After years of listening to your friends’ vacation stories and seeing their amazing photos on social media, you’re bound and determined that 2019 will be your year to travel. You enjoy going to different locations and are looking forward to getting out of your bubble for a while.
At the same time, you’re understandably unsure about what you should do on your trip. After all, there are many travel options out there and you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed about where to go and how long you should be away.
No worries. By breaking down your vacation planning into more manageable chunks, you can definitely decide on which type of trip is best for you this year. Consider the following tips:
First, No Matter Where You Go, Keep 8 Days in Mind
If your friends and family love to go on two- or three-week trips or even longer vacations, you might think you have to be gone for an extended period to make travel worthwhile. Fortunately, this is definitely not the case. According to Travel and Leisure, the ideal length for a vacation is eight days.
In general, vacationers will feel increasingly happy over the first several days of their trip, and it will peak on the eighth day. After that, the good juju will start to taper off a bit. So, when deciding how long to be gone, if you can swing an eight-day vacation, by all means try to do so.
However, also know your feelings of well-being will start to rise on shorter jaunts as well. Just don’t feel like you have to spend a ton of money for some three-week odyssey.
Next, Think About What Type of Trip You’d Like to Take
Now that you know you don’t have to break the bank and plan an endless vacation, it’s time to decide what type of journey you’d like to take. As Scenic Suitcase notes, there are a number of different types of vacations, each with their own pros and cons.
For instance, you could travel abroad to at least one other country. This type of vacation is ideal for people who want to experience another culture, see plenty of cool architecture and experience new food. Still, keep in mind it also involves long flights and pre-trip prep work like getting passports.
Another vacation option is a cruise, an excursion in which you only need to get yourself on the ship and then the crew will handle the rest. For instance, if you’ve always wanted to see the beautiful scenery in Alaska, you might consider a cruise in and around our 49th state. Now, in case you’re worried Alaskan cruise prices might be out of your budget, put away your concerns post haste.
For instance, Princess offers a number of affordable one-way and round trip Alaskan cruises that are close to that eight-day sweet spot in length. Better yet, these excursions allow you to partake in a number of activities like snorkeling and sampling new foods, all while oohing and aahing over the views of the glaciers and the ports of call. Other trip options include camping, a road trip and a relaxing in-town staycation.
Finally, Decide With Whom You Want to Travel
For the really adventurous types, you might prefer to go on your vacation solo, which will give you full control over where you go and what you do. You might also consider a couple’s trip for you and your sweetie, a family vacation that includes all the kiddos or a vacation with a few of your besties.
Once you decide who, if anyone, is going with you, you can choose if you want to plan the entire journey on your own or go on a group tour. If you don’t mind someone else planning a good portion of your itinerary, this option can be a great way to meet fellow travelers while visiting a number of destinations en masse.
It’s Time to Get Cracking and then Packing
Planning a trip of your dreams doesn’t have to be a Herculean task. By breaking it down into three or more key decisions, you’ll be well on your way to enjoying an incredible trip in 2019 — and then thinking about what you want to do in 2020 and beyond.
