One out of every three United States citizens makes their way out of the country on an annual basis. That might seem like a lot of people but if your friends and family members are homebodies, you may run into issues finding people to go on an international adventure with you, despite the odds being in your favor.
That conundrum leads a ton of budding adventurers to set out on solo expeditions. If you’re considering hitting the road solo, we can’t recommend organizing an itinerary enough.
Your first solo travel experience is going to be filled with fun, homesickness, heartache and everything in between. Armed with an itinerary, you’ll enjoy more highs and avoid more lows.
Here are a handful of the benefits that you’ll secure when you arm yourself with an itinerary!
1. You’ll Gain Broad Exposure to Your Possibilities
If you were dropped in the middle of a city that you’ve never been to before, what do you think the odds would be that you’d find the most rewarding experiences that the area has to offer? Probably not great.
When organizing an itinerary before your trip, you’ll be forced to do topical research on each of your destinations. That research will expose you to all of the possibilities that your destinations offer which will allow you to prioritize meaningful experiences.
2. Your Time Management Skills Will Flourish
Part of being an effective traveler is being cognizant of time. Whether it’s catching a flight or checking into a hotel room, through organizing an itinerary, you’ll become more aware of how time is going to affect your travels and how you can make the most of it.
Is there something to be said about choosing to forgo the time and going with the flow when traveling? Sure!
That being said, after missing a few flights, tours, and special events while you’re on the road, you’ll realize the importance of at least keeping time in the back of your mind.
3. A Good Itinerary Means Great Savings
If you’ve ever hired a stag do organiser or another party planner, you probably found that their organizational skills saved you money on costly experiences and that those savings more than made up for their professional fees. In a lot of ways, putting together a travel literary affords you those same benefits.
It will cost you time to craft a plan on how to best tackle your adventures. That time though will position you to find the best value in the places that you eat, stay and enjoy which will more than offset the expense of your effort.
4. Packing Will Become a Lot Easier
The biggest rookie solo travel mistake that we see just about everybody makes is that they overpack. Frankly, it’s hard to not overpack if you’re not organizing an itinerary because you don’t know what you’re going to be doing and consequently, have no idea how to dress.
By knowing the activities that you’ll be enjoying while traveling you can pack accordingly and be weighed down less during your adventures.
5. Memories Will Be Easier to Recount
As you get more travel experiences under your belt, you’ll find that it gets harder to remember exactly what you did during that trip you took seven years ago. With an itinerary, taking a walk down memory lane will be as easy as pulling up your old travel plans and reading them over.
That advantage might not seem valuable now but believe us when we say that you’ll love the feelings that an old itinerary fills you with when you review it a decade or so after an adventure.
6. Post-Trip FOMO Will Be Kept at Bay
There’s nothing worse than leaving a place only to realize that you missed out on a quintessential experience. For example, we can’t tell you how many people are unaware The National Archives Building in Washington D.C. houses the Declaration of Independence.
Don’t be the person that flies to D.C. and doesn’t see the founding documents of the country. Take the time to craft an itinerary and make sure that you tackle those common bucket-list items when the opportunity presents itself.
7. Your Itinerary Could Inspire Others
Having an itinerary for your solo travel adventures makes your trip a lot easier to communicate. That means that your itinerary could be used as an educational tool.
Don’t think that people have much interest in other people’s itineraries? Think again!
Trip Advisor, which specializes in sharing itineraries, gets 390 million visitors every month! If you were to post your itinerary on that site, any one of those people may get inspired by your planning skills and you could help them to enjoy a more fulfilling travel experience.
8. You’ll Understand the Kind of Traveler That You Are
Solo travel is all about self-discovery. When you try traveling with an itinerary, you’ll be able to see how you enjoy that experience versus playing things by ear.
Through that comparison, you’ll learn if the organization is your strong suit, if you’re more of a free-wheeler or if you’re a little bit of both.
Organizing an Itinerary Is Fun and Can Pave the Way for You to Have a Blast in Parts Unknown
We understand that it can be hard to inspire yourself to do the “homework” of organizing an itinerary when all you want to do is think about the fun you’re going to have on an upcoming trip. What many people find when they force themselves to plan though is that itinerary crafting can be a blast!
You’ll learn more about the areas you’re going to visit, find new things to get excited about and may even pick up tidbits about a local culture that can help you become a more empathetic person.
Looking to enjoy more thrilling write-ups on travel and other lifestyle topics? If you are, check out more of the content on our blog!
