Your next big adventure…
- November 7th 2007
- Uncategorized
How do you decide where to go next?
Pippy Longstockings threw a dart at a map and then caught the trade winds and the Jet Stream to get to wherever she ended up next. But that doesn’t work for everyone.
So the question remains, how to choose where to go next. There are several different ways, from the more creative to the more practical, for choosing where to plan your next trip. As it is just beginning the winter right now, it’s the best time to think about what you want to next summer when the days get a little longer…
Option #1: Throw a dart
One of my most beloved friends, Julie, does this. She actually has a huge map on the wall of her house, wherever she is, and it’s got all these pins sticking out of it - where she’s been, where she’s going. Check out travbuddy.com for an online version of this map that you can customize for yourself. But if you’ve got any sort of inclination about where you want to go, not just “EVERYWHERE!” like me, then this might not be your best bet.
Option #2: Read a book
I have a huge collection of old, out of date, travel guides. These guides can be found at most half price bookstores for cheap because their prices and hotels and restaurants are out of date. They do make wonderful dream-guides though for imagining where you might go next. Just don’t make the mistake I made when I went to Ireland and use anything but THE MOST RECENT travel guide (or website) to plan your trip. I got to Ireland and found that they’d switched currency and what I thought would be $1 USD was now $3 USD because of the strength of the Euro.
If you like creative nonfiction, consider reading some travel blogs and travelogues to spark your interest. They also are usually very well written and no worries about getting the editions mixed up, they’re stories.
Option #3: Budget Backwards
I used to always plan my trips this way. I would figure out roughly how much I could save in, say, six months. I knew I would be needing a vacation desperately in, at the longest, six months, and so I’d figure out where I could afford to go. As my income from freelance writing is now much better than I made working for ***** (company name removed to avoid slander charges), and my time is more flexible, I’m trying not to let this be the way I plan my new trips.
Option #4: Friend Forward
This is my absolute favorite way of planning a trip. I have made friends from around the world and so I start my plans by figuring out how to work them (or their business) in. The Non-Canonical Israel Tour that my husband and I are leading in May is with a friend whose company plans religious travel opportunities. Similarly, the Hina Matsuri Festival trip that I’m working on organizing for Feb/Mar in either 2008 or 2009 springs from the friends that I have who live in Tokyo. If you don’t have foregin friends, consider joining a travel networking site like couchsurfing.com that connects you with people around the world who want to meet other travelers.
How do you plan your next destination?
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