I always give immediate attention to the things that pop up in my life– a sick relative, an unexpected bill, a work project, a friend who needs a person to lean on. It’s hard for me to start planning our dreams. After all– they seem abstract, and real life is tangible, here, and immediate.
I’ve always been the type to put my head down and work (I have more vacation hours than I can use at this point). These days, I want to make a conscious effort to take more time off. I travel plenty for work and modeling, but I would like to travel for fun, too. I’m going to do that for the rest of this year. Let’s all do that in 2019!
What if we all gave effort to the abstract dreams in our lives? What if we made progress toward our travel dreams in the midst of all the craziness? Let’s start right now. I am going to share the first 5 steps I take when I want to take a trip.
Step 1: Think about the top 3 places you would like to go visit. If you suffer from wanderlust like me, it will be easy to pick at least three destinations. Once you have your top three places identified, you have to start planning the trip in a tactical way to make it reality. Right now, my top 3 are the French Riviera, Amsterdam, and Tokyo.
Step 2: Out of your top three, pick the easiest place to get to. Which place would take the least amount of time and cost the least amount of money? It’s good to start there until you get into the traveling swing of things. Then think of a good time to go– is there a particular week of weekend where there isn’t much going on? Summer is coming up– it’s actually a horrible time for me to travel, but for lots of teachers and people with families, it’s the best. This is a great time to start booking summer travel.
Step 3: Once you have the location and date settled, it’s time to put your money where your mouth is. One of the biggest hurdles to travel is booking the flight. It is usually the first step to taking a trip, and it can be the most intimidating. The purchase seems so final. And how do you know if you’re getting the best deal?
One site that has given me peace of mind is cheapair.com. I have used cheapair.com for 5+ years. It is such an easy one-stop shop to compare flight prices between airlines, and I can always rest assured with booking a flight deal with this site because they offer a price drop payback and 24 hour cancellation. So I literally have nothing to lose by just buying the ticket. I can always get a refund within 24 hours. Use the link below to book your flight with confidence!!
As it turns out, I never cancel. Because once I take that crucial step of booking the flight, the trip is on my schedule, and I start planning the other things that pop up around the trip, as opposed to moving the trip out. After all, it’s easy to keep postponing a trip that hasn’t been booked yet, but once you put some money on it, it becomes a real thing.
Step 4: After you’ve booked, spread the word! I know I said earlier that you shouldn’t wait on others to book the trip, but you should absolutely invite them. Invite folks, and then make a WhatsApp group with the people who said they were interested. Set up a happy hour with those folks to get them excited for the trip. Expect a few of them to drop out, anyway. It’s okay! Keep on inviting them to your trips and send them this post!
Me in NOLA…just casually matching the wall.
Step 5: Start planning events and wardrobe. I love to start finding versatile outfits that fit my schedule early in the process. Because let me tell you– there is nothing like having cute new clothes to make you feel amazing in a new place. Also, you’re going to need outfits for all those pictures you will be taking. I like to start early because it can be tough to find cute outfits that are also comfortable to wear while exploring a new place. One hack– wear leggings! I have listed some of my favorite places to get leggings here.
Challenge yourself to book something this year. Book it now, and invite friends later. You can go alone if they back out, but don’t let anything stop you from seeing everything you want to see in this world. You will get pretty good at finding the cheapest airline online by using cheapair.com. And once you take your trip, you’ll get addicted and start planning the next trip.
Tell me– where have you been? Where do you want to go?