Trip Planning Mayhem!

I'm not even going to give any excuses about the missing posts that I promised I would complete. I'll do it one of these days, but I figured if I stopped blogging just because I haven't "filled up" the rest of the entries, then that could be a very long wait.

Soooo...I decided to just go ahead and write stuff. It's the
2nd 3rd (as it is already past midnight) day of a 4-day weekend, and I am taking a break from planning the biggest trip of my life to date. This fall, my sister and I are taking on Rome and the U.K. and I am once again in charge of the itinerary.

To be honest, this isn't the most complicated itinerary that I had to plan, but for some reason, I'm having a lot of difficulty in finishing it. I think it's because there's just so much to do and such a limited time to do everything and it's probably also because it's the most expensive trip I've had to plan. With a finite budget, and infinite ways to spend it, I find myself stuck.

But that doesn't mean I'm not enjoying myself.

I love finding great deals and bargains on accommodations, plays, attractions...I love being able to maximize budgets and schedules to make sure everything gets done. There's nothing like seeing a trip fall into place on paper... it's almost like foreplay, knowing that the climax is to come. :)

OK, sexual references aside, let me share some of the tools I use to plan the perfect trip.

1. Google - OK, so this is a bit of a cheat, almost an all-encompassing entity. I know I don't have to explain it, but it had to be said. Google is your friend. Here are a few of the things I usually search:

• Places to see/top attractions/things to do


• Accommodations/hotel reviews


• Food/Dishes to try


• Events/plays/musicals


• Promo codes


• Customs/Culture


• Weather


• Currency/daily budgets/sales/merchandise


• ..and so much more!

2. Tripadvisor - I go to Tripadvisor for the reviews, it's a good way to see how other people rate hotels, B&Bs, attractions etc. I also like the forums, I once got a promo code for Megabus for 1$ ticket fares from New York to Philadelphia and New York to Boston.

3. Google Maps - So I can plan the perfect route, or the best grouping of attractions to visit on a day. I'm paartial to trains/MRTs/trams over buses so this site is a lot of help.

4. Booking.com - I only recently used started using Booking.com, previously I would always go directly to the hotel website, but when you're canvassing for multiple cities and just want to get an idea of the rates, this is a good choice. And once you have a hotel in mind, you can cross check with their own website, plus reviews on Tripadvisor.

5. Travel Agency Websites - These are excellent sources of information and sample itineraries. You can then pattern your own trip from the ones being offered. If you're feeling diligent enough, you can even compare the cost of your own itinerary, and feel good about the money you would most likely save by going the DIY route.

So there you have it, my top 5 tools for trip planning. Usually I consolidate all the data into an Excel file, with separate sheets for budget, itinerary, important info, directions... yeah I'm OC like that. But before you think I'm some super control freak, I don't do that for all my trips obviously, but for my upcoming Eurotrip, I'm sure it would be better if I came prepared.