This blog started being mostly travel when I decided to travel solo, heading to Wroclaw for my first ever fully solo trip. That trip was three days of exploring a new city with no plan and no research, completely winging it and whilst it was fun, I know I didn’t see everything I would’ve wanted to if I’d done my research in advance.
After Wroclaw, my next trip was Berlin, and I went way too far the other way, planning every minute of every day, and then immediately running behind when I took longer doing something than I’d expected. This led to a meltdown on the second day, after I’d had to cross things off my list and felt like I’d failed to see the city properly. Clearly, this method didn’t work for me either.
Since those two trips, my travel style has evolved into somewhere between the two extremes. J is more of a planner than I am, so our trips together do tend to be slightly more planned than I’d like, but that’s a compromise on both our parts. Planning trips isn’t something I find simple but it is always worth it, so lets get into how I plan an itinerary for a trip.
Research, research, research
Before visiting somewhere new, I read up on the destination online, using travel blogs like this one, and videos on Instagram and Tiktok. Sometimes I’ll also buy a travel guide for the place/s I’m going to and use that too. If I’m super on it, I’ll contact the tourism board for information too.
List everything I want to do in the city/town/country
Whilst doing my research, I list anything I like the look of. I then go through the list and highlight the things I would be gutted to miss, the things I want to do but wouldn’t be devastated to miss, and things that I would be happy to do if I had time. I use these lists for the next part of my planning.
Choose one or two must dos for each section of the day
On a solo trip I have a list of things I really want to do, a list of things I’d be happy to do but wouldn’t be devastated to miss, and some ‘nice to see’ fillers. I plot these on a map so I know what’s near, and I plan for more time than needed if I’m doing an activity. I also plan in time for doing nothing-an hour here and there to sit with a coffee, people watching.
On a trip with J, I pick two or three things I really want to do in a day and plot them on a map. I then pick three or four more, in a similar area, and add those. J turns those into a walking route on Google Maps, making sure the route is at least an hour and a half less than the time we have for that section of the day, and that’s our part day planned.
Pick somewhere you really want to eat
For our trips this tends to be my partner’s area, as he’s far better than I am at researching the food side of things. We make a list of all the places he likes the look of, I go through and highlight anything I also like the look of, and then we try to book a table so we have a pre-agreed mealtime to work around.
Our list, above, was for our recent Wroclaw trip.
Factor in some time to accidentally discover things
It’s important to me to have time to wander in my itinerary. I love strolling down a street and spotting a cute cafe, some unexpected street art, a photobooth or a good view, the things you wouldn’t see if you just stuck to a map. So I make sure there’s some wandering time for me in the plan, at least once a day but ideally twice.
Plan some down time
Travelling with Fibromyalgia means I can’t be on the go constantly for more than a day or two. If I’m just doing an extreme day trip, or spending 48 hours in a place, rushing is fine but otherwise, I need to plan rest. For me, that means either a lie in, an evening in or going back to our accommodation for a couple of hours after lunch. Often J needs to do some work so I’ll rest when he’s working, or I’ll read in bed in the morning.
Be prepared to change plans
Sometimes on trips, things happen that mean plans need to change, and that’s okay. I always make sure I can swap one higher energy day with a lower energy day if I need to, and try to get the most important things I want to see done earlier in the week.
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