Travel Planner : My Holiday, My Plan!

Welcome to Hangover Resort ! Looks like you want to plan some tour today... And here is why I think I may help you. It's not just travelling that I love, but planning my tours from scratch is also one of my favorite things to do. 

I love to choose and put things on my travel list, making it a completely "my thing" or you may say that I prefer to have a customised or tailored-package. If you want to skip a tour&travel agent, you may find this page quite useful for you. Though, I am not against taking a tour package from professionals, as it cuts out much of your efforts by doing individual travel and hotel bookings. 

Best option (that works for me) is to make my day-wise itinerary, block my tentative dates of travel, and after doing this homework, decide whether to go for bookings through agent or, if it appears not so complicated to look for hotels and travel options on the internet, I choose to do it on my own. I prefer to work on Excel as my travel planner, as it gives a clear view and outlook and is easy to work on. So, here we go!

Step 1: Discuss with your tentative group, and decide 1) the main destination, 2) tentative date / month of travel, 3) number of days for holidaying and, 4)the number of travellers (adults & kids) to decide PAX.

Step 2: Explore the destination on internet, and just copy-paste or write the names of places of tourist interest and activities that interest you (things you don't want to miss) in that destination.

Step 3: Check-out a few random itineraries of the number of days you want to spend and check some travel maps. It gives you a very fair idea of what kind of holiday you are looking for. 

Step 4: Copy these formats given below, in tabular form in Word or preferably in Excel, on your device and filling it would be easy now, as per examples given for reference. At the end, you will find the rough blueprint of your trip, which may be customised with inputs of your other travel mates.

Refer Format-I, Eg- Plan to Travel to Rajasthan, covering 3 Cities in 10 days, including travel, 11 travellers.

Refer Format-II, Eg- Plan to Travel to Chitwan National Park, Nepal,  3 days Detailed Itinerary Plan. Activities of 2 days clubbed, to be done as per convenience and as suggested locally by tour operator or guide.

Points to Note:

TIP#1: If you are travelling to many (more than 3-4)  places in  the trip   and  a  large group (more than 2-3 families) of people  is involved, its  preferable to take  the  tour by travel agency. If its a short getaway with a few people, and mostly stationed at not more than 2-3 hotels at most, its better to book on your own.

TIP#2: For International Tours, its better to book through renowned  tour  agencies to have a   hasslefree  and  safe  trip.  It is in view of  problems  in  understanding  of language,  time  zone, local  rules  and  regulations, know - how, pick - up  &  drop facilities, medical emergencies etc that may bother us if we book on our own.

 TIP#3: Select your itinerary items, as per your choices. You don't need to see it all, ONLY what interests you or are too famous to be skipped. 

Eg- May be you are not religious, then skip the temple or mosque or church. May be there are Ride lovers or kids in your group, so go to that Ride Park. May be you are not interested in handlooms, skip that factory visit. If you enjoy wildlife, include a visit to the zoo, else skip it and go to the waterpark instead. It's all that you want to do!

TIP#4: Don't rush yourself all the time. A few leisure evenings, without planned activity are recommended. You can just be yourself, may be enjoy the facilities at your resort, or take a spa, or sun bask, or enjoy at the pool... Just chill !

TIP#5: A City Tour covers most of the famous places of a destination, and it gives you an idea about what to explore more and what to skip. So, its a good idea to arrange it first upon arrival to a new city. It can be arranged with the help of your hotel reception or locally at any place.

Hope you have a wonderful holiday, with a plan that is truly your way !

Want to explore more such stuff? Please Subscribe & Follow 😊

Click: Welcome to Hangover Resort : Travel Experiences

Click to read First Post : A visit to Legoland, Malaysia