Nov 15 2014

The Seven Stages of The Trip Planning Process

You might be thinking to yourself, “why does trip planning have seven stages to it?” Well, it does. We consumers go through many levels before we actually book a trip. And depending on your tenacity, time, or attention span, you might be one of the millions who throw in the towel and say “Forget about it! I’ll just stay home or go where I know.”

So let’s get into the nitty gritty of these seven stages. To sum it up, they are: Awareness, Research, Evaluation, Calculation, Scheduling, Booking, and Wrap-Up.

1. AWARENESS

The awareness phase or the introduction phase is when you first learn about a destination. You may have heard a family member or friend speak about a new place. You may have seen coverage in the media, a story, or mention in a film. This awareness is what brought the destination front of mind and peaked your interest.

2. RESEARCH

During this phase, you decided to take a journey down the rabbit hole. This is the time when you pull up Google and start doing some digging. You search for information on what to do, what to see, where to eat and what other travelers (ones you don’t know) are saying about the destination.

3. EVALUATION

Once you decide that you like what you see, you go through a process of evaluation. You decide if the destination is a good fit for you and your family. At this point you start visualizing yourself there, doing all the things you found in the research phase.

4. CALCULATION

Soon after you’ve started the emotional attachment, the right side of your brain kicks in. You consider the transportation and accommodation costs, evaluating whether it’s feasible for your budget. You run through some rough numbers in your head. Financial questions cross your mind: “Can I afford this ?” “How long do I need to save to pay for my trip?” “When is the earliest that I’ll be able to go?”

5. SCHEDULING

This is when you look at the best times to go, whether it’s during high season or off season. You see where it fits in your family’s schedule. You ask yourself: “How many days do I want to spend in this destination?”

6. BOOKING

Once you graduate from a mental commitment to a financial commitment, you make tangible moves. This is when you purchase transportation, reserve accommodations, arrange tours and pay for all the necessities involved with your trip.

7. WRAP-UP

You’re bookings are in place. Now is the time when you make a rough outline of your vacation. You draft what your days will look like, mapping out various points of interest to visit. You coordinate calendars to reflect departures and arrivals, tour dates, independent exploration, and your do-nothing days. In this phase, you check confirmations and documentation two to three times to make sure everything is in place.

And then you travel.

CONCLUSION

The trip planning process flows quickly for some people, yet drags for others. When we get overwhelmed, we tend to get discouraged. The result is we don’t move.

If you can identify the phase that causes the biggest headache, you can make progress. Ask a friend, spouse, or travel professional for advice to get you past the inertia. Only then can you move closer to booking your next adventure.

Nov 14 2014

Travel Planning: Are You Asking Yourself The Right Questions?

Travel Planning like a Rockstar

Do you like planning for your family vacations or do you view it as a chore?

Don’t worry. You’re not alone.

After speaking to hundreds of families, I’ve learned that travel planning isn’t as enjoyable for most people as it is for me.

People just want to pay and go.

I feel you!

Spending 15 hours at the computer is reserved for the travel research nerds.

I admit to being one of them.

It’s important to know your calling and I recognize mine.

In all honesty, travel planning can be a daunting task.

And for parents, when time is more limited, they may opt to visit the places where they are most familiar, delay the process until the last minute (thereby missing out on possible deals), or avoid a family trip altogether.

None of that is necessary.

Here are some important questions to ask yourself before you start planning for your next trip:

1. WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO?

If you can’t think of a specific city, state, or country, think of a general region. Are these the first thoughts that come to your mind:

“I don’t know where I want to go?”
“Where can I afford to go?” If so, take a look at travel magazines or the travel section of your Sunday paper for inspiration.

If so, take a look at travel magazines or the travel section of your Sunday paper for inspiration.

If you have the budget for luxury travel, pick up a copy of Conde Nast or Travel + Leisure.

If you’re working with a mid-range budget, stop by your local Costco or AAA agency and pick up a travel brochure.

If you have a tight budget, look into Budget Travel magazine for some ideas or google last minute travel websites.

2. WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET?

Your budget will often help to narrow down your destination. This isn’t to say that you can’t be a budget traveller anywhere in the world because you can. What am I saying is that you need to understand that sometimes there are trade-offs to being a budget traveler.

You may have to sacrifice convenience and comfortability for budget traveling.

If you prefer to only stay in 3-5 star hotels, budget traveling to say, Paris may not work for you.

You can find an inexpensive ticket to Paris but you have to do your research and track ticket prices.

Cheap ain’t always convenient.

A cheap ticket doesn’t promise a direct flight. You may have to make two or more hops (depending where you’re located) to get there.

For someone strapped on time, this isn’t very convenient.

3. WHAT IS YOUR SCHEDULE?

When can you travel? When are your vacation days or your children’s school vacations (if you worry about those things)?

Having an idea of when it’s most convenient to travel can also help you identify destinations that will work for you.

If you can only travel during the (U.S.) Fall, then travel to the Caribbean may be a bit of a challenge.

Many countries experience their hurricane and rainy season during our Fall.

If you can only travel during the Winter months, travel to Great Britain may not be the best use of your money and time.

4. WHAT TYPE OF TRIP OR VACATION WOULD YOU LIKE TO TAKE?

Are you looking to do something active, adventure, or outdoorsy?
Would you like your trip to be of a historical nature or a cultural-exchange?
Are you looking to go somewhere exotic and/or tropical?
Do you enjoy wildlife?
Should the trip be more theme park-focused to accommodate younger travelers?
Would you like to stay within the country or go somewhere international?

Can you see yourself in any of these places:

Egypt
China,
Alaska,
Galapagos islands,
Canadian National Parks: Banff National Park or Moraine Lake
Canada
Costa Rica
Thailand Lima Peru, Amalfi Coast etc?
Lima Peru
Amalfi Coast etc?

Decide on the type of vacation you’re looking for and see which destinations fall best within that category.

SIDE NOTE: If you’re traveling with kids, set realistic expectations for where you can go and get the most out of your family vacation. I’m a firm believer that you can travel anywhere with your kids.

Kids live all over the world!

However, every child may not be suited for every destination at every point in their childhood.

Someone will argue with me on this point but at the end of the day, you know your child best.

And all kids are not the same, Younger children may not be able to handle an African safari or a tropical jungle.

Touring Athens with a baby might just be a little hectic.

It’s important to gauge the pace of a particular destination and decide how it may (or may not) be a fit for your child.

5. HOW MUCH TIME ARE YOU WILLING TO SET ASIDE TO PLAN FOR YOUR TRIP?

Travel planning takes time especially if you’re looking for the best price for your dollar and unique experiences.

The last thing you want to do is spend hundreds of dollars to get somewhere only to have a horrible time.

Educating yourself about all that’s available to you doesn’t happen in an hour.

If you can’t find the time to commit to doing the research, don’t beat yourself up about it.

You can still have an amazing trip, you may just need some help putting all the pieces together.

Parting Tip: If you’re flying to your destination, once you know where and when you want to go, don’t wait to book your flight – especially if you’re traveling on your child’s holiday schedule.

If you have a year or several months ahead of you, you can track prices through airfarewatchdog.com or any other ticket tracking site.

However, once the price is within your range, get the tickets out of the way.

If the ticket prices are too high for you to handle all at once, you may consider working with a travel agent who can create a payment plan for you.

If you’d like to maintain control of the planning, your other option is to set up your own travel savings plan through your bank.

One additional word of valuable advice: Make sure that you budget for travel insurance.

Usually 4-10% of the price of your trip will be the cost of your travel insurance.

Travel Planning doesn’t have to be daunting.

It takes research, planning, organization and a little bit of time to get it right. I’m always happy to help you with the process.

Plan My Trip!

Oct 30 2014

Travel Planning Tools, Tips For Families And Individuals

Think about how fortunate we are to be living in this day and age of the internet. Infinite information is available at our fingertips.

But…

Too much information can be overwhelming. And the information is just a tool for accessing it. If we don’t have a strategy for using that tool, we’re lost. Consumed by a sea of noise, distractions, and useless resources.

Essentially, our fortune becomes worthless.

The Double-Edged Sword of Travel Planning

Thousands of travel portals, review sites, blogs, and booking sites litter the internet with information. Today’s traveler doesn’t have to leave her home and head to an agent’s office to gather information about an unknown destination. She can easily pull it up on her phone, begin her research and start planning.

However, travel planning isn’t always easy. It’s a process and it has several stages to it. I tell people all the time, you either love it or you don’t.

To build the type of vacation that you want, you have to be willing to do the research, particularly if you’re traveling somewhere new.

You have the passports and visas to arrange. There’s the transportation to, fro, and within to juggle. There’s the choosing between best accommodations, tours, and activities.

And last but not least, there’s the booking and itinerary planning to seal the deal.

There’s no Walmart for Travel Planning

Luckily, there are sites and tools that can do some of the heavy lifting for you. I’ve found that very few are one-stop answers.

The simplest way to get it done in one shot is to use a travel planner or a concierge service.

You’ll find that what you may spend in financial resources, you recoup in time and peace of mind.

But…

If you’re not ready to give up the reigns just yet, here is a short list of sites and tools to help make your travel planning easier:

Skyscanner – For flights

Airfarewatchdog – For flights and to set up fare tracking

TripAdvisor – For hotels and reviews

FlipKey – For apartment rentals

HomeAway – For vacation rentals

Viator – For local tours

Pinterest – For rravel inspiration boards

Google Maps – To map out visiting multiple points of interest

TripIt.com – Creates a master itinerary of trip with travel plans, maps, directions all in one place

Other Things To Think About

Check out these other posts to help you in your travel planning:

Travel Planning: Are You Asking Yourself The Right Questions?

Top 10 Tips For Getting Away With Great Family Travel Deals

Your Travel Planning Template: Travel Agent or DIY Travel?

The Seven Stages of The Trip Planning Process

If you decide that planning your next family vacation is more than you want to take on, drop me a line. I’d love to work with you. In the meantime, get your FREE download of 59 travel apps and websites that can help you save money and save time trip planning.

Oct 30 2014

Travel Consultants And Travel Planning Services

Some people love fixing cars, some people love programming websites, some people love running. We love travel, research and planning vacations. Mom’s Guide To Travel was born out of our obsession with travel planning and consulting.

We’ve found that most people love to travel but don’t know how to start when it comes to planning their family vacations. They may not have the time or desire to go through the rigorous process of research and itinerary planning. Or they can’t figure out how to make a vacation work within their budget.

Does any of this sound like you?

Let’s face it. The internet provides a host of choices for arranging travel. However that overabundance of choice can make the travel planning process overwhelming. This is compounded when you don’t know where to start or are limited on time and patience.

Why work with Travel Consultants?

Time is money and money is time. Most people want to save both. A travel consultant will undisputedly help save you time and get the best value for your experience.

What’s the difference between a travel consultant and a travel agent?

There are a dozen differences that separate the two. Think of a consultant as your trusted advisor. Their service tends to be more highly personalized and boutique.

The Consultant provides impartial advice and insight that you may not get from a travel agent. Agents focus on commissions. Travel consultants focus on clients.

A consultant won’t suggest a travel product because she’s getting a cut of the sale. She suggests what she’s personally experienced or of which she has in-depth knowledge.

As a parent, when you give up the reigns to someone to plan your family’s vacation, you expect them to perform a certain level of due diligence. And if you don’t expect it, you should.

Travel consultants takes the time to know you personally asking you questions that a travel agent probably wouldn’t bother asking.

This article highlights some other differences between the two. Whatever fits your preference for level of service will determine which of the two works for you.

If you:

understand the value of time
are looking for a highly personalized service that operates as a collaboration
prioritize memorable experiences over bargain hunting

Then we’d love to hear from you!

Click below to have me plan your next experience.