Travel Planning Tips
Do you ever have the feeling that some people make some of the toughest trips and vacations seem like a walk in the park, while you still struggle with the details and logistics when the plane takes off? Those people have usually planned their trips to a tee before they’ve booked any travel tickets. How can one see and enjoy a handful of destinations all crammed up in a week worth of vacation? The answer is easy: do some travel planning prior to your trip with the printable calendar itinerary planner.
Why Use Printable Calendars To Help With Travel Planning?
In our digital world, printing does not seem such a useful idea, but sometimes, a printed calendar will take you a lot further than any phone app or desktop sheet when you plan your vacation. Here is why:
– You don’t need outlet adaptors, power banks, extra batteries, Internet connection, or compatibility upgrades to use your printable calendar; if you love to travel in far away and remote areas, your phone or laptop will probably be useless.
– You don’t have to be tech savvy to work with a printable calendar; crossing off and circling dates, or making notes on the schedule do not require a doctorate at MIT as some apps do. In other words, if you feel you waste more time understanding an app or a piece of software than using it, the printable calendar is there to save you.
– The worst thing that can come about to your printable calendar is to forget it somewhere or lose it. It’s cheaper and safer to have a few copies of your annotated calendar at hand than flashing around your smartphone in some parts of the world.
How Can You Make the Perfect Travel Itinerary with a Printable Calendar?
First, you need a printable monthly calendar. If you plan a trip around Labor Day, get a printable September 2018 calendar. We recommend you get the landscape version (although you can choose the portrait one) for more space and research the days of the week/month. A carefully planned itinerary requires you to know exactly what days to pick for specific activities of your trip. Use the calendar and the days’ descriptions to learn more about things you need to do and to avoid.
– For instance, Labor Day weekend’s traffic is an epic nightmare; therefore, you should use your printable calendar to plan your departure and return dates and hours while doing everything necessary to avoid traffic jams that can ruin your trip.
Next, you need some colored pens or highlighters for your calendar. Now it is time to engage in some vacation planning!
– Circle on your calendar the departure and arrival date of your annual summer/fall vacation.
– Write down next to each calendar date the things you need to do before the departure date: booking confirmations, online airplane check-in, travel insurance, passport and fees if necessary, car repairs (for road trips), and so on.
– Write down the things you have to do after your return date: car rental issues to solve on your return, fees, travel agency visit if it is the case, and so on. Remember that an itinerary does not only include the actual vacation period, but the before/after times, as you will be very busy then, have plenty of things to do, and likely to forget or confuse them.
– For the vacation period, circle the days you plan to spend sightseeing, exploring, taking a scheduled guided tour at the destination, embarking on a specific activity (snorkeling day, amusement park, music concert, etc.).
– Use another color to circle the days for rest and note down next to those dates the likely things to do and see; these are optional and speak to your spontaneity. No matter how well you plan a vacation, you need to leave room for some surprises.
– Your calendar is your best tool to keep track of your comings and goings. If you plan a road trip that includes more than one destination, note in the calendar all the departure and arrival dates and hours, to do items, essential landmarks to visit or activities to make. Think about your calendar as your personal traveling agent that reminds you that two days from now you have an appointment at 8 p.m. with some dancers in a flamenco club in Madrid.
– Speaking of dates, use your calendar to mark down national holidays, free days, legal days off and everything of the sort at the destination; some free days in Paris will allow you to attend a spontaneous street festival, while a few free days in London may prevent you from visiting specific museums.
– The printable calendar is also a useful cash flow chart. Note down how much money you spent at a destination each day so you can have full control of your budget if you travel solo; it will also help you manage your finances better when you get ready for your next destination.
Have you used the printable calendar for your travel planning? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Printable calendars are the cheapest and most efficient time management tools, mixing in to-do lists, money management features, personal assistants reminding you of what to do/see the next day while you reschedule some activities, etc.
Most importantly, your calendar, by the end of your itinerary, will be one of the most precious vacation keepsakes. You will have a personal document with every small detail and every single note – memories of a great vacation and a fantastic instrument to keep on the fridge door for next year to help you plan another excellent adventure.
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