Going on a spontaneous trip is fun. However, most of the time, because of unplanned excursions, you miss the bus, you arrive late, and you are more stressed than relaxed. Worse, the place you were heading to is closed, or the hotel you are about to check in is fully booked.
If you are going out of town, a little planning and a travel itinerary will save you from a lot of trouble.
A travel itinerary allows you to organize all the details about your trip. It can be a simple to-do list handwritten on a notebook, created using a word processor, or filled out using an online template.
Why are travel itineraries necessary?
Among others, trip itineraries allow your relatives, co-workers, and travel companions to know where you are. If ever someone needs to contact you, he or she would know where to call (unless you do not really want to be found!).
More importantly, travel schedules ensure that you get the most out of your time while you are on vacation. This is very helpful particularly if you have limited time. If you know your schedule, no time is wasted going back and forth across a city. You get to visit every place you want in a systematic manner. Since you have an organized schedule, you are able to budget the time you spend on each vacation spot. No hassles, no worries, no missed buses and planes.
How do you make a simple but effective travel timetable?
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Figure out where to go
List all the places that you want to visit during your vacation. Check the opening and closing schedules, map on how to get there, and possible ways to get to the location.
Various online travel sites can be very helpful during your planning because they offer useful information like travel routes, contact information, and operating hours. Take note of these because you will input the information in your itinerary.
Go to www.placesonline.com for a list of web-based travel guides
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Indicate who’s going, and how to reach them
Type in the names of the specific persons who are on the trip, address, telephone numbers, and emergency contact numbers.
Click here to know more about planning a trip with your friends
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Lay out your itinerary
Make a format that will best work for you, something that you can understand. In your chosen format, create headers that include your travel dates. You can create a column on the left to contain the time of the day, similar to a regular planner. You may start your day at 7:00 am and end at 12mn depending on your plans.
Dividing your schedule by day and by time is especially useful when you have tons of activities planned every day. Include in your plans even the seemingly unnecessary things like your waking time, bathing time, and eating time. Remember, you want to make your vacation as organized as possible. Listing down these things help you get organized.
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List down where you’re going, and for what
Photo by H2SO4under the CC by 3.0
Aside from your activities, list down where the activities are held, and who you’ll be with.
For example, if you put in Breakfast in the 10:30 am row of May 19, be specific about where you’ll be having it. You may type in “Family breakfast. Dine with Jacky Chan, The Peak Lookout, 121 Peak Rd., Hong Kong Island.”
Some people do not want to be this specific. As mentioned, you can format your itinerary based on your preference.
Click here for a list of the top vacation destinations in the Philippines
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Divide and spread out your itinerary table
Photo buy Vanilla Twilight under the CC by 3.0
If you will have one-week vacation, you may want to create one page schedule for each day. Make it a reader-friendly format. You do not want to feel like a CEO on vacation, with a full-packed schedule sitting on your table when you wake up in the morning.
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Provide emergency contact details
At the bottom of your page, as a footnote, list down important contact information: like phone numbers, building addresses, nearest police stations, and other possibly crucial details that you can think of. This eliminates the need to look for your address book or your phone directory during an emergency.
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Include the flight details
Do not forget to include your flight details, and date of departure and arrival. Some people, in their excitement to go on a trip (or to go home from vacation) forget about these seemingly-minor details (compared to making sure nothing was left behind at the hotel) that confusion erupts at the airport.
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Make room for the unexpected
Photo by {Guerrilla Futures | Jason Tester}under the CC by 3.0
Allot time for possible delays. Even if you have a detailed plan, it is very important to keep in mind that things can happen and you may have to adjust your schedule. For example, there may be long queue for tickets or the train did not leave on schedule. The possibilities are as endless as they are unpredictable. Always be prepared.
Click here for five things to do when your flight is delayed
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Distribute your itinerary
Before you leave for vacation, give a copy of your itinerary to your parents or relatives just in case the need arises for them to get a hold of you. This will also give them an idea of your exact location at an exact time, and probably save them energy spent worrying in case you don’t answer your phone.
To build an online itinerary, go to www.tripit.com
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