The Book

Planning ahead

One of the most fun parts of a vacation to me is not the vacation itself but the anticipation leading up to the adventure. I am the Master Planner!

The excitement of going to a new place is also frightening, but with enough research done ahead of time, this will decrease your stress. The first thing I do after we have decided on our new adventure location is create a travel book. This book contains important information about your trip.

I like everything in paper form, so if the airline ticket agent or the customs officer asks a question you did not expect, you quickly have the answer. It also contains a pocket for things like baggage claim forms. I organize the book in order of what happens first to what happens last. For example:

1. Getting to the airport:

   1. Uber, Taxi, drive yourself…

2. Parking while you are gone:

   1. Airport long-term, off-airport parking…

3. Airline reservation information:

   1. Global Entry Numbers

   2. TSA Numbers

   3. Airline confirmation numbers

   4. Copy of visa and any country entry information required

   5. Medical information needed to fly

4. Condo, Hotel, Home

   1. Directions to where you are staying

   2. How to get there (taxi, train, subway…)

   3. Who is meeting you, or how to enter the residence

I have a page for public transportation, which includes:

1. A copy of the train tickets purchased for each person traveling.

2. A copy of the bus schedule

3. Information about the subway and/or local train systems

Now that all the arrival details are recorded then comes the fun pages of the book. I make a page for each city or area we would like to travel to. This helps so everyone is not standing around saying, “I don't know, what do you want to see?”

These pages include:

1. How long does it take to get to the location?

2. How to get there (Public transportation or Car rental)?

3. What is important or interesting about this area?

The final pages in the book are for return-home information:

1. How to return to the airport from your home away from home (taxi, train, bus)

2. Again, your flight information

The last page is information you need once you are home

1. Where you parked your car (Hint: you won’t remember), and any parking documents/receipts.

2. Pick up snail mail confirmation information.

This is a lot of information in one book, and we often don't use all of it. But it takes some of the stress out of traveling just knowing you are prepared.

We’ll be sharing a lot more information about how we choose a hub city/town, how to find amazing rental homes/condos/apartments, how to pre-purchase and use rail tickets, and how to plan your air travel to minimize stress.

Happy Traveling from the Master Planner!