\u2019m a bit of a planner and love organizing.\u00a0 I used to love planning our trips, booking the airfare, finding hotels and exploring all the things we could do in each city.\u00a0 I quickly discovered that I needed a way to organize all the information for our trips so we could use it and my [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4251,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[30,218,49,217,197],"class_list":["post-4244","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tiny-travellers","tag-organizing","tag-planning","tag-travel","tag-travel-tips","tag-traveling"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4244"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14453,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4244\/revisions\/14453"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4251"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beyondmommying.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}