How to Plan a Vacation

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. We may earn compensation when you click on the links at no additional cost to you.

It’s getting to be the time of year where the boys start asking, “What are we going to do this summer?” Ever since we took our Disney trip, they have come to look forward to a summer family trip. Our trip last summer got canceled due to COVID. It was probably for the best anyway because I was so overwhelmed with eLearning that I didn’t have time to put much thought into our trip. But it’s rescheduled for this year, and with 8 inches of snow falling last night, I sat down and began the planning process. So if you’ve ever found yourself wondering, “How do I plan a family vacation?” read on for help.

Step 1: Decide where you want to go and when you want to go.

This seems so obvious, but you really need to have a definite place and timeframe that you want to go in mind before you can begin any other part of the planning process. Once you have that figured out, proceed to step two.

Step 2: Find a place to stay and book it.

Does your family prefer to stay in hotels? Motels? Cabins? Airbnb? Camper? Rent a house? Got a friend close by? There are lots of possibilities for places to stay once you know your options and preferences. Smaller cities tend to be cheaper to stay in than larger cities, so if you don’t mind driving a little ways to your destination then this is a valid option. Then get online or pick up the phone and start looking for places that have your travel dates available. I’ve learned to price shop and never go with the first place I find. I always keep a list in a notebook of each place, amenities, and the cost. Then as a family we can decide what’s best for us and make the reservation. Booking a place to stay makes the vacation real, and you know it’s going to happen!

Step 3: Start researching things to do in the area.

You can go to Pinterest, Facebook, Yelp, Google, or any other travel review site that you prefer to type in the name of the place you’re planning to travel to. You will be amazed at all of the information that pops up.

I usually keep one notebook devoted to this entire trip. If I want to visit several towns on my trip, then I create a notebook page dedicated to each town. On each page I can write down places to eat, sights to see, shows to watch, places to shop, or anything else that strikes my fancy. Right now in it’s the brainstorming phase of the trip. So just write down anything that you think the family might enjoy. You can narrow it down later.

Step 4: Start narrowing down your to do list.

Once you’ve researched things your family might want to do on the trip, it’s time for you to sit down with the people you’re taking the trip with and discuss all of the fun things you discovered. Sometimes we visit websites of these places together or watch online videos about them to make our decisions. Mark things off your list that you don’t find as inviting as you once had. Or maybe you’ll add a couple of new things that you all want to do.

At this point, you’re trying to find activities that will excite everyone at some point in the trip. Bonus points if you’re able to find activities that everyone agrees on and no one complains about. And realize you may not be able to do all of the activities on your list. That’s what next time is for, right?

Step 5: Start saving your money.

Unless money isn’t a worry for you, you’ll probably have to do some research on how much the activities your family wants to do actually cost. And sometimes that research may cause you to rethink an entire activity completely. Or maybe you’ll find something to do in place of it. It’s important to keep an open mind during this process.

There are lots of different ways to save money for a vacation. From putting extra money on gift cards that are dedicated to the vacation, to selling stuff you don’t need, to opening a savings account just for vacation money, to saving receipts and scanning them, there are lot of possibilities.

You can find my favorite receipt scanning apps here (use code qjytsse to sign up), here (use code U2PNK to sign up), here, or here.

Step 6: Start planning what each day of your vacation might look like.

I get it. It’s vacation. It’s supposed to be relaxing. However, it’s important to keep in mind that some of the things you want to do may only be open certain days and times of the week. It’s not necessary to plan every single second of a vacation (unless you’re going to Disney World. Then you can read about that here or here.).

This is the point where I usually visit the website or Facebook page of each place that we plan on visiting and write down important information like hours of operation, days of operation, and if I need to purchase tickets or make reservations in advance. If I need to make a reservation or purchase a ticket, I make a note of how far out I’m allowed to do so.

How I plan each day of vacation

For example, maybe I’m planning a trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. I know that my family wants to eat at the Apple Barn, see a show at the Comedy Barn, and visit The Titanic Museum. So I will plan an entire day in Pigeon Forge. I know I have to buy tickets for the Comedy Barn show and The Titanic Museum. Since I can buy all of those tickets online, I go ahead and do that. Maybe I purchased Comedy Barn tickets for 10:00 a.m., and Titanic Museum tickets for 3:00 p.m. on the same day. (When you purchase tickets for timed events in the same day, be sure to see how long you can expect to spend at each event. There’s nothing worse than being rushed!)

So now I have to decide if we want to have breakfast or lunch at the Apple Barn. I’m free to do whatever I like in Pigeon Forge on this particular day until it’s time to attend the show and museum. And with a little careful planning, I might even be able to squeeze in some other things on my to do list into my day in Pigeon Forge. Of course I wouldn’t want to go to another town on this day. That would totally waste time traveling and not let me maximize my time in this one town. Make sense?

Step 7: Plan each day the same way.

Look at what you want to do in each place, and try to plan like you did for the other days. What do you have to make reservations for? What tickets do you have to buy? Maybe you’re going to devote an entire day to one place. Maybe you need to schedule your day a little more to get everything done. Or maybe you just want to go with the flow. That’s okay too. It’s YOUR vacation, and you know what works best for your family. You just have to accept that not everything may get done. But it’s okay.

Step 8: Create a timeline for each day of your vacation.

This can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it. You could simply set an alarm with reminders in your phone telling where you have to be and the time you need to be there. And you could leave it at that. You’re free to just come and go as you please the rest of the day.

To make it a little more complex, you could write out each hour of the day. Then beside that, you could write what you would like to be doing every hour or every couple of hours. Then you could try to go throughout your day following that schedule.

Or you could do any combination of the two. It’s YOUR vacation. And what you make of it, is entirely up to you.

Step 9: Make a list of what you need to buy and pack.

I usually start this process as soon as I know where we’re going and what we’re doing. I just open up the Notes app on my phone and keep a list called “To buy for vacation” and “To pack for vacation”. Then as soon as things pop into my head, I can take out my phone and write them down on the correct list.

To do this, take a look at each place you plan on visiting. Do you need to plan for anything special? For example, if it rains a lot, maybe you need to have a poncho. No ponchos on hand? Then add them to your list of materials to buy. Or maybe you know your kids won’t sleep without a radio (insert guilty hand raise here). Then add a radio onto your list of things to pack.

I also like to visit Facebook pages dedicated to the places I’m planning on traveling to and see what people have to say about those places. Many times, their comments and reviews help me figure out other things I may need to bring along for the trip that I hadn’t initially thought of.

Well, there you have it. That’s how I totally geek out and plan a vacation. I even have a method for how I pack for vacation, but that’s a story for another day. Happy planning!

Please follow and like us: