Trip Planning: A Personalized Guide

Oh the moments when you finally get a green signal to go on a trip with friends, family or even solo. It is such a wonderful moment which starts with checking the best places that fit in our criteria of the travel occasion and then checking out some YouTube videos of the place. However, for me the next step is an exciting but at times tiring process of trip planning. So here is a guide from The Wanderers to make your trip planning smooth and relaxing.

When I start trip planning, I make sure that everyone is on the same page. So, the first step for in the trip planning is to check with everyone about their preferences. Sometimes, it is a road trip, other times it is the geography or beaches, hill station or religious purpose. But what mostly is common, is a budget. A simple trick that mostly works for me to stay within the budget is to first check the cost of all the modes of desirable transports. I begin with the flights and check directly on Google Flights via Google Travel. Ensure that you do not spend to much time on getting the right flights and costs right away because firstly you must get an estimate of your budget. A quick tip to make it efficient is to put the dates nearest to your planned travel dates if you are not able to access the planned dates' flight costs right now.

Now you have the flight prices, repeat the step for trains, buses and even road fare if you want. Simple google searches like "cost of reaching Manali from Delhi via road works" here. Next step in this is to check the cheapest available and suitable accommodation. I use a couple of websites for this:

1. MakeMyTrip: This website gives good price quotes with easy-t- use filters.

2. Agoda: I find some of the best as well as cheapest hotel stays on this website.

3. Hostelworld: This website will give you a list of hostel stays available at your travel destination. However, the prices quoted are sometimes not competitive. So I recommend you only use it for getting a list of hostels and crosscheck on Google for better quotes.

4. Google Travel/ Search: Usually, the search results that Google provides are enough for you to understand the types and costs of accommodation available for you.

5. TripAdvisor: I strongly recommend this website if you want true reviews of accommodations and price quotes for comparisons.

Now, if you make a list of accommodations along with their prices and add the cost of transport, you get an estimated cost of travel. However, note that this won't include costs of transport within the destinations, meals and shopping. What works for me is to multiply the estimated cost by 1.5 and 2 which gives me a good enough range of an estimate.

Okay so you have the estimate and have now arrived on a conclusion with your travel mates (I am assuming you do with high hopes). The next step is my favorite, researching the destination! For this is I first head to YouTube and simply search the name of the place, and I get the desired vlogs with details about attractions, food joints, accommodations, transport costs and also a budget. This would crosscheck your own research about transport, accommodation and budget. Now you also get a list of attractions and food joints. I suggest you start with the places of attraction first. Simply head to Google Travel and search for your destination. You will see a list of major attractions, note them down. I use Google Keep Notes to make a list of favorable attractions. Next, research more on the websites to ensure that you do not miss out on any of the fun places and have a trip that you will remember for a long time! The list below is my secret favorite sites for the same:

1. TripAdvisor: This site has a very good interface with genuine reviews of the attractions. I use this website to get most of the recommendations for my trip planning. You also get to know what all activities you can do and at what cost nearby the attractions.

2. Thrillophilia: My favorite website which makes up most of my travel itinerary. The trick with this site is to search "things to do in XYZ destination" and then the magic happens. You get a list of the best places that you can visit in and nearby the destination. You can also get quotes for itineraries and trek packages via this page.

3. Holidify: This also works similar to TripAdvisor and Thrillophilia and is a good website for crosschecking your notes!

4. MakeMyTrip: From flights to attractions, MakeMyTrip helps me understand what are the nearest places of interest to any accommodation.

5. The Wanderers: Well how can we forget our own blog site haha. But in all honestly even I go back to my diary and notes when I revisit a destination. And, The Wanderers is my diary which has provided reviews of everything that you need and ask for in your perfect travel. So, do not forget to check our Travel Blog before you go on your next trip!

Since I am giving away all the secrets, here is another tip: search directly for "travel itinerary for XYZ destination for C days." Now you can directly get access to the attractions, travel costs, transport types available for travel within your destinations, and budget.

There you have a rough but almost complete trip planned for you with the help of The Wanderers. Now the right thing to do is to confirm with a taxi driver/ hotel person/ friend who knows the place to crosscheck if your curated travel itinerary works because sometimes all the places are not accessible. From my personal experience, if you are in the process of making travel arrangements with a hotel/ taxi service, just asking them about their recommendations helps a lot. They know the place, the locals and most importantly what sells! Just tell them about your taste and they will recommend you the best things suitable for a memorable trip.

Now, make the bookings and keep checking The Wanderers for more travel guides. Have a safe and beautiful journey!

If you would like for us to write a blog on your destination, just drop a comment under this or any other post, or contact me directly!