Travel Planning Guide: 10-Steps to Turn Travel Dreams Into Reality

Dreaming of exploring enchanting faraway lands but the moment you think about planning your first trip anxiety sets in? Packing, budgeting, logistics, group decisions, and navigating a foreign language are enough to make anybody decide to stay close to home. Millions, well billions, have the travel bug, but RELAX, we got you covered with our 10-step travel planning guide. Let’s put an end to the FOMO and get you exploring!

This travel planning guide is designed with the idea of planning in advance and booking things over time. The purpose is to spread out the spending. This way you won’t have to save up all the money you need at once. We recommend beginning to plan 6-8 months in advance. You can save first for your flight, then your accommodations, and so on. Set a budget and a savings plan. Pay yourself first. Remember lunch on a weekday could be pizza and wine in Italy…

Jump To A Step

• Step 1 Know before you go
• Step 2 Exploring your ideas online
• Step 3 Book your flight in advance
• Step 4 Generate ideas for your itinerary
• Step 5 Book a place to stay
• Step 6 Ground transportation when you arrive
• Step 7 Book experiences for your itinerary
• Step 8 Leave no loose strings -documents, insurance, phone plan, etc.
• Step 9 Packing pro
• Step 10 Pre-trip peace final check before you go

1. Know Before You Go

• Before jumping into selecting a destination it’s a good idea to define your goals. This will guide all of your decision-making. Who are you going with? How long can you go for? (Don’t forget to account for the travel time in each direction). What do you want to spend your time doing? Sightseeing, tours, shopping, relaxing, and outdoor activities? Are you aiming to relax in a foreign place or see as much as possible? What type of traveler are you or your group? Will the trip be luxury, backpacking, budget travel, or somewhere in between? What’s your budget?
• If you choose to travel internationally check your passport. Be sure you have enough time left on it and pages for new stamps. Note that some destinations want you to have 6 months left on your passport even if your trip is shorter. Also, check to see if you need any vaccines where you are going, and if you need a visa. Europe will begin requiring US citizens to have a visa in addition to their passport in 2025. There is a small fee for this, you can apply online, so plan ahead and don’t overlook this detail. This is expected to happen in mid-2025 and can be done on the ETIAS website.
• Create an itinerary as you plan and book. This can be anything from adding everything to your calendar (and inviting your travel companions) to a document or spreadsheet. We create a Google doc and outline everything we are booking with details of when and where. Include flights, transportation, accommodations, pre-booked activities or restaurants, addresses, and any other necessary details you may need to reference. We also use this as a planning tool to add ideas and notes as we plan. This might sound like a lot but a 10-step travel planning guide is going to involve well, PLANNING!
  • A document to reference will reduce your stress while traveling so you can just GO while you are traveling. Send this to your mom, or someone close to you that isn’t going. You want someone to know where you are just in case something urgent comes up, or a natural disaster occurs. We hope this doesn’t happen but it’s better to plan ahead. In addition to an itinerary, we use the TripIt app. TripIt is connected to our email, when we receive booking confirmation emails TripIt automatically adds them to an electronic itinerary. We can access this while we are on the go. You can invite other TripIt users to join the trip and they will be able to see it too. We also send reminders and notifications. This is more concise than the notes we have in the actual itinerary.

2. Dream Big, Focus Small

Fuel your wanderlust and get inspiration for where to go by exploring online. 

3. Flight Frenzy

Book your flight 4-5 months in advance. Limits on when you can travel can make it hard to find the golden cheap flights you’ve heard of. Traveling around holidays to maximize PTO is tough, here are some ways you might find the best deal you can.

• Use your most used loyalty points system. When you book or check-in you don’t have to use that loyalty points system, you can use a sister airline. This allows you to keep more of your points in one place and build them up faster. Example: we typically fly Alaska Airlines when we go to Alaska, but we don’t have ‘One World’ status with them. We always use American Airlines or British Airlines for loyalty points because we take more long-haul flights with these airlines.
• Aim for loyalty programs that are part of the One World Alliance group. With the entry-level Saphire status, you can get some perks on the day of travel. Any priority boarding and security lanes with this status hits differently with a smaller crowd.

For more on flight booking read our Essential Guide to Flight Booking Like a Pro.

4. Inspiration Station

Look to Instagram and Flipboard to find places to go, things to see and do, and what to eat. Don’t miss things you would want to see or do because you winged it and found out about them later. This is why we still haven’t seen The Last Supper…

Now you will have a way to find cool things to do, see, or eat during your trip. Allowing you to do things on the fly. You can also recommend them to others later with ease.  If you need help procuring your Google map, we got you, send us an email. If we have one for the city you are going to we will be happy to share it with you.

5. Accommodation Master

Booking in advance is key to getting a place that suits your needs and is in a preferred location. Beyond the main chain hotels you are used to, consider a B & B, hostel, or homestay (vacation rental). Typically 3 months before you plan to check out is a good time to book. Fun fact, we operated an Airbnb for a few years so we know what the host side looks like.

We feel compelled to note that there has recently been some negative energy towards vacation rentals where over-tourism is a problem. We urge you to do some research to decide if it’s better to stay in a hotel rather than contribute to this problem.

6. Grounded & Rolling

Overall aim to book train travel 1-3 months in advance and any rental car should be booked asap.

• Book rental cars and trains at least 1-3 months in advance.  *Around the world the release date of train tickets will vary so check this when you book your flight. It can be 60-90 days in advance, and some sell tickets up to 6 months in advance! *Rental cars can be harder to get during holidays, events, train strikes, and bad weather. **Don’t forget to stop into a AAA and get your International driving permit. You don’t want an unnecessary ticket on your travels, it’s quick, easy, and inexpensive.
• Book train tickets as soon as they go on sale. This way you can take advantage of all the seat options and any discounted tickets. We love the business class quiet cars (whenever they are available). If you have a family it is a courtesy to avoid the quiet car. For more on train travel read about navigating Italy by train here.

7. Experiences To Last a Lifetime

• What are you Doing? You’ll need to decide how busy or not you want your trip to be. Some prefer to be on the go, packing in everything they can. Others find that to be stressful. We recommend booking everything you know you want to do ahead of time. It’s better than spending precious vacation time in your room searching for what to do. We recommend building in some free time too. We never plan activities for the day we are traveling into a city. You never know what could go awry with your transportation. It’s also a great opportunity to explore your surroundings when you arrive. Pick a day here and there to have little to no plans. Us these days to take some downtime, or do things you discover along the way.
• Should you book in advance? Consider suggested booking time frames or ticket availability dates. If you want to see or do it, we can guarantee that you aren’t the only one. If tickets are only available 90 days before, set a reminder on your calendar, and book before you miss out. Some sites even note that a tour may be expected to sell out and how many tickets are left. Keep an eye on those and book before you miss your chance.
• How far in advance should you book activities? Book activities 5-6 weeks before your trip, if you haven’t yet. The purpose of this is to spread out the spend as you plan. You can book closer but know the risk you run of activities and tickets selling out. 
• How do you find the activities? Sites or apps we recommend are TripAdvisor, Viator, Get-Your Guide, With Locals, and Airbnb. All have tours, experiences, and even ground transportation transfers. Go.Do.Eat.Better has some great food tours in select cities in Europe.
• Double-check everything you saved on Google Maps and see which places have the recommendation to book in advance.
•  If they offer skip-the-line tickets, do it and you’ll minimize the time spent in line. These tickets are offered for a reason. 
• If there is a popular restaurant you must try – make a reservation if you can. Sometimes you will need to call, other times you may find an online or mobile way of doing it. Check Google Maps for a link to reserve, the restaurant’s website, or apps like Resy, The Fork, and Open Table. Occasionally you can email or send a WhatsApp message. This is super helpful if you don’t speak the local language.  Sometimes you can make a reservation the day of if it’s not too late in the day. Call or stop by during lunch or as soon as they open. If you take a tour, your guide may be nice and offer to make the reservation for you, just ask. 

8. Leave No Loose Strings

Missing sleep days before a trip, because you have thoughts about what you still need to do, is the worst. Take care of some of the less fun, but cruicial, things once you’ve finished planning. This will allow you to feel freedom the second you board your flight. 

Documents

Confirm you have all the documents/ reservations you need. Take a picture of your passport info page- you’ll need this if you lose your passport. If you loose your passport head to a consulate or embassy for a new one ASAP. Go on Travel.State.Gov to register your travel plans. This way your government knows where you are if a natural disaster or worse occurs where you are. 

Insurance

Get travel insurance. We’re not talking about protecting your gear, being reimbursed for delays, or lost luggage. We usually select a ticket that has flexibility in making changes so we don’t buy the trip insurance. Your credit card may offer coverage if you lose your luggage or get stranded (if you book with the card). We do buy travel insurance to cover medical emergencies, accidents, and illnesses if we are leaving our coverage area. For two separate trips, we purchased this through IMG. 

Currency

Get the currency of your destination. Anywhere you go you’ll be able to find currency conversion centers and ATM’s. However, if you do it at the airport you will pay more for that conversion. And likely other places too (including ATM’s) It’s good to have a little cash on arrival, at a minimum. Contact your bank to pre-order what you need, when you come to withdraw and exchange for foreign currency. Not all bank locations will have this ability but they can tell you which of your banks’ branches does.

In addition to cash you may want to use your cards. Find out what it will cost you to use the cards you have. What are your bank and credit card foreign transaction fees, ATM fees, and will they do the currency conversion? You will likely get the best conversion rate through your bank rather than a point of sale or ATM conversion. Say NO to conversion at the ATM and pay in the destination currency even if using your cards from home.  These fees can add up.

Phone Plan

Determine your international phone plan if you are traveling abroad you will probably want to be connected. Most things are digital these days, QR menus, electronic tickets, and highly beneficial travel apps. Some get E-SIMs for their destination, but that’s another thing to do when you arrive. We have always used the plans our carrier offers and they work for us. We have heard good things about Airalo for E-SIMs but we have not tried them. 

House Sitter or Watcher

If you are going on a long trip will you need someone to watch your house while you are gone? This could be a live in-house sitter, or someone who checks on your place. Try setting a schedule so they come daily or every few days. Having someone physically there to check on things provides piece of mind.

Pets

If you have a fur baby you will want to make sure they are taken care of when you’re away. Make sure to set this up in advance. If you plan to kennel or board them you’ll want to be sure to reserve them a spot. If a family member or friend will be watching them maybe you can get a twofer. Have them stay at your place with your loved pet. 

9. Packing Pro

Start mentally packing 4-8 weeks before your trip.

We all have different wardrobe needs and desires so it’s hard to tell you specifically what to pack. A tip regarding clothes; choose a color palette that will allow you to mix and match (versus packing by outfit). You may need a variety of shoe types, choose lower-profile ones and pairs that work for multiple outfits. If you are able to do laundry on your trip you can pack less. Consider the weather; will you need layers? If you need a jacket pick one that works with everything. If it’s hot will you really want boots? Functionality and comfort will make you happier in the long run. Check out our review on the best luggage for travel and know what to look for when shopping for luggage.

I don’t know who needs to hear this but:

REFILL ALL YOUR PRESCRIPTIONS IN ADVANCE!!!

10. Pre-Trip Peace (the last step in your travel planning guide)

Complete your pre-trip to-do list 48 hours before you leave.

• Set Travel Alerts, we like the ‘TripIt’ app for this.
• Confirm you have all the documents/ reservations you need
• Pause your mail delivery. If you live in the USA you can do this on the USPS website. You will set a date range. then you can have them deliver it to you the day you come home or the day after.
• Clean your home, you’ll be glad you did when you return.
• Enjoy a relaxing evening and a good night’s sleep before your flight.

-XO, The Twins

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