Whether it’s a getaway for a day or you’re full-sending a Mamma Mia vacay, here are some tips for planning your perfect trip! Don’t fear the word tip, you won’t be confronted with an iPad after reading these. 

Whether you’re the Type A, B, or “I’m OOO so IDC” friend, these are universal enough for your next trip to Universal or across the universe. 

These tips are for my more planning inclined friends, or pro-tip if you’re not, go on and send this to your travel bestie who is:

Can I phone a friend?

Some of my favorite adventures have come from asking, “Hey, didn’t you go to Portland last summer?” and then getting an all-caps reply like, “YES, and you must get the maple bacon donut.” Pro tip: once you’re there, snap a pic and send it to them—it’s the modern version of a postcard but with more emojis and fewer stamps. Though you’re not there together, you can share memories of the same place.

Shopping Your Closet Haul

Cue the music and montage, it’s time to shop your closet. To start, for my most recent trip, I went through and took pictures of myself in tops, bottoms, and dresses I wanted to bring. I used the “sticker” feature in my phone to add those photos to my notes app. This is a great inventory reference for what I am already thinking about bringing, and it helped me greatly decrease my list of what I thought I needed. While I am out shopping, I can reference it to see if this new piece is 1, needed, and 2, if it would work well with anything else I am already bringing.

Who wore it best?

The inspiration pic or the recreation pulled off from a trip to Goodwill? While I love Anthropologie, I don’t always love their prices. It is fun and frugal to get inspired by their timeless classic style and go on a hunt for similar pieces. Maybe it’s the primal urge of hunter/gathering, but there is a great dopamine in finding unique recreations that I often like better as does my budgeting app. Don’t tell Miranda, I still want to go to Paris.

Tabs before Take-off

Dust off your Patagonia vest and step into my office because there’s a trip to plan. My first step when going on a trip is making a spreadsheet. I have categories for: Lodging, Food and Drinks, Activities, Tips, and “Wow in a dream world I would get to do this thing I’ve seen in 57 TikToks.” I do research for each of these categories and then organize it by day. It is helpful to send it to whoever you are traveling with to make it collaborative. Hopscotching back to the first tip, this comes in handy when you have a friend traveling and want to give them recs!

No one who “Wanderlogs” is Lost

My most toxic relationship is with Google Maps when I travel. I hate the stress of, “Okay, wait, this restaurant is downtown, but the museum is…where?” especially when we have all been there, tripping on the cobblestone in our high heels we should have left at home. In this app,” Wanderlog,” you can input all of the places you want to visit and separate them by day, and it will MAP it all for you!! This Spring I went to Indianapolis, I wanted to visit all of the places I’ve heard John Green mention over the years (big time “Nerdfighter” here) and this app made it so streamlined for me to see the Funky Bones from The Fault in Our Stars as well as realizing the World’s Largest Ball of Paint was probably too far away for this trip (I’m coming for you next time!!).

A Spotify playlist

My love language of burning friends CDs* (**See Note: Music on a shiny disk) with custom covers in High School has become, in the digital age, making a playlist. I love, months later, when I have the blues for the Blue Ridge to throw on some songs and think, “Ah, I remember driving with my brights on down a windy road to this as I dodged some deer.”

Invest in a few quality travel packing essentials

A phone leaning against a tissue box on the balcony, a Sephora compact, the dusty mirror of your Naked palette; these are just a few of the setups I have used to do make-up around the world. Though there is an upfront cost, it will truly be less than the cost of untangling your necklaces from your Glossier Pink Pouch for the third night in a row. Some of my essentials: a jewelry case, high-quality toiletry bottles in an actual zipper pouch, a travel mirror, a cord organizer, an airplane pillow (one of those crazy ones with cutouts for your face and arms that I now cannot travel without).

Souvenirs

I am a fiend for carry-on wherein I tend to collect postcards or small pieces of art. I love walking into my home and seeing vibrant small paintings that are picturesque pictures of the places I have traveled. Playing cards with photos on them are great too and perfect to bust out in the airport after Spirit delays your flight for the 5th time.

 

Speaking of postcards, if you take a trip and use any of these tips or have any we missed, let us know! Til’ then, may your troubles be as light as your luggage and your joys as serendipitous as spotting your bag first at baggage claim. Tray tables up, flight attendants—prepare for all-call. TSA you later!!