Travel Plans - If I'm not traveling, I'm planning! Ideas for You, too!

I like making travel plans. I see planning as part of the adventure.

Get excited and get out there and plan a trip too!

I invite you to look at the trips I've taken, my current plan, and my future travel plans. Maybe, you will find a destination or two that will inspire you to plan a trip and travel out and see what there is to see.

First I'm thinking about when and where I want to go. Then what I want to do.

There are so many travel books to help you plan, it is hard to recommend one. I use several, and do a lot of research on the internet.

Find a book that you like, decide what size and how specific you want to get, Paris vs. France, for example. Remember, the books size is important if you want to carry the book with you.

Now that I've got this pretty well figured out, I start looking for a House or Apartment Rental in the area I have chosen, if that is the type of vacation I want.

Or, if I'm taking a tour, the planning is much simpler. I just look for a tour that has the things I most want to see on this trip, and go from there.

When I'm renting or on a road trip, I try to have a general plan for each day, with one "must see", which is usually my starting point. I look for things on the way to and from my "must see" destination and start building my trip with a list of anything that interests me. If possible I like to avoid traveling the same road twice, this way I see more.

You never know what is around the next corner, or over the next hill that may catch your eye and be worth stopping to see. Follow your instincts. You may pass by for now and stop on the way back, that is, if you come back the same way.

Or, you may find yourself lost for a while....or maybe not lost, "touring" (I found this when touring, my first castle and a moated one at that!) or detouring (and I stopped and went inside)...I only think of myself as lost when I have to be somewhere at a certain time, and I think I'll be late.

Well, when you are trying to read a map, read the signs, drive, or maybe that should be, stop and read the map, drive, and read the signs....well you get the idea.

You may say, I don't like to make plans, I like to be able to let it all go, relax and go with the flow. Great! I have days where I feel exactly the same way. Do what works for you, after all, it is your vacation.

The most important thing I have learned is to be able to let it all go! If that is what moves me that day, then that is the nicest thing about traveling solo, I can do whatever I want.