Planning for the Next Trip

I usually have at least one trip planned in my head, so the planning usually starts on the flight home when I'm mulling over everything I liked about the trip I just had and what else I want to do.

I'm usually planning three or four trips ahead of the one I'm on.

I have a bunch of prospective trips "planned" in my head. When I get a chance to go on vacation I start searching airfares and the weighing the possibilities. Our next trip is to Portugal - had been thinking Italy of South of France and then I saw a "deal" to Portugal on my intended dates and that's how we decided on Portugal!

Michael, I think I am President and CEO of your illness club; I plan about 4 trips or so, go into massive detail, and then even before I leave on one, I plan for a couple more. I usually also plan on a couple during the trip. We take vacations about once a quarter or so; but unfortunately for 2010 it will be two trips; one in SB [probably to either NYC, Chicago or Toronto] and the big one to Paris on September. Though I am hoping to squeeze a quick weekend MLK weekend.

-crazyness needs a buddy

I always have at least a couple of trips in mind. Right now I am planning a September trip to Italy and Germany (Bavaria), but I am also thinking about a trip to France I hope to do in 2012. I keep my options open in case I find a good deal I can't pass up!

I usually start planning my trips (which are either in summer or September) shortly after Christmas. It gives me something to look forward to after the holidays are over and the cold gray weather sets in.

We usually plan anywhere from 1 year to 6 months in advance. That means we are contemplating one trips either during or just after our most recent.

I think most of us who love to travel have a long queue of trips in their head. I have a number of trips firmly planned for next year and am narrowing down possibilities for 2011.

I have two fairly big trips planneed for 2010 and thinking about another RS tour in 1011 if the tour is offered. If not, there is another RS tour I want to take. I also have some mini trips planned for 2010. There is always a queue in my head! It is part of the fun!

Michael,

I always have at least four or five trips on my list, so like you I'm often thinking about which one will be next even on the flight home.

However, the serious planning doesn't usually take place until several months after getting home. I'm usually so busy getting back to normal life after holidays, that I don't have a lot of time to think about the next trip.

I suspect there are many here on the HelpLine that suffer from "the travel illness".

Cheers!

Michael,

What you have is the European travel bug illness, so do I ever since my first trip over. It's an illness that makes us yearn for the next trip as the current one is coming to an end.

After this summer's nine week trip over there, I started planning for the next one, conceptually, once I got back as to the places I should or could have seen, for whatever I did not, and the places I have to go to next time. This past summer's long trip I had been planning and working out the details since the summer prior, roughly a year.

In 2010 I know it will be a short and limited one, 3-4 weeks max. but not 2011, when it will be much longer and more countries.

Even whilst I am travelling I am already thinking about the next trip or two. Nor is it just restricted to Europe. I also think a lot about trips to Asia (where my family come from), and other parts of the world as well. Not all of these plans come off of course, but enough to keep me happy. I would also say that you do have an illness and you must take time off work (in Europe perhaps).

These responses are so reassuring as I do the same thing, but worry that it is weird. No more. Right now, I have three trips planned out on a Word document and I regularly check flights for all of them. I love the planning phase.

I suspect that most of us here are "planners." That is a large part of the pleasure of travel to me - researching, reading, talking to people, etc. and trying to decide where to go and what to do once we get there. My husband is more than happy for me to make the arrangements. He is not the detail person that I am. He just wants me to remind him when it is time to pack!

You got it, Andrea....and how very true!!

I agree with all of you, especially Fred and Andrea, and it's comforting to know I'm not alone. I'm really melancholy during the flight home from a trip knowing it's over and I have to go back to work and back to the same old grind. During the flight home, I write my packing list out for the next trip based on what I didn't need to bring on this trip and what I should have brought but didn't. It's really helpful when it's time to pack for the next one. I, too, always have at least 2 trips going in my head...

Susan---I know exactly how you feel, as you so eloquently describe it. Melancholy is it when you're coming back on the plane and at the same time putting together a list for the next trip while the ideas are still fresh in your mind. Exactly!!

My last trip this summer was over nine weeks and had been in the planning stages off and on for a year; still I could have done things a little better. I'm working on one right now.

I always have at least three trip ideas in development.

Right now I'm considering a Baltic Cruise with at least an extra week to explore at the start or finish (as opposed to Finnish), a ferry hop around the Greek Isles, and a Britain tour that includes at least a week of walking.

I keep an eye out for bargains - that decides which trip I take next more than anything else.

Time available to us to travel, while still relatively healthy and ambulatory, is limited and there is a lot to see and do.

“Trip ideas in development” is a really good way to phrase it, and getting a deal on airfare always weighs heavily toward which destination I end up selecting. Something new for me this year was trying off season travel. I was a little worried about colder temps and shorter daylight hours, but the lack (and I mean serious lack) of tourists in November more than made up for any negatives in this area. There really weren't any drawbacks. Our A330 on the way over was maybe 1/3 full (nice), but the A340 on the way home was mostly full (still not bad). Given the cheap flights and lack of tourists, I’m tentatively looking at March and November again for 2010. You guys have nailed it with your thoughts…time to get back to work (and to slip in some planning as time permits). :)

I also have several trips planned in my head. I actually have a folder on my computer with a few itineraries, and I likely won't get another trip to Europe for at least two years. So, yes, I am definitely ill :)

We came back from our month in France very tired, but as soon as we recuperated from jet lag, I started talking about the next trip. We decided just to do Amsterdam and London with sidetrips. My husband picked tulip season, and as soon as I had acquired enough FF miles, we booked our next trip. This time he can talk to his heart's content in English and we will take it much slower.

And here I thought that there was something wrong with me, always planning the next trip as the current trip draws to a close! It's usually prefaced by the phrase "you know, I've been thinking". The trip(s) normally go through several incarnations before they become settled (and arrangements are sometimes put into place nearly a year in advance). However, the planning is half the fun (and if the trip does not come about for some reason, just think of all the interesting information I have accumulated in the process).

Except for doing things like throwing a coin over my shoulder into the Trevi Fountain, I'm usually too superstitious to plan very far in advance. It's just too painful to actually have plans not knowing when I can put them into action. I definitely have a strain of the same illness though. I've never understood those people who say," Boy, Venice was nice, but it's sure good to be home!" I'm never ready to return home, and in fact, I suffer reverse culture shock:-)

I've found that reverse culture shock can begin as early as at the gate, observing fellow Americans departing for home.

I am glad to see there are other people like me. I am constantly planning and changing trip plans. I have a long list of future trips that have been researched, mapped out, etc. I am going to Paris for 7 days in April but my husband and I are already dreaming up the next trip.

Last year, by happenstance, I was planning the next trip before I had left on the current one for 4 trips. Aside from looking forward to coming home after every trip, I really liked the idea of having one in the pipeline before leaving for the current one. So now I am trying to firm up my summer vacation with only 7 weeks to go before flying to Italy. Sadly I had to pass up a trip to Tunisia in October, because I have guests coming from abroad! I could easily manage to have TWO in the pipeline.

I am also guilty of this.

In fact, I think the planning can be a close second to doing the actual traveling.

I get a deep satisfaction from developing an interesting plan and then executing on it. I don't plan to the hour, but I do like to have a general idea by day.

I like coming home, assembling my trip journal and determining things I would do differently next time (and then building that into the next plan).