Planning an International Trip: The logistics and more!
Planning an international trip can be somewhat stressful and frustrating at times. However, it is definitely not impossible and can be easy with the right process once you choose your destination. Here are a few steps to follow to make planning more simple:
- Set your budget
- Find affordable flights
- Plan your itinerary
- Book your accommodations
- Secure your transportation
- Create a packing list and buy the necessities
- Pack!
1. Set your Budget
Planning an international trip requires setting a budget or at least knowing how much you can get by with spending. Your budget is YOUR budget, whatever that may be. Unfortunately, traveling takes money. However, I believe trips can be planned on a wide variety of budgets. It just takes a little more strategy to plan a lower-budget trip! So, decide how much you are willing to pay to have a trip of a lifetime!
2. Book your Flight
Your flight will be the biggest expense of your international trip (usually). Keep an eye out on prices. There is usually a sweet spot on getting cheaper flight prices. Don’t book way too early and don’t book way too late (recent bad news bears on flight prices due to waiting too long to book). I’ve had the best experience booking 2-3 months out. Use the Hopper app (have to download) to get a good idea of when you should book. Put in your departure and arrival airports and it will notify you when you should book!
Click here for more tips on getting cheaper flights.
3. Plan Your Itinerary
Planning the itinerary is where the excitement starts. Do your research and see what there is to do where you are going. Find out where you want to stop, where you want to stay, what you want to do, how many days you need to see/do everything you want and lock in itinerary. I use Pinterest to do a lot of this portion of the planning. Wherever you are going or whatever you are doing, someone has already been there and likely written about it. Take advantage! Click here for tips on creating a great itinerary!
If you itinerary includes something with limited tickets, BUY THEM. We have missed out on a few activities due to not buying tickets ahead of time!
4. Book your Accommodations
There are tons of options for accommodations wherever you are going. The best way to get the best price is to shop around! One form of accommodation may be the cheapest in one destination but not in another. We are not typically locked in to one place for booking our accommodations. However, we do typically like to know where we are laying our heads each night that we travel (with the exception of our only semi-planning US road trip where we used the Priceline Pricebreaker deal each time we arrived in our destination for the night).
For more tips on getting the best deals on accommodations, click here!
5. Secure your transportation
Our very first backpacking trip through Europe was navigated using several buses, one train and two domestic flights. It worked well for us and was honestly very affordable (we were traveling on new grad budgets)! However, when we went to Banff National Park in Canada we rented a car. We fell in love with the freedom of our schedule and getting to take off for the day at anytime we wanted. Since then we have used this form of transportation on multiple trips! (click here for tips on renting a car internationally).
However, renting a car is not always the best option. More info on other ways to get around Europe, here!
6. Get your packing list and buy what you need
I thought packing and fitting clothes for a 3.5 week trip in Europe that went from the Swiss Alps to the beaches of Sardinia, Italy into a backpack would be impossible. Although challenging, it wasn’t impossible. There were a few items that I wouldn’t have been able to live without. Click here for a guide on packing for international travel!
- However, a lot of the items you will need to pack will obviously depend on where you are going. Pinterest is my go-to to see what people have recommended bringing to the destination I am going.
- Click here for a variety of packing guides we have used throughout our travels!
Good news is, once you have purchased a few of the items you will need to take on nearly every international trip, you won’t have to purchase them again. I also have a collection of “warm weather” necessities that follow me around along with another “freezing cold climate” stash of items I take on the more northerly or higher altitude trips :).
7. Pack and Prepare for a great trip!
Now it’s time to cram all of your crap into your bag and prepare for your trip! Double check your packing list, but don’t panic over packing prior to your trip. There are only a few things that are irreplaceable or can’t be purchased on your trip if you forget something (i.e. keep your passport close 😉 ).
I recommend taking a screenshot of all of your booking confirmations and anything else that you may need internet to access prior to leaving. You won’t always be connected (which really isn’t a bad thing sometimes!) If you are curious how to stay connected while traveling, click here.
Planning an International Trip: Last thoughts
This is the process that WE typically use while planning international travel. Some people prefer to simply go where the wind takes them once they reach their destination. Some people plan each day to the last minute. And that is okay too. Do what floats your boat, but go see the world 😉