There is no perfect vacation, and each person has their own style and needs

There are an infinite number of ways to plan your vacation. If you’re the kind of person that really enjoys planning vacations you already know that it is very much a crapshoot — you could go right or you could go wrong. So that’s why we put together these 14 tips on how to plan a vacation that will give you a leg-up on logistics and hopefully save you a little time and frustration.

1. Let’s start simple (though sometimes this can be a difficult decision, based on costs, time of year, time available), decide or agree with your traveling buddy or buddies the desired destination.

2. Narrow down the area or regions that you can cover feasibly during the time you plan to spend there, this is often the hardest part. People tend to try and take on too much. Stress quality over quantity!

3. Research the desired points of attraction that corresponds to your likings and interests. Books are a great place to start, pinterest is great for pinning a future vacation board, and wikivoyage.com is where we like to start.

4. Put together your list of 2-3 must-see-places to build an itinerary around so you can fully enjoy them and not feel like you are running a marathon through them just to say I WAS THERE.

5. Research possible holiday closures, or opening times to be more prepared and avoid being disappointed.

6. Choose accommodations wisely. The more closely located to your points of interest the better, even if they cost a bit more than you can afford, it is likely that you will spend more per day if you have to pay for transportation to and from.

7. Be clear about what matters the most for you when making a choice in a hotel, B&B, or other venues; and above all remember, you are there mostly to sleep comfortably.

8. Try to find websites for the country you’re visiting so you can research all the mass transit systems a place has to offer: high speed trains, overnight buses, public vans on the go, taxi, city bus, local airlines, etc…

9. Mix it up. Museums, churches, palaces, and so on are great to visit but you should make a point to add variety and engagement with some experiential travel activities that put you in touch with the locals and their authentic day-to-day life.

10. Get connected with a local in advance or connect with a source that can deliver you the most up-to-date reliable information, and save you tons of time, money, and frustration. Call us biased, but we’re quite partial to VoomaGo as an example of a company that works closely with you to determine your needs and answers questions to save you from bad surprises.

11. Always take the time to read about the culture (not just the arts and history) but the way people think, communicate, operate and go about establishing relationships.

12. If you have a physical, dietary, or anything else about you that is critical to having a great time, make sure you really have your bases covered, and if you can, ask a local how to go about it. This is particularly important as what you may read in books or websites might not be up to date.

13. Take a very good look at your finances to budget well for what your needs are. I strongly suggest that you change some money before leaving for your destination (200 to 300 dollars will generally do mostly everywhere).

14. Choose to travel with one credit card and a travel card (this is NOT your debit card – Ask your bank if they can create a travel account where you can deposit the dollar amount you think you will need so that if you lose it or is stolen, the impact to your savings is substantially reduced).

You can easily spend endless hours reading books, surfing the net, and looking through apps. I recommend you talk to a travel consultant with credible and trustworthy resources. A travel consultant is not a travel agent that will book your entire trip while pushing whichever discounts they may have that month. Instead a travel consultant addresses your needs, saves you time and money and prepares you with ease, assurance and excitement for a fantastic vacation.