Travel planning tips, tricks & experiences – how to prepare for your holiday

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It's often a long way from the idea of ​​taking a trip to actually making the booking and preparing everything. You have to choose the best time to travel, find the right flights or search through hundreds of offers for a package holiday. And once the holiday has been booked, the stay needs to be carefully thought out in order to make the most of your precious time. What should you pay attention to? I have put together my personal experiences, tips and recommendations for you that you should keep in mind when planning your trip so that your vacation preparation is successful.

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Also for me as a travel professional with my own Travel Blog it's not always easy. The countdown to vacation is on and the anticipation is building - if it weren't for what feels like a thousand little things that still need to be taken care of. You still have to buy sunscreen, gather the photography equipment and get your snorkeling set from the basement. Where is the suitcase anyway? And where do I leave the passports so that I don't forget them on the day of travel?

Personally, I'm also quite forgetful, so planning a trip is an additional challenge - if I don't write everything down. So all these little tasks go through your head as you prepare for your vacation - and that's a good thing, after all you don't want to forget anything important. But what can you do to make travel planning easier? And how do you keep track of everything you need to know before your trip?

Video – Some important tips for planning your trip

Below I have selected a very informative video for you in which you will also get some important tips and ideas for your holiday preparation. These are a good addition to the recommendations in my post.

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Some important tips for planning your trip.

Two stages of travel planning and vacation preparation

I have the most important ones Travel Tips for you - because the right preparation for the trip is 99 percent Psychology and trick. Basically, travel planning consists of two aspects, both of which are equally important if you want to have a nice holiday:

  1. travel planning and holiday preparation before and during booking
  2. travel planning and holiday preparation after booking and before the trip

Both stages of planning have their importance and you should give them equal attention. Travel planning before and during booking includes finding a suitable one Destination, viewing package holiday offers, selecting the hotel and flight and all eventualities that need to be thought through before booking - such as determining the best time to travel to the holiday destination.

My experience is: the more intensively you plan a trip in advance and deal with the holiday preparation, the better the trip will be afterwards. Photo: Sascha Tegtmeyer
My experience is: the more intensively you plan a trip in advance and deal with the holiday preparation, the better the trip will be afterwards. Photo: Sascha Tegtmeyer

Because who wants two weeks of constant rain? If you have a package holiday or your HotelsOnce you have booked the flight, transfers and any local activities, you can move on to the second part of travel planning – holiday preparation. And that includes significantly more things than you might initially think.

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My personal experiences with travel planning

Over the years, I have had many more or less pleasant experiences planning a trip and preparing for a vacation. My worst experience was when I booked a flight in the wrong direction with my smartphone while I was walking. Instead of booking the flight from Hamburg to Düsseldorf and back, I booked it from Düsseldorf to Hamburg and back. Congratulations, that was 300 euros that I simply burned - because of course you could no longer cancel the flight.

Travel planning and holiday preparation: I usually contact providers of leisure activities such as tour operators, surf schools and dive centers before the trip.
Travel planning and holiday preparation: I usually contact providers of leisure activities such as tour operators, surf schools and dive centers before the trip.

And that's why my greatest learning for travel planning and holiday preparation is: Be careful. Read everything three times before booking and read carefully – look at the fine print – which services are included in the booking. With cheap flights, for example, checked baggage often has to be booked separately, which is expensive – and suddenly the flights aren’t that cheap anymore.

You should have fun preparing for your vacation

Basically, travel planning and vacation preparation should definitely be fun. Because it is part of the journey. And if you deal with the planning and prepare everything before your holiday, you will quickly look forward to anticipation and you will be well prepared to make the most of your precious time.

Relax on vacation and don't waste precious time - plan everything that you can plan before the trip as early as possible.
Relax on vacation and don't waste precious time - plan everything that you can plan before the trip as early as possible.

How you plan your vacation depends on your personal preferences. If you like to do package tours, you can compare the offers of the big and reputable tour operators. In some cases, the prices for similar hotels, flights and additional services differ significantly. You also need to take a look at the small print here: You book the offer for less – and suddenly you realize that the expensive airport transfer is not included. Your supposedly cheap offer has already become the most expensive.

I prefer to plan my trips individually

I love putting together my own trips. When I travel by plane, I first look for cheap flights. I compare the prices, look for combination offers from several airlines and get an overall overview. Only after I have found and booked a suitable flight do I look for hotel and holiday home offers. I'll do the same thing. First, I'll get an overview of the major platforms.

When you plan your trip, you will first compare many offers - and research which travel destination is ideal for your needs. Photo: Sascha Tegtmeyer
When you plan your trip, you will first compare many offers - and research which travel destination is ideal for your needs. Photo: Sascha Tegtmeyer

And then I often contact the holiday homes and hotels directly in order to get a better offer from the provider itself. Once I have booked flights, accommodation and transfers, I start contacting local leisure activity providers. Companies in the travel industry love planning security: If you write to the individual providers, you will often get better offers than if you book directly on site while on vacation.

This is how I plan my trips – very roughly. Compared to a package tour, this may be a bit more demanding - but it can be worth it. My experience is that even as an experienced traveler you start again from 0 on every tour. But that's okay. Because if you take the joy of planning your trip, the vacation begins long before it even begins.

Hello, I'm Sascha Tobias Tegtmeyer from Hamburg - and a real beach child with heart and soul! Sea fan, travel lover and always up for an adventure. On my travel blog Just-Wanderlust.com and the social media channels of Strandkind Travels, I combine my love of traveling and nature with a passion for water sports such as stand-up paddling, diving and surfing. I am a journalist, author and blogger - and I am naturally curious when I get to know new travel destinations and then write about them in detail. As a technology fan, when I'm traveling with my family or alone, I'm always happy to bring a few travel gadgets with me for testing purposes. My favorite travel countries, which I also prefer to write about in my travel blog: USA, Thailand and Maldives.
About the author

I'm just a curious beach kid in the world

Hello, I am Sascha Tobias Tegtmeyer from Hamburg – and a real beach child with heart and soul! Sea fan, travel lover and always up for an adventure. On my travel blog Just-Wanderlust.com and the social media channels of Strandkind Travels, I combine my love of traveling and nature with a passion for water sports such as stand-up paddling, diving and surfing. I am a journalist, author and blogger - and I am naturally curious when I get to know new travel destinations and then write about them in detail. As a technology fan, when I'm traveling with my family or alone, I'm always happy to bring a few travel gadgets with me for testing purposes. My favorite travel countries, which I also prefer to write about in my travel blog: USA, Thailand and Maldives.

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Holiday preparation checklist – This is how it works with travel planning

Where your vacation prep checklist starts depends a bit on your travel and vacation booking experience. Below I have listed some important points that you should definitely consider before you fly on vacation. If you live in Europe and travel within Europe in the Schengen area, everything is a bit easier than in non-European countries. Basically, what you can plan before the holiday, plan it before the holiday. Because time is the most important currency on vacation. The more you have prepared, the less you have to organize on vacation.

I have put together a checklist for you with the most important points that you should consider when planning your trip so that your holiday preparations are successful. Travel planning Tips Holiday preparation Experiences Holiday planning
I have put together a checklist for you with the most important points that you should consider when planning your trip so that your holiday preparations are successful.

Basically, it can help you to write down your individual checklist for travel planning. Incidentally, the ADAC tips very helpful. This makes it easier for you to keep everything. If you just keep your list in your head, you run the risk of forgetting important points.

1. Observe entry regulations

I think the worst thing that can happen to you while traveling is to be turned away at the border because your documents are not in order. This is definitely every vacationer’s nightmare. Therefore, before you plan a trip abroad, you should find out about the entry requirements of the destination country. These can vary greatly depending on the country. For some countries - for example if you live in the Schengen area of ​​the EU - you only need a valid ID card or passport.

For other countries you must also apply for a visa and fill out an entry form. For example, you need a visa for China, India, Russia or Turkey. You do not need to apply for a visa for the USA, but you must fill out and pay for the ESTA form online at least a few days before you start your trip. If you don't complete these steps on time, you may not be allowed to enter the country or have long waiting times at the border. It is therefore advisable to find out about the entry regulations for your travel country in good time and to have all the necessary documents ready.

2. Is your passport still valid long enough?

In most travel destinations around the world, your passport must be valid for at least six months on the day you leave the destination country. This is the standard for many entry requirements. So check carefully whether this applies to your passport. I wouldn't make any compromises and would rather get a new passport than have little leeway with the passport that's about to expire.

There is also an important rule that I haven't observed for a long time: under no circumstances throw away the old passport, but definitely keep it. If you have a brand new passport with no entries, border officials sometimes want to see the old passport to determine where you were last. I didn't know that myself until I experienced it when I entered the country.

3. Book travel insurance in good time

Regardless of whether you book your trip as a package or an individual vacation, I would strongly recommend that you take out the appropriate travel insurance. This means you are on the safe side for your travels. Health insurance that is valid abroad is the be-all and end-all of every trip - I wouldn't go on a trip without it because you could incur hefty costs. Other useful travel insurance policies that are often available to purchase as packages include the following:

  • Travel insurance
  • Trip Interruption Insurance
  • Luggage insurance
  • Travel accident insurance
  • Travel Liability Insurance
  • Travel Legal Protection Insurance

I always book my travel insurance with one reputable German provider*, who offers me good service and helps me in an emergency - even if I am abroad. You can find an overview of different travel insurance policies and their services here: https://www.test.de/thema/reiseversicherung/

5. Determine your itinerary and book your accommodations well in advance

If you book a package holiday, this tip is no longer applicable - then you book your accommodation with the flight as part of the package. But if you want to plan your trip individually, I would strongly recommend that you 1. get an overview of possible accommodations on site while booking your flight and 2. book accommodation at least for the first few nights - for example with our excellent and favorable partner HolidayCheck*.

I used to do it this way by booking all other accommodation on site in order to be more flexible. I don't do that anymore because it just makes the trip much more stressful. Instead, I invest more time in advance, determine the travel route in advance and plan and book the accommodation in advance. You simply have less stress on site and can concentrate fully on your destination instead of spending hours looking for the next accommodation with beads of sweat on your forehead.

6. Reserve your seat and luggage on the plane in advance

Another important point is the seat and luggage on the plane. If possible, you should reserve this in advance so that you don't have any unpleasant surprises later. In the past, this wasn't a problem: you could simply book your package trip and all the flight services were included.

When you checked in at the airport you were able to choose your seat. Unfortunately, this is often no longer the case today - especially not for individually planned trips where you book the flight separately. Then you have to book all the extra services you want directly when booking your flight. But even with package tours, you can no longer be sure that your luggage and seat are already included. I always call the tour operator to clarify this in advance. The flight services are often presented in a misleading way when booking.

If this service is not included, you must book it online in advance. If you only book them at the airport, they are usually many times more expensive.

7. Don't forget the transfers at the holiday destination

The next thing that is easy to forget is the transfer at your vacation destination. This is particularly about the first transfer that takes you to the hotel after you land. If you book a package holiday, you should make sure that the transfer is either included - or you research before booking whether it might be cheaper with a trustworthy third-party provider. Then you book the package tour without transfer and the transfer separately. I know from experience that package tour providers spend a lot of money on transfers.

If you plan your trip individually, you of course also have to pay attention to the transfer. In many countries you can use apps like Uber or Grab to quickly and flexibly find a driver locally. But for the first transfer from the airport to the hotel, I would strongly recommend that you book the transfer in advance at home - this way you can be sure that you will arrive at your first accommodation in the foreign country.

8. Find out about sights at the holiday destination

I have often neglected this myself in the past and pay even more attention to it these days: if you are visiting a new travel destination that you have not been to before, you should definitely get information in advance about the sights and things to do there. This simply means that you will save a lot of time during your precious days on vacation if you have made a rough plan in advance of what you would like to see and visit on your trip.

10. Use a packing list

A travel packing list is not only ideal for those who are really forgetful. If you pack haphazardly, you can be sure that you will end up forgetting something important. It's no different for me. That's why I start my packing list a few weeks before the trip and start putting the most important things that I definitely can't forget on the list. You can find a packing list for a beach vacation at urlaubsguru.de/reisemagazin/checkliste-fuer-den-sommerurlaub. Or you can create an individual packing list at packlisten.org.

I recommend that you create your packing list at least a week before your trip. This gives you enough time to get everything you need. You can also work through your packing list gradually and not stress yourself out at the last minute.

Of course, what you pack in your suitcase depends primarily on your destination, your type of travel and the length of your trip. Travel planning Tips Holiday preparation Experiences Holiday planning
Of course, what you pack in your suitcase depends primarily on your destination, your type of travel and the length of your trip. Photo: Sascha Tegtmeyer

Planning a trip – How do I find the ideal travel destination?

You can choose your next travel destination from many different perspectives. I generally choose my travel destinations primarily based on the best time to travel to the holiday destination. The reason for this is that if you travel in the off-season, you may often experience bad weather or other challenges such as closed restaurants or attractions that you cannot visit.

Secondly, you should plan your trip based on your spatial preferences. Some people like the solitude of Scandinavia, others like a sunny beach holiday with a short flight on the Mediterranean. Others are looking for adventure in North America or Southeast Asia. You should therefore first think about what suits you best and what you really want.

There is a suitable travel destination for every preference. You can make a basic selection by taking a look at my best travel time table and choosing the best destination for the month of your trip:

MonthBest travel time travel destination
JanuaryArgentina, Australia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dubai & UAE, India (south), Canary Islands, Cuba, Maldives, Mexico, New Zealand, Sri Lanka (south), South Africa, Thailand, United States (Florida, California, Texas), Vietnam
FebruaryArgentina, Australia, Chile, Costa Rica, Brazil, Dubai & UAE, Florida, India (south), Canary Islands, Cuba, Maldives, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka (South), South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam
MarchEgypt, Argentina, Australia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dubai & UAE, India (south), Canary Islands, Maldives, Morocco, Seychelles, Singapore, Sri Lanka (South), South Africa, Thailand, Tunisia, United States (Florida, California, Texas), Vietnam
AprilEgypt, Canary Islands, Mallorca (Balearic Islands), Morocco, Central Europe, Mediterranean Sea, Singapore, Sri Lanka (South), Tunisia, Turkey, United States (USA), Vietnam
MayCanada, Canary Islands, Egypt, Germany, Mallorca (Balearic Islands), Morocco, Mauritius, Central Europe, Mediterranean (Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus), Northern Europe, Seychelles, Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey, United States (USA)
JuneEgypt, Germany, Canada, Canary Islands, Mallorca, Central Europe, Mediterranean (Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus), Mauritius, Northern Europe, Seychelles, Singapore, Scandinavia, Turkey, USA
JulyGermany, Indonesia (south), Canada, Canary Islands, Mallorca (Balearic Islands), Mauritius, Central Europe, Mediterranean (Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus), Northern Europe, Seychelles, Singapore, Scandinavia, Turkey, United States (USA)
AugustGermany, Indonesia (south), Canada, Canary Islands, Mallorca (Balearic Islands), Mauritius, Central Europe, Mediterranean (Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus), Northern Europe, Seychelles, Singapore, Scandinavia, Turkey, United States (USA)
SeptemberEgypt, Germany, Indonesia (south), Canary Islands, Mallorca (Balearic Islands), Morocco, Mauritius, Central Europe, Mediterranean Sea (Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus), Seychelles, Singapore, Scandinavia, Tunisia, Turkey, USA
OctoberEgypt, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Dubai &UAE, Jordan, India, Indonesia (South), Canary Islands, Mallorca (Balearic Islands), Morocco, Mauritius, Mexico, Mediterranean Sea (Spain, Italy, Croatia, Greece, Cyprus), Peru, Seychelles, Tunisia , Turkey, United States (USA)
NovemberAustralia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Egypt, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Jordan, India (South), Maldives, Morocco, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, Netherlands Antilles (ABC Islands), Oman, Portugal ( Azores and Madeira), Peru, Seychelles, Spain (Canary Islands), Sri Lanka (South), South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam, United States (Florida, California, Texas)
DecemberEgypt, Australia, Chile, Costa Rica, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), India (South), Maldives, Morocco, Mauritius, Mexico, New Zealand, Netherlands Antilles (ABC Islands), Oman, Portugal (Azores and Madeira), Seychelles, Spain (Canary Islands), Sri Lanka (South), South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam, United States (Florida, California, Texas)
All statements without guarantee. You cannot predict the weather at a specific time and place. Please note that all information about the best travel times are only intended as a rough guide for certain travel destinations and do not claim to be up-to-date or complete. The destinations presented are just examples and there are many other destinations that can be visited at different times of the year.

Watch out for the best time to travel

I always keep the best time to travel to my favorite travel destinations in mind - because when planning your trip it is incredibly important to know when and where is the best place to go on holiday. This basically applies to all travel destinations and types of travel. You don't want to go on a skiing holiday in the middle of summer and you don't want to fly to Egypt in the middle of summer when it's 50 degrees Celsius. Nor would we want to be in Thailand or the Maldives during the rainy season.

Book your well-deserved vacation now!

Book your dream vacation now at favorable conditions on the renowned booking portal HolidayCheck – top rated by Stiftung Warentest (01/2024). Click and browse now!

Book your dream vacation now at favorable conditions on the renowned booking portal HolidayCheck - top rated by Stiftung Warentest (01/2024). Click and browse now!
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Buy travel literature and travel insider tips

On my travel blog you will find many inspiring articles about different travel destinations around the world. But sometimes just reading articles isn't enough to prepare for a trip. That's why we've listed some travel books for you that will help you plan your trip even better and make you aware of undiscovered local treasures.

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Travel planning Tips & Experiences – How to prepare for your holiday

My conclusion

If there's one thing I've learned over the last few years, it's this: extensive and detailed vacation preparation and travel planning is the be-all and end-all to have a successful vacation. If, on the one hand, you research before booking and try to find the right destination for you and your preferences and then prepare your stay after booking, there is a good chance that you will have a wonderful holiday. Many people leave travel planning to chance - and are then disappointed at their vacation destination when everything doesn't work out as desired.

Travel planning Tips Holiday preparation Experiences Holiday planning Travel planning and holiday preparation is everything – you can choose the flight connections so that you don't have to wait so long when changing planes. Photo: Sascha Tegtmeyer
Travel planning and holiday preparation is everything - you can choose the flight connections so that you don't have to wait so long when changing planes. Photo: Sascha Tegtmeyer

Vacation preparation is a must, especially for long-distance trips

Especially on long-distance trips to exotic countries outside of Europe, extensive travel planning and research before booking is even more important. Who wants to get caught in a cyclone in Mauritius, a hurricane in Florida or sit in constant rain in Thailand? There are also certain dangers if you don't prepare properly in holiday destinations: In Thailand, smoking on many beaches is punishable by a hefty fine and insulting the king can even land you in prison for years.

You should definitely take all of these things into account when planning your trip - and that assumes that you even prepare for your vacation.

How do you plan your trips? Which steps are essential for you to prepare for your holiday? What are your insider tips? Share your experiences in the comments.

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