Have you scoured the internet, searching for the best, most amazing, and top 10 attractions in the cities you'll be visiting on your next trip? Made lists longer than your arm and vowed to give up sleep in order to squeeze in every last site and attraction that your twitter followers or facebook friends have recommended? If so, take a break; here are a few tricks and tips to make your next trip perfect.Doing too much planning can give you a headache and leave you with travel burnout upon your return home. And, worst of all, you arrive home with hundreds (or thousands) of photos on your camera and little or no recollection of what you saw. In order to keep myself from this problem, I've found a simple way to plan my perfect trip. It satisfies the "planner" part of my personality while leaving room for the spontaneous and fun part of me as well.
Go ahead and make your listIf you have a nagging urge to write a list - do it! Write down every last thing you want to do. Decide how long each attraction will take. Planning a trip to Auschwitz? Save a whole day for that. Touring Prague Castle? Save two to four hours.
Add some wiggle room
It may be tempting to cram your schedule full, but leave some time for wiggle room. While you think it may only take you an hour at the Museum of Communism, you might find yourself wandering in there for hours. Plan extra time for getting lost or long lines. You'd rather plan an hour for a walk that takes 45 minutes than plan 30 minutes and worry about lost time. Relax, grab that ice cream and wander down those quaint side streets. Sometimes the greatest finds are off the beaten path and found by accident (like the best currywurst I had in Berlin!)
Take some time to rest. If you're traveling between cities on a longer trip, plan for travel days and rest days. Or if you're doing a whirlwind weekend tour, take 20 or 30 minutes each day to relax, find a quiet place to journal or rest.
Rank your favoritesIf you only have two days in Berlin, you aren't going to see everything and enjoy it. You may decide that going to Checkpoint Charlie is more important than visiting Alexanderplatz. I usually make three lists. The first is the things I have to do - like visiting Brandenburg Gate and Unter den Linden. The second is things that I hope to get to, but might not have time for, like wandering through the Tiergarten. And the last list is things that sound interesting but I won't cry if I can't get to (because I spent too much time wandering around and eating food).
Change is constant!
Don't set your minute by minute plans in stone 3 months before you leave. Yes, some things must be reserved months in advance, such as tickets to Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper at the Santa Maria delle Grazie and therefore can't be changed. But most things can change and the best way to travel is to learn to go with the flow. Remember, there is always a next time!
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