I bet at least one of our best trips till date was the result of an impromptu plan. There’s nothing like a random Friday night conversation that leads to a sudden hiking holiday in Yosemite National Park or the accidental road trip to Colorado that we all know starts with “just a bit longer before heading home”. But what about planning a vacation way ahead in time? It’s time we talked about the joys of planning a vacation far in advance.
Obviously there’s the early-comer advantage!
It’s no secret. The sooner you book the flights, the cheaper you can get them than the last-minute crowd. Especially if you’re planning a new year trip to New York or Christmas trip to Germany, you might plan far in advance to avail those special early deals on flights as well as hotels. Recheck the rates for the same packages close to your travel date, and you will be amazed at the difference it makes!
Cut, cut, cut costs
You may be a traveller who can’t make budget mistakes or a student travelling in the spare time. Whether you are planning to travel using the sharing economy or planning a trip with your favourite travel consultant, you can actually give them some unhurried time in crafting the vacation at the best prices possible. They have experience and hence know the best. All they need is the time to precede others in accessing the early bird resources.
It almost never goes wrong
You don’t have to face your wife’s death stare when your last-minute train plan flops and leaves you standing somewhere between Frankfurt and Munich along with your kids. Yes, hitchhiking with your hungover friends can be a good story to tell, but not the one with your family and parents on your first international trip. Family vacation just got confirmed? Make no mistakes. Learn the hacks for travelling with kids, see if the vacation fits your budget, perhaps include a surprise for your parents. In short, leave no stones unturned when you know simple travel mistakes could play spoilsport to your big trip.
Or simply because planning a trip is as fun as travelling itself!
The easy answer. The anticipation of how it would be, the anxiety about whether reality would match your expectations, the shopping part, redoing your check-list for the 100th time, the satisfaction of turning on your email vacation responder—ah it’s gratifying! Travel or thinking about travel is therapy—even when we are not travelling. So which side are you on?
Want to see how life’s like on the other side? Read here: The art of planning serendipitous vacations
