Why should you become your own travel planner? Because no one knows you better than YOU.
Most people have two things in common – a love for travelling and no time to plan it. We have met very few people that would say: “I hate travelling.” However, we have met a lot of people saying: “I love travelling, but I don’t know how to plan it. It is time-consuming and I don´t have time for it.”
Maybe you are one of those people. Perhaps you work 9 to 5 to build a successful career. Maybe you even work two jobs to earn your living. You work hard to support your family. You work overtime to save enough money for your kid’s college funds. Or maybe you study full-time to become a professional.
Nevertheless, I bet that your time off is very precious to you.
Would you like to improve your travel planning skills?Read about our Reverse Travel Planning Strategy!
It is a time you get to spend with your family, loved ones or perhaps it is your time to enjoy being alone. You want it to be a memorable and enjoyable experience, maybe even an adventure or a crazy experience. Or a quiet and relaxing time. But is it?
Does this sound familiar?
You wake up every day to go to work. You try your best to build a successful career, you study hard and work to support your family. You are looking forward to enjoying your time off, but you are caught up in work so much, that you don’t realize that your holidays are knocking on the door.
Surprise, surprise…
Suddenly, you realize that not only you didn´t have time to think about the holidays but also to plan it.
Where do you want to go? Are there still cheap tickets available? Is all accommodation booked out? Did you save enough money to enjoy your time off?
Last-minute planning usually translates into higher prices and stress. So in the end, you can end up paying for your holidays much more than you „planned“.
So what do most people do?
They opt for mediocre and standard holidays from a travel agent.
Become your own travel planner
Becoming your own travel agent opens a door to a completely new world. In the beginning, travel planning can feel overwhelming.
For most, travel planning is a time-consuming process, even overwhelming and confusing. In the beginning, it can almost feel like an impossible task.
Internet is a double-edged weapon. All the resources and possibilities in our hand, but is it really an advantage? Or a burden? Are we the only one that goes crazy from all the possibilities?
Travel blogs and all that information are great but everyone writes from their own personal perspective. What is expensive for on is cheap for the other. What seems like a perfect adventure for us can be completely boring for you. That is why it is hard to let someone else plan your holidays.
It is overwhelming, nowadays there are so many resources, so many books and travel blogs to gain knowledge from about the destination. So many places to buy tickets from, which information is legit?
Standard trips don´t always provide the best travel experience. And why? For the obvious reason. It is called standard for a reason. You get the same prefabricated holidays as hundreds if not thousands of people before you. Where is the excitement?
So what do most people do? After a while, most people head to the travel agent to book holidays. Holidays that someone else designed for the general public. Prefabricated holidays that travel agents sell to everyone.
The braver ones might still decide to go on holidays without any planning. Just to come back disappointed that they wasted valuable time and money for expensive last-minute deals. Have you ever wished you planned your holidays better? Have you ever said to yourself: “If only I had known…?”
Frustration and stress are not the feelings you want to associate with your holidays.
That is a reason why a lot of people do not even try to plan their holidays and head straight to the travel agency. Or they choose to travel to a destination they had been several times before. Sacrificing the only time off they got to buy a prefabricated holiday package or expensive holidays tailored to their „dreams“.
I was one of them. I used to travel with travel agencies. Do you know what they all have in common? It is an expensive solution to your problem. Travel agencies made you believe that travelling is super expensive. So expensive that it is hard for you to afford it. Just think about it, travel agencies are a business like everything else. They must profit, so everything they offer you is increased by the commission. They offer an instant, quick and expensive solution, preplanned holidays. One size fits all…
But you know what? One size fits all has never worked. It has never worked in clothes and it certainly doesn´t work when it comes to your holidays…
Planning trips, let alone long-term holidays, requires a lot of time that you probably don´t have. Planning your holidays requires a lot of research. You need to determine when to travel and where, what is the best season, how much will it cost you? How many days should you spend at the destination? What is the best to see and do around?
For some, planning holidays can be a stressful and frustrating experience. There is a lot to think about and plan and do. For a beginner or busy individual, it can be overwhelming. What to do first?
Self-travel planning is KEY
What is the one single biggest reason to learn how to plan your holidays? Because no one knows you better than you!
The key to effectively plan your trips is to be organized and have a system.
My grandmother used to say: “Practice makes perfection.” Damn, she was right!
Practice, practice and practice. It is like riding a bike. If you do it just occasionally you will never be master in riding bike. But when you practice, gradually it becomes easier. Eventually, it becomes like your second nature.
Planning your trips will make you feel not only happy but validated. You gain confidence and build your self-esteem. In the end, you will be unstoppable in pursuing your travel dreams without limitations.
For us becoming our own travel agent was a rejuvenating and uplifting experience. We are not bound with limits any more. My problem used to be those travel agents did not provide the type of trips I was seeking for. Because I could never find holidays I would really love. So I decided to plan by myself.
And if I found one the trips were usually expensive or I did not like the itinerary or travel details.
I was planning to trek to Everest Base camp, the average trek charged 1 500 dollars for a trek, we did it on our own for less than 700 dollars.
Becoming your own travel agent allows you to plan everything exactly as you wish.
So what to do to become a your own travel planner?
You are just one decision away to start an incredible journey to become your own travel planner. Imagine that in a few months you could start your dream holidays. Holidays that you designed, planned and saved money for.
The journey of planning your holidays is incredible. Not only it teaches you how to plan your trips, but it also teaches you some valuable lessons about life in general. When you learn the basics of how to save money and plan you learn things that you can use in your everyday life too.
Valuable lessons that come from travel planning:
- finding your personal travel lifestyle
- learning how to set up budgets, save money and stick to your saving plan
- learning how to plan and research
- becoming independent
- experiencing freedom and feeling a sense of accomplishment
One and Half backpacks blog was created to help you to transit from a tourist to a self-made traveller. A traveller that is confident enough to plan holidays on its own merits. We would love to create a community of travel newbies as well as experienced travellers who love to support each other on their journey to become their own travel planners.
Our goal is to teach you as much about travel planning and saving money as possible, so you feel comfortable in your abilities to pursue your dreams. In the end, you will see how much you are capable of. Travel planning is a teachable skill.
At the end of our journey, you will be ready to go wherever your heart tells you to go.
Why should you become your own travel planner?
- Your trips will become more exciting and fun
- You will learn how to set up your own travel itineraries according to your preferences
- Your trips might even get cheaper if this is what you want
- Your trips will be unique, more exciting
- You gain confidence and a lot of new skills
- You will find so many resources on how to plan your trips so they are more excited and cheaper
- You get more value for your money. I am usually able to plan better holidays for less.
- You learn a useful skill for everyday life, not just planning your trips
- Travel planning boosts your confidence and overall self-assurance about your skills.
Thank you guys for reading, I hope you like it. As always we would love to hear from you. Do you plan your own holidays? How did you start? Did you find it diffucult at first? Let us know in the comment section down below. And if you like it, please share it with your friends.
