Our Vacation Planning Guide

Once we know which region, state or country we plan to visit, I create a customized Google Map for that area.  I search websites, using phrases like “Best things to do in…” or “What to see in…” or “Historical attractions in…” or “… off the beaten path.”  From these searches, I identify places that we may want to visit.  Here is a guide on how to build a Google Map.

I then add these possible visit sites to my Google Map using different icons for different types of places (i.e., one icon for museums, another for wildlife, another for historic site).  Usually this results in more than 100 possible sites to visit on any vacation.

If a site appears on all of the “best of” lists, then we are likely to NOT visit it, since we know it will be crowded.  As noted above, we may make an exception if the site is truly unique.

This mapping process allows me to see where numerous sites are clustered together.  Based on these clusters, we look for lodging close to the best sites, or in the areas with the most sites, or that have the most diversity in site types.

Here is our customized Google Map for our upcoming trip to Northumberland.

When visiting places with rich tourist infrastructures, we research convenience features.  For instance, the National Trust in the UK manages many historical sites, including castles, historic manor houses and cottages.  These sites generally charge entrance fees, which can add up quickly.  However, you can purchase an annual pass from National Trust, which pays for itself very quickly.  Likewise, if you go to Florence, you can expect very long lines for most of the museums and galleries.  If you purchase the Firenze card, you can skip the lines and you do not need reservations at most sites.  When we visited Rome, we visited the Coliseum.  But by doing a bit of research first, we discovered that the normal entry does not provide access to the underground level or the top level.  So, I planned ahead, bought my ticket online, and I was able to get a guided tour of these interesting places.

Driving abroad is not for everyone...  

The signs can be confusing, the roads can be narrow, the rules can be slightly different, and multi-lane roundabouts can be downright frightening.  For many travelers, driving abroad is simply not worth the hassle.  But if you feel comfortable in your driving skills, and you are prepared in advance, it is great to have the level of freedom that self-driving affords.  We have love driving in Europe, Canada and Australia, but we would not drive in Asia.  We would drive in Mexico and South America, but have not had the opportunity to do so yet.  Other travelers love driving in Asia, so it’s really a matter of your comfort level with chaos and uncertainty.  The best driving advice we received was from a tour guide in Italy… “Slow and Brave.”  This means that when approaching a crazy intersection without stoplights, go into the intersection slowly, predictably and bravely.  If you wait for an opening, it will not come.  Just edge your way in, and others will give way.  That worked like a charm, though it was a bit harrowing.

Our first rule in driving abroad is that side-seat-driving is not only allowed, it’s required.  Four eyes are better than two when driving in unfamiliar places.  So, if I am driving, and Kristin points out an obvious danger up ahead, I can’t say “Yeah.  What, do you think I’m blind?”  Instead, I need to say “Thank you for pointing that out.”  I know it may seem silly, but this little rule has helped us avoid many an expensive accident.

Car Insurance...

Because we book our cars on a travel Visa card, we have fairly good car insurance without having to buy any from the car rental company.  However, if you get into a scrape (and we have, several times), then it can be a pain to process the paperwork from Visa.  Purchasing comprehensive coverage from the rental car is usually much more convenient, but also much more expensive.  So, if the rental car company insurance is cheap or required (as in South Africa), then we purchase it there.  Otherwise, we go with our Visa coverage.

GPS...

The first time we traveled to the UK, I had color-coded maps and a road atlas with our routes highlighted in yellow.  Then we spent 45 minutes trying to find our way out of Heathrow Airport.  Our first stop after finding our way to freedom?  An electronics store, where we bought a GPS.

These days, if we’re driving, we’re GPSing.  You can easily use the maps/directions feature on a cell phone, but we like the GPS option better.  Before we embark on our vacation, I load our lodgings and nearby markets onto my Google Map for the area.  Then I export the map as a KML file.  I then import this file onto our GPS (not all GPS units have this feature, so be buy one that does).  We use a Garmin Nuvi 2559LMT North America and Europe.  

When we pick up our rental car, our first step is to set up the GPS and plug it into the cigarette lighter.  With the GPS up and active, we simply open up our bookmarked locations, pick the one we want to go to, and drive off to adventure.

This approach has three distinct advantages over maps.  First, it allows both of us to watch the road, rather than one of us staring at a map.  Second, the GPS tells us which lane to be in (this is great on the freeway).  Third, we miss fewer turns, which reduces stress while driving.  It’s important to note, however, that letting the GPS do our thinking can get us into trouble.  On one memorable drive in Portugal, the road kept getting narrower and narrower as we followed the GPS directions into a village.  Then suddenly, the road became a sidewalk, not wide enough for the car.  Backing up was not an option, since we had driven over bridges barely wider than the car.  So we had to turn around in a very tight corridor.  It took us ten minutes to make the turn, with me driving and Kristin directing from outside.  It must have been quite the spectacle, since we attracted a crowd of onlookers, some of whom were taking pictures of us.  But it made for a great story to tell later! 

Another GPS consideration is parking.  When we set off for a castle in Wales, we found ourselves on a small one-lane side road, and then suddenly the GPS said “navigate off road,” meaning, presumably, drive up the side of the hill through the forest to reach the castle.  It turns out that I had marked the location of the castle on my Google Map, and not the parking lot for the castle.  So, the GPS took us as close to the castle as possible (which was not the parking lot), then told us to get out and walk from there.  Consequently, when I build my Google Maps now, I always add in the parking lot if it is far from the actual visit site. 

We have never travelled on a multi-day organized tour, though these will become more appealing as we get older.  However, we have had great luck with day-trip tours.  These often come in two forms: private tours and group tours.  We use viator.com to find most of our tours, though we sometimes use local websites as needed (for instance, regional tourism sites often list local tour companies).  

In Portugal, we joined a group tour (approximately 6 other travelers) to paleolithic sites, led by an anthropologist.  The tour company provided the van and the guide.  In Italy, we hired a private guide to Pompeii and Herculaneum, led by a local archeologist.  For that tour, we provided our the car.  In France, we hired a private tour of some fascinating sites near Verdun, again using our own vehicle.  In Cambodia, we hired private guides with cars to take us to the outlying temples of Angkor Wat.  In all of these instances, we visited places we would not have been able to access alone, and our guides pointed out things we would have never seen.  Local tour guides are amazing.  We recommend them wherever possible.  In fact, there are several places where we regret not hiring guides (for instance, Florence).

We are the worst packers in the world.  We pack for every contingency, no matter how unlikely.  As a result, we each have one suitcase (usually close to the 50 pound airline limit), one backpack (usually way too large and too full) and one rolling carryon bag.  I take a ton of camera and computer gear, in addition to my plethora of other stuff.  Traveling with this much luggage is a pain, and if we travelled by train instead of rental car, we might pare down a bit.  But if you’re looking for packing advice, look elsewhere.  We’re the last people you should ask how to pack lightly. When we visited Siem Reap (near Angkor Wat), our hotel sent a tuk tuk to pick us up from the airport.  When the driver saw our luggage, he took a step back and had to think about how best to tackle it.  The other tuk tuk drivers were laughing.  So yeah, we’re THOSE people.