Let’s start by stating the obvious, everyone’s method is going to look different. It all depends on your personal style. But you know that song “Everything is content, everything is content”; so why not share the method to my madness.

Just like household chores my partner and I share trip-planning duties. He scrolls Google flights for the fun of it, always knows when new routes or a new airline starts from one of our home airports, and can tell you how many credit card points we have at the ready! I’m the one always pinning, or saving things to my various social media accounts, reading blogs, and have a running list in my head of the best Instagrammable spots in my top 5 destinations.

So here we go…

After the tickets are purchased and the hotels are booked, the fun begins!

one

Chaos
As soon as we have a destination I go a little crazy! I refer to my saved posts, and Pinterest boards, search hashtags, read blogs and just start plugging places into my Google map. At this point there’s no plan, there’s no strategy, and everything that catches my eye is plugged into the map.

two

Refine
The reality is,  we have a finite amount of time and we can’t ever do it all. So the cream rises to the top and I usually end up with a still robust wishlist of things to do.

three

Strategy
At this point, the hotels are usually booked and I plug them into the map and start to visualize our days. I recently found this online tool TRAVAA that helps me plan an itinerary so much better (more on this below).

four

Explore
Yes, things are planned, but this plan is more of a suggestion. When you travel with kids you have no choice but to be very flexible. So I use our itinerary as a jumping-off point for each day. We can do this, this, and this, but let’s start with this and see where the day takes us.

TRAVAA

I have quite a collection of Google Maps, but I recently stumbled on Travaa which is like a hybrid of a Google map and a calendar. While you might feel super regimented just making it, keep in mind this is not set in stone. It’s a great way just to map out what can and can’t be accomplished in a day. But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should! It is a vacation, sleep in; stop and smell the roses; linger at a farmer’s market; chat with a local, and find out what’s their favorite thing to do in the city. Definitely don’t become beholden to the list. Happy Planning!