Planning Your Way to Great Britain

Does travel planning leave you in a cold sweat, unable to catch a breath and wondering just how you're going to untangle this web of money, time, and logistical nightmares?  Personally, I find it a very creative experience and one you shouldn't be afraid of in the least!  In fact, there are ways to engage yourself creative ways you may not have explored yet.  Below are some tools you can use to help devise your travel itinerary.  You can use them not only to stimulate your own creative juices but to involve the family in this creative experience as well!  It will give the kids, the spouse, and everyone involved a sense of ownership of the experience.

Create an Inspiration Board

1.     Start a Pinterest account.

2.     Create a board called Inspiration Board.

3.     Collect pictures from the web to paste there.

Create a Destination Board

Based on your favorite inspirations, create a destination board.  When you've visited places, move them from the left side of the table to the middle column.  If there are places you want to spend more time exploring, move those to the far right.

Places I want to go	Places I’ve been	Places I want to explore further
Devon	London	London
The Lake District	Stratford Upon Avon
The Pembrokeshire coast	Stonehenge
Whitby	Dover

Create an Events Board

Based on places you want to go that you haven’t been yet, determine things you want to do there.  As you do them, move them to the right column.

Things I want to do	Things I’ve done
Tour by canal boat	Churchill’s War Rooms
Tour Windsor Castle	Buckingham Palace
Tour Hampton Court	Tower of London
Have tea at Claridges	Climb a Wainwright peak
Tour Parliament	Merlin’s cave

Create an Itinerary

Pull all your previous research into an itinerary.  Use the web to gauge your estimates.

Trip Item	Description
Theme, Goal, or Destination	Type at least three things you want to see. Include a theme, goals you’d like to achieve, or destinations to visit.
Budget	Decide on a budget for your trip.  For instance, $5,000.
Determine how you’ll travel	Plane, train, car rental, bus, foot, etc. Estimate cost
Determine lodging	B&B, camping, 4-Star hotel, Air BnB, etc. Estimate cost.
Events	Determine events, castles, sights, and other places that might incur a cost.  For instance, an Elizabethan banquet or seeing Windsor castle. Estimate cost.
Food	Pick an amount per day to allocate for food.  Multiply it by the number of days of your trip for the estimated cost.
Spending	Pick an amount per day to allocate for spending.  Multiply it by the number of days of your trip for the estimated cost.
Other fees	Kennel costs, trip insurance, gas, passport, etc.

The Finale

One your creative efforts are complete, total up the expenses.  If you're over budget, rework the plan until your budget and goals reflect what you want out of the trip. 

See! Told you it was fun. :)