It’s easy to let your dreams pass you by. Maybe you’ve dreamed of exploring Paris, visiting the Statue of Liberty in New York, or sipping a martini on a beach in Hawaii, watching the waves wash upon the shore. But, while this dream might seem far away, with a little planning, you can make it a reality.
To help you plan your dream vacation, we’ve outlined some helpful tips below.
Choose Where You Want to Go
This is the easiest and most fun step of your dream-vacation journey. Just imagine the places you’d like to go. Maybe you do some Google searches for the most beautiful beaches in the world, or the places in the world with the most lush hiking spots. Maybe you want to go on an African safari.
If you are planning to travel with friends or family, make sure they’re in on this conversation. Think about the places you’d like to visit and share your ideas with one another. Just imagining the fun you can have on your journey will help motivate you to do the research necessary to make your dreams a reality.
You may even want to choose a handful of destinations that you’d be happy to visit, if this is your first rodeo. You can then do research on each of those individual locations and determine the pros and cons of visiting each. From there, it becomes easier to decide on which place you’d like to go.
Create a Budget
Dreaming about an ideal vacation is fun, but after you decide where you want to visit, you’ll next want to decide on a budget you can afford. Look into airfare, food costs, the cost of attractions you’d like to visit and more.
Since different areas have different costs of living, your budget can vary quite a bit depending on where you plan to visit. Make sure that you’re realistic about the budget you need, since stressing over finances too much can transform any dream vacation into a nightmare.
That said, if you aren’t in a rush for your vacation, you can extend the period of time you’re willing to save. If your heart is set on visiting a more expensive tourist destination like Bora Bora or Paris, you can definitely prepare for that. You just might need more time set aside to build a nest egg.
Know How Long You’d Like to Stay
Decide beforehand on how long you’d like to stay at the destinations in your plan. If you’re visiting multiple destinations, it’s important to strike a balance between staying long enough to get the full experience, but not staying so long that you get burned out.
In fact, if you haven’t traveled for a long time before, you might want to do a test run of staying in a more affordable destination for a week or less before you plan extensive, month-long vacations. That way you can get a feel for how long you’d like to be traveling.
Prioritize Safety
Make sure you understand the safety precautions you should be taking in whatever area of the world you visit. Some places will have higher crime rates than your hometown, and others will have more vaccine requirements than the average area.
Keep in mind that there are also the sanitary dangers you should keep in mind for wherever you visit. Some vacations may have air pollution levels that will put you at danger if you have asthma or another respiratory issue. Other locations may have contaminated water issues that could result in other diseases and issues.
Just do your research on wherever you visit and be as safe as you possibly can be.
Plan for Transportation
Your transportation options will depend on where you’re going to visit. Some places have a multitude of public transit options that make getting around easy, such as New York or Boston. Other locations are walkable or bike-friendly. That said, certain destinations will flat out require a rental car to be explorable.
If that’s the case, make sure to stay safe while you’re on the road and explore your rental car insurance options. The last thing you want to do is find yourself in a car accident while on vacation.
Be Flexible
There is one thing you can count on when you go on vacation: Not everything will go according to your custom itinerary. Your flight could get delayed, unexpected costs may arise, and certain attractions you planned on visiting could be closed. There’s a never ending list of things that could throw you for a loop.
The important thing is that you be flexible and respond to unforeseen issues with an optimistic attitude. Make sure to make a plan B whenever possible.
Conclusion
Planning your dream vacation isn’t the easiest task in the world. But it’s well worth the effort it takes once you’re exploring beautiful locations without a care in the world. Make sure to do your due diligence by following our above tips to ensure you have the best vacation possible.
Image: Pixabay, Pexels.
