After years of traveling, I have come to realize that one of the most ironic parts of traveling is that it is supposed to be relaxing but rarely is.  Vacationing is supposed to be your time to get away from your crazy life and take it easy, to have a change of pace, but most of the time traveling is just the opposite: it’s stressful, exhausting and you get back from your vacation and need to take a day off of work to recover. 

            While there will probably always be some level of stress in planning a big trip because you are coordinating a lot of moving pieces, but I honestly believe that we can make traveling a lot easier if we followed a few simple steps.   

Don’t Wait for the Best-Ever Airfare Deal

            This might seem like weird advice if you have ever read any of my other blogs and know that I am a huge cheapskate when it comes to everything; however, I think hunting down the cheapest airfare can be a bit overwhelming and cause a ton of unnecessary stress because there are some many different variables to factor into it.  When I search, I look for a good deal, not the best-ever possible deal.  If you’re wondering, “How do I know what a good deal is?” It’s pretty simple.  Just Google it.  For example, I typed in the following into Google:

From there I get results that look like the follow and that help me be able to gage what a good deal actually is.

This is all the information I need to be able to determine what a good deal is.  In this particular case, I would be looking for something between $358 and $519.  Anything in the range I would consider a good deal, and if the dates worked for me, I would book it and be done with it.

Don’t Consider All the Lodging Accommodations

            This is a hard one for me as I always feel that the best possible lodging accommodation is going to be the next one I look at.  Maybe there is something cheaper or nicer, or that has better views.  There is always something that could be better, and honestly it can be overwhelming.  In order to simplify this process, I put some criteria on my searches and really don’t consider anything outside of that.  Here’s an example of some of the criteria that I use- yours might be totally different- but these are the things that my husband and I have come to value as we’ve traveled together.  

I only book things that are fully refundable.

We’re living in the Covid era.  Stuff might have to change.  I want to be able to change too if needed.  Also, if I book the lodging but then end up finding something way better, there’s no harm done to my pocketbook if I cancel. 

I only book hotels that have breakfast.

Again, this criteria might not be for everyone, but for me and my husband, we love getting in a solid meal at the start of the day so that we can power through whatever adventures lay ahead.  We also like to start our days pretty early and sometimes it can be harder to fin a breakfast place abroad. He and I are not that much of morning people, so we like just not having to think too much about where our first meal, and most importantly coffee, is coming from.     

I don’t book Airbnbs abroad. 

Hear me out on this one.  Hotels are easy.  Most have 24 hour check-in process so no matter what happens, if our flight gets delayed, if we spend longer at an awesome castle than we had planned and now we are coming back late, I want the flexibility to do that.  In addition, if something doesn’t go right at a hotel, the fix can be pretty swift.  No hot water in your shower?  We’ll put you in a different room.   Airbnbs are quite another thing.  We had to take cold showers at the last Airbnb we stayed at as the owner tried multiple times to fix the hot water.  While taking cold showers isn’t the end of the world, it also isn’t my idea of an ideal vacation either.  Another reason that I don’t book Airbnbs abroad is that I don’t want to have to stress about handling the check-in process.  For example, when we were in France, and we realize that we were going to be later to our accommodations that we had planned on being, we had to call the owner and let them know.  Let’s just say that it was a little stressful as neither my husband nor I speak French and it was a little intimidating. 

We always stay near the city center or near the sites we’re going to be seeing

            This is another fact that might surprise people who know I’m cheap.  I’m cheap, but I also understand that one of the most precious commodities when you’re traveling is time.  Because of that, I really try to priorities proximity to attractions even if it does cost a little more (It does cost more. You can always find a better value on lodging outside of the city center.) My husband and I have found though that proximity really does help us have a more relaxing trip.  For example, if you want to go back to your room and take a mid-day nap during the heat of the day, you can.  If you want to go back to your room and change clothes, you can.  Staying close to the attraction will also allow you to have experiences that you might not have been able to have otherwise.  For example, because my husband and I had stayed close by Mont St. Michelle, I was able to get up early and take pictures of the sun rising over Mont St. Michelle while there were no other people around.  It was magical and I wouldn’t have been able to

When I’m traveling without my husband, I typically stay at hostels, and I have my own criteria for hostels:

I only stay at Hostels that are rated an 8 or above on HostelWorld.com

Hostels are by nature pretty stripped down accommodations, so I only choose the best of them. 

I only stay in female-only dorm rooms

This is a priority to me when I’m traveling alone for safety, so I don’t even consider hostels that don’t have it.

            When I’ve set criteria, I have fewer options to choose from and it helps to simplify my life and take out some of the stress of planning a big trip.  I have found over the years, that no matter how much due diligence I have done in my planning, there will always be some wins and some loses on accommodations.  Some accommodations will greatly exceed your expectations and some will be less amazing than you had hoped for.  I find that will always be the case.  So take the bad with the good.   

Don’t Overthink Packing

In my experience, packing can be one of the most stressful parts of traveling. The last big trip I took was a 3 week trip in France.  I was on summer break from school before the trip and I honestly spent too much time stressing about packing for this trip. 

Don’t wait until the last minute to pack for a big trip

If it’s a big trip, I like to lay out all the things I’m planning on packing a few weeks ahead of time so that I know if there are any major things you need to buy before your trip.   For example, on my last trip I realized that I should probably get some better walking shoes for my upcoming trip.  If you do this a few weeks ahead of time, you have enough time to go and purchase any of those really necessary items.  If you

Do give yourself a time limit on packing

Once you’re done this first phase of laying out your items and getting an inventory of what you needs, don’t stress about it.  Don’t continue to look at the packing pile and worry about something you might be forgetting.  The truth is, if there is something you absolutely truly need, you can most likely buy it at your destination if you truly need it.  I would give myself a time limit on packing and when that time is up, call it done. 

Don’t consider and pack for every conceivable possibility

This is another hard one for me because I like to be prepared.  I don’t do that anymore now though.  I pack for what I known.

            Don’t over pack

This is one of the best things I’ve learned after years of traveling.  Honestly, every year I take less and less on my trips, and haven’t regretted it yet.  This year, I did a three-week trip to France in a carry-on bag, and I still could honestly say that I over packed.  I strongly recommend only traveling with a carry-on bag, but whatever you do use, the less you have to carry around, the less you have to pack and repack before returning home, the less stress you will have in your travels. 

            Do use packing cubes

If you’ve never used packing cubes before, I highly recommend them.  They are terribly expensive and I don’t think you’ll regret buying them.  They are especially useful if you are going from place to place on your travels as they make it really easy to repack your bag before your head off to your next hotel. 

            Do pack medicines

So I don’t pack for every conceivable possibility, but one exception to that is a medicine. There is nothing more stressful than being sick when you are traveling and not being able to purchase familiar medicines, not being able to read over-the-counter medicine labels.  Because of this, I pack everything.  Medicines don’t take up a lot of room, and they can make a huge difference if needed.  At home, I rarely use medications, but when I am traveling, I don’t want a splintering headache to be the reason why I couldn’t enjoy an amazing place. Here are is list of the medicines I pack:

            Tylenol or Advil

            Benadryl

            Imodium

            DayQuil tablets

            Inhaler

Do get to the plane, train, bus early

                                    One of the most stressful experiences traveling is rushing to get to your plane, train, or bus.  Get there early.  You won’t regret it.  If you’re habitually late like myself, lie to yourself about what time the plane leaves.

Do get some foreign currency beforehand from your bank

Money can solve a lot of problems while traveling.  I recommend having some cash on hand while traveling.  If you are traveling abroad, I recommend getting some foreign currency from your bank before you leave.  (Most banks can order foreign currency for common destination and have it available to you within a few days to a week. Just call you bank and they can tell you what you need to do to make this happen and how long it will take. 

Do think about parking 

If you’re driving, you need to think about parking.  Beach towns and old historic towns built before the advent of cars are notorious having limited parking availability.  If you’re going to be driving, I strongly consider only staying at places that offer off-street parking.  Last time we went to California with some friends and a friend had booked an AirBnB that did not have parking.  My husband and I got a parking spot a few not too far away from the AirBnB, but our friend literally drove around for at least an hour looking for a spot.  He eventually ended up find a parking garage several miles away and just Uber back.

Do book a pre-packaged trip

If you really want to eliminate the stress, book a pre-packaged trip through a reputable travel company.   I rarely do this, but my husband did for our honeymoon to French Polynesia, and honestly it was really nice to just show up in Tahiti and have a guy waiting there with a sign with our names on it.  He booked through Costco Travel which while not the cheapest did offer a great customer experience and a good value for what we got.  One of my other favorite pre-planned trip sites is TravelZoo as they show travel deals from multiple different groups and often have smoking deals on travel.  These deals are typically cheaper than you could book the trip on your own, so it’s a win-win if you can find the trip you’re looking for on there.   

Let there be some surprises

            Lastly, one of the best parts about traveling are the surprises you encounter along the way, and the honest truth is you can’t know everything about a place before you get there.  Even if it is your second or third time to the same place, you’ll still be discovering new things, so enjoy that.  Don’t worry if you don’t know everything.  Enjoy the surprises.