So how far in advance are you planning? And what?

Omg I love trip planning. I always have 4-6 mental trips going. Furthest out is 2020 summer potential Europe.

Kelly, me too. The trip we did last September was one I devised and thought about for at least six or seven years.

LOL Andrea if you want to consider "mental" trips, those are limitless...I've been "planning" a Danube river cruise for, oh, 12 years and have not yet pulled the trigger on that one. One day! :)

ETA I hear you about the cost of RS Tours. It always scares me away. Especially since I always have a lot of hotel points, I just cannot justify the cost, but it sure does look fun.

After three trips in three years to Europe, we're delaying our next overseas jaunt--I just like to write "jaunt" once in awhile--to Scotland until 2021 or 2022 with RS.

Going to see some of the USA for a change. Cruise up the coast of New England, and then another cruise from Seattle up to Alaska.

We have a list of places and then decide what we can afford over the next 3-5 years. Las Vegas and the desert southwest, Costa Rica or Belize... I think all together I've covered 4-5 years of travel plans in this post.

Iceland, but man that's expensive!

Andrea, Michigan in February? Good luck fighting through the crowds.

Furthest trip out actually booked is Galapagos for February 2020. Now starting to think about summer 2020, but won't actually book anything until much later. We have been a real sweet spot with our 2 kids - old enough to be easy travelers, young enough to still be on our schedule. We've been so many places with them over the past 7 years. But now our oldest is going into high school and the schedule is trickier. He is missing almost 2 weeks of basketball workouts this summer to go to Greece with us and is seriously bummed - he'd rather stay home and play basketball! (I understand...I was the same way at that age). So I've promised I won't actually book any big family trips for next summer until we're certain of the sports schedules.

I am planning out a nice draft for a trip that will go new york/Paris /Normandy/Strasbourg /Salzburg /Venice/napels /Rome /New York. 16 days in the 2nd half of May of 2020. I have been working out the details now because I'm going to be buying the airline tickets in the next month, and I want to make sure I've allowed enough days.

I'm too busy planning our remaining 4 trips(2 in the US) for 2019. 2020 will probably depend on where my husband has meetings-Paris, Loire, Colmar in May is a possibility.

It's nice to know I am not the only one who has several trips in mind that would take years for us to get through. :)

We're going to Italy this October...flights and accommodations are all booked. I have our itinerary all planned out for our trip to France in summer 2020...just waiting to hear about our booking for a photoshoot before booking those flights and accommodations.

Then in 2021 the plan is to explore England.

I've gotten as far as planning to go to Uganda in 2022.

Wow, someone is speaking my language. This year we are taking it easy, driving back to Montreal and Quebec because we are both (hubby and I) retiring in Janauary 2020. We have a wedding in Dublin in May, but we are trying to decide on that BIG retirement trip, no expenses spared. We are thinking Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong for 4 weeks. Reading past posts here about best time to go, hotels, cities, etc. Then i get to thinking about RS Turkey tour. We haven’t been on one of his tours yet, but it is on the list. So much goes into making the decision, it’s fun discussing all the possibilites. But first, we have to get to retirement.

Looking to see what the RS Tours for 2020 look like in July when they are released. Any new ones, we are in. Otherwise probably Eastern France or South Italy. You are well traveled and spending some $CAD’s but I’m not sure you are calculating the price/value of the RS tours when you say it runs up against a budget. If you calculate expert guides, easy entry to otherwise difficult sites, meals, hotels, logistics, a RS tour is a bargain.

For the US I'll be back in Texas in Nov, am planning that pertaining to Austin, which I saw the last time in 2008, and will be seeing San Antonio too...again.

On Europe...mentally another big trip is in the offing, set for May 2020, conceptually for 12-13 (including England) weeks, working within that time frame, basically to see those places I don't have time for on this summer's upcoming trip and taking into consideration more budget accommodations.

When I'm planning our current trip, I'm always thinking about next year. I'm hoping to take my mom back to Italy next year but can't broach the subject with my husband until this year's trip is over (or until we are closer - I may bring it up in Aug), or he'll just roll his eyes. And don't really want to mention it to my mom in case hubby isn't on board (but I'm sure he will be). So I'm just doing some mental planning about where to take her. But I'm trying to casually bring up the 'is there other places in Europe you've always wanted to see' subject without tipping my hand. She said to me in the Spring - 'if you go back to the Amalfi Coast, take me with you'...which got the brain thinking. She isn't getting any younger and is still in good health, so I don't want to wait a few years. This will most likely be the only other trip she gets to Europe (she goes to visit my sister in the UK, but she doesn't stray from Portsmouth and she'd never travel on her own) so if she's always wanted to see Paris or Amsterdam or wherever, I'll make it happen - within reason, of course, I'm not gonna bounce all over Europe. But if there is nowhere else she really wants to go other than Amalfi Coast, then I'm thinking Florence and Lake Como as well (we did Rome and Venice last time she came with us).

I have a few smaller trips in the US in the next few months (visiting friends and family, mostly).
Then a long weekend in the Yucatan Mexico over spring break - March.

And as I just got back from my big international trip of 2019 it’s time to start thinking about where to go in 2020, I hope to go to Europe in June 2020 so now it’s a question of where specifically. I have a few ideas but nothing planned yet. By September I should know what region/country I want to visit and can commence planning!
I guess I am “planning” in that I’m reading about 3 different areas to decide which to choose!

Thank you all for the interesting replies!

BigMike, what crowds in Michigan in February? Or was that tongue in cheek? We have done Black Friday shopping in Frankenmuth/Birch Run, so we can face it! In truth I might decline the birthday trip, if it comes to this.

MH, so basketball is getting in the way of your travel? Currently around these parts we are all basketball mad!

Cala, I wish my husband (or I) had meetings abroad. His work once sent him to Siberia for six weeks. How I wish I had found a way to check that out. He said it wasn't much to look at, but that it was interesting in its way (Chita). It was the Mother Russia of all business trips, lol.

Barbara, congrats on your upcoming retirement! I'm envious! (only 10.5 years to go!)

Alan, I've done the math on the RS tours, and I can't justify the cost. In the back of my mind I've often thought -- maybe for a special occasion, like my 50th, or retirement... but then I think about how much more travel I can afford independently. We seldom think we've missed much because we do lots of research. For instance, the tour I wanted to do was Sicily, and in $CAD it would be $6150 for the two of us at today's exchange rate. I can do a lot of travel for $6150, good guides and sites included. You say I'm well traveled -- sometimes I think so, but I'm certainly not compared to most people who hang around here, or over on Cruise Critic.

Nicole, you are a good woman to travel with your Mom. That could never, and will never, be the case for me!

Sounds like we've all got lots of dreams and plans going forward!

What a fun topic!
I love planning trips and usually have a couple destinations I am thinking about while planning a current one.
This year I have completed Egypt and I am looking forward to Bergen, Norway in August.
And next year I have already booked tickets to Turkey and Hungary, accommodation confirmed as well.
Booking trips this early allows me to budget more effectively, and I avoid having a large credit card bill when I return or before I leave.
Now for the rest of the year I can enjoy reading my RS Istanbul and Hungary guide books.
I then spend time reading this travel forum which gives me ideas for upcoming destinations (thanks James E., Christa and Jane!),
and for those I may be contemplating.
I may do Morocco or Croatia and Slovenia in 2021 or fall of 2020 :-).


I'm going to Poland for two weeks in October. That itinerary is already set and the majority is already paid off. This will only be my second time in Europe!

For 2020, I'm thinking about sticking around the U.S. I haven't been out west since 2017 when I went to Utah and Arizona. I'd like to visit somewhere a bit farther north -- maybe Central California (San Francisco, Highway 1, Sacramento, Yosemite, etc.) or Washington (Seattle, North Cascades, Olympia, etc.)

The next time I go to Europe (possibly 2021), I'd like to go further east -- maybe Bulgaria or Ukraine. I would also like to do Amsterdam, Portugal and possibly the U.K. (if I can scrounge up enough money)...but those are likely future trips.

Still debating on when to go to South America for the first time. I think Colombia would be a great introductory country.

Haven't even seriously considered Asia and Africa yet.

So many places to see and so little time!

@Andrea, oh, the bane of the Canadian dollar....I so hear you. I am a solo traveler, and I have no regrets not taking tours. It is certainly budget, but also inclination. I travel slower than RS pace. There will come a time I do some of the Road Scholar trips, but not until retirement, I think. Also being more of a loner means I get really, really sick of people after a few days.
How does anyone get through 5-6 months of Winter if it isn't by getting lost in travel planning? Winter 2018 I was planning a 3 week Vienna-Budapest-Prague trip for April 2019. It didn't happen. Instead, I had more impromptu trips arrive in my Inbox that scuttled the budget for this Spring. I also actually travelled enough from June - December that I am not interested in packing the suitcase and going, so not much 'maybe I should plan to go to 'x'. I had a week in Grand Cayman (time share exchange confirmed 11 months out) and an impromptu flight to San Francisco to visit a friend in May, but other than that I am sort of reluctant to commit.
I did spent this winter - all 6 months of it - planning a return to Italy for April/May 2020. It has morphed from a 3 week land trip to a 2 week land/1 week cruise and this current iteration is 20 day Dubai to Venice cruise with a few nights in Venice added on. Even now, I am allowing myself the option of cancelling that. I have the refundable deposit down, and quite seriously planning and researching (ports and Venice), but given my apathy to pack and travel, I may say 'nay'.
For the first time in years, I have not planned a week south for Winter 2020.
I have an entire spreadsheet with semi/fully drafted trips that I started some years ago. Some I have done, others may never happen....something more interesting or opportunistic gets in the way.
The past 10 years I have made a point of hitting my 'biggies' before their either change, get too crowded, or I am not able to afford them on a retired woman's budget. I am now at the point where I am still interested in travel, and will plan it, but it may be at a less frequent pace and I can die without regrets of not seeing 'X'.
I think my longest plan was a trip to Uganda. I started inquiring in Feb 2013 and trip of a 4+week Tanzania birding safari, Uganda birding and primates (including gorilla treks) and 3 days Istanbul executed in Jan 2015. Safaris are complicated.....

Oh...I get along so well with my mom. She’s no trouble and I think my husband actually enjoyed her being along, because mom and I are both early risers, so we would go out at 7am and let him sleep in, coming back a few hours later to collect him. My mom is a very ‘go with the flow’ person. After our trip in 2014, I did a photo book up for her and she tells me she still takes it out and looks at it. And mom is alone now, my dad having passed away in 2011, so I want to give her some adventures.

Now, if my mother in law were still around, as nice as she was, I’d NEVER have been able to travel with her! And I don’t think my husband would have been able to either.

While we were on our spring trip to France and the UK we impetuously decided to go to Italy and Switzerland in Sept/Oct. Set that up on the fly but we are only visiting three locations so not a lot of detail required. We are not usually so impetuous!

Also starting discussions on a 2020 fall trip to Europe which will include old favorites and new-to-us venues. Our favorite trips center on walking/hiking and we are increasingly rural in our choices a along as we don’t have to rent a car. Our recent trip to Wales gave us a taste of walking in the UK countryside and I want more!

Like many of you, I have trips in my head for future years and have resisted an organized tour (Rick Steves, Road Scholar) because I can make the money go further when we DIY, plus we travel at a very relaxed pace. When we can no longer don the hiking boots and want to hang up our trekking sticks, we’ll look at tours.

2 trips!

Mid to late October: a long weekend to London for theatre and maybe 1 day trip.

April 2020: A week based in the Basel area (maybe Saint-Louis) and doing day trips to Colmar, Freiburg, Strasbourg, and maybe 1-2 Swiss cities. I've got a lot of planning to do as I'll be on my own and want to stay in a hotel within my budget (maybe that's why I'll need to stay in Saint-Louis as Switzerland is expensive) within walking distance of the train station and in a neighborhood of restaurants, boutiques, churches. Delta has very inexpensive airfare to Zurich ($586 roundtrip JFK-ZRH) and I want to grab that. The day and night before I fly home, I'll stay in Zurich and find an Ibis or something I can afford.

Great topic! Love reading about everyone’s plans! We are taking our first RS tour to Greece in October. Just the hubs and I, no kids! We (my hubs and I) would like to travel in the off season as we both hate crowds. A retired friend of mine is going to stay with our kids.
Then next spring, France. Either independently or another RS tour.
Still further out, when my husband retires in about 6 yrs, a World Cruise! It’s my dream trip!

Andrea, tongue firmly in cheek.

The cruises are a week and total about $2000 for the two of us, minus shore excursions, parking, etc. I checked several websites for reviews before deciding. Of course we get an inside cabin, or the cheapest option. I once splurged for an "ocean view" and the view was of a lifeboat. We are only in our cabin to sleep, anyway. I'm good for a week on a boat and that's enough, my friends.

Andrea,
I usually have several trips mentally planned in advance. For 2019, I have 2 trips planned for New York, one upstate and one to NYC over Labor Day weekend.
Then I'm signed up for the RS Munich Salzburg Vienna tour in December, arriving 2 days early to Munich and staying 1 day post tour in Vienna.

For 2020, I recently booked flights with Delta using miles (a good deal) to Venice and home from Florence to Atlanta. I will spend 5 nights in Venice, take the train to Florence for 6 nights. A friend will join me in Florence and we will fly home together. Planning activities and hotels, etc. is underway!

For later in 2020, I haven't committed yet to a RS tour to either St. Petersburg Tallinn Helsinki or the Scandinavia tour, probably in September. These 2 tours are on the top of my list.

I finished my Switzerland (Murren & Lucerene) and Paris trip two weeks ago. For 2020 I offered my mom Provence at the end of September or Christmas Markets. She chose Christmas Markets. So I am looking/planning for flying out of LAX or SFO Thanksgiving weekend and visiting Germany, Austria and ending in Amsterdam, my niece lives in The Hague. For 2021 I am looking at either Ireland & North Ireland or Budapest & surrounding area.

Andrea,

So, our son is thinking of going to University in Europe in Fall 2020. (Universities there are SIGNFICANTLY less expensive than in the U.S., their fully accredited, and offer a wealth of English-taught classes).

We are leaving on July 6th for a 2-week trip starting in Amsterdam, then Belgium, Paris, Toulouse, and ending up in Barcelona. We've been working through the details for the past several months but only just booked flights and hotels in the last couple of days. In spite of all the 'warnings' about booking too late, Europe in July, etc. we found great airfares, and hotel rooms in all the places we'll be travelling to. Took a bit of extra work this close to departure date, but very do-able.

Happy Travels!

I have a bucket list, but no real planning goes into it. I don't consider the US or Canada a trip, so I don't include those adventures although I certainly plan them, but there is little advance warning to them, which I like for these domestic trips, and the states that really seem like a foreign trip I won't go to see anymore. International trips are usually planned starting about 6 months before the departure date. The only time planning was much longer than that was a RS Greece tour...something for me to do while my husband recovered from an illness...the planning started about 9 months ahead of the trip to distract me. We/I travel independently so I don't need a lot of lead time. However, we are thinking about the new/old RS Istanbul tour in the fall of 2020, because there is too much going on at home before then, and that is a place we/I would prefer a tour...we think. The fall of 2020 seems a ridiculously long way out to plan, so I'm just waiting and watching, if it starts 'filling fast' then I might have to start the more serious planning and sign up. So in reality, my plans start 6 months or less out for the trip unless it is a guided tour apparently, and then I think a longer out because it fits better...

We leave on our first RS tour tomorrow! We have traveled independently multiple times, so I’m excited to compare. I have a bucket list of ideas for next time, but my travel companion is getting married 😞( my daughter) and won’t be able to take extended trips with dear old Mom anymore and my husband is good for maybe every 5 years or so. This is putting a crimp in my travel dreams! Next on 5 list...Poland,Portugal, Croatia, Spain, southern Italy...

@KathiMac, sounds like you now have the opportunity for solo travel :-) Many of the countries on your list have local accommodations in respectable 2* pensions, pensiones, hostales, etc. The way Rick traveled before he got too used to comfortable and fancier rooms and lodgings. If you do the travel planning anyway, you are ahead of the game for solo. If you don't need a front desk, I actually get more for my $ from short let apartments via AirBnB.

I wait until I have enough AA miles for two round-trip tickets in business class. AA is pretty stingy with those seats if you book with the "Saver" option; so I always book way far ahead. I booked our September 2019 flights to/from Paris in December 2018. All that's left for me to do is buy train tickets as they become available.

I'm currently planning a trip to Greece. Probably to Athens, Delphi, Crete, and one island - jury's still out on which one.

To be honest, I’m always reading travel forums, so I’m always getting ideas. But, I’m also planning a move and a job change, so that’ll hurt the travel opportunities for 2020.

I typically plan specifics 6-12 months in advance, but now that I'm semi-retired I have a tentative list for the next few years. We recently finished our 2019 trip to Europe (Barcelona, Provence, Nice) and also visited Mexico City in March. I'm already planning for 2020: one week in Muerren/Lucerne and another week most likely in the Dordogne/Lot Valleys. For 2021 I'm considering Greece, Scandinavia, or Central Europe. I'm also trying to figure out a way to fit in a trip to Costa Rica. I love the planning aspect, and think I'm unlikely to take a tour until I get to the point where I don't want the responsibility any more. But I completely understand the advantage of having that taken care of if there isn't the time or desire to plan independently.

Nothing wrong with Bronner’s in Frankenmuth for about 10 minutes, then go have dinner at Zehnders. Yes, I am joking. We generally finalize plan trips 6 months in advance, or more. Trip ideas can happen one to two years in advance. Iceland was nice for a few days. We spent a week in Buenos Aires and loved it. Since you’re not opposed to S. America, we once got a great deal on a flight to Quito, Ecuador. We also enjoyed Santiago, Chile. Why not do Sicily on your own rather than a tour. It would be cheaper.

Due to a self-imposed job duties change--love it, but feel absolutely trapped by the responsibility because as of this writing I am the only person here who can do this stuff--I may need to consider taking 1 week or so trips, but maybe 2 of them, so I am annoyed that I can't have any actual trips to look forward to. Thinking a week in Budapest next May with trips to other towns, other option is 8 days split between Paris and London, both would be revisits. I'm just glad I managed 2 weeks in the Baltics + Budapest before an avalanche of work fell on me :)

I was hoping for a trip to Croatia/Slovenia this fall. My girlfriend's brother (and family) asked about taking a Windstar type cruise. That evolved to chartering a boat to sail. I've been asked to captain the boat in February, so that's the current planning.

Biggest thing, making sure my sailing credentials are adequate (to the charter company) for a bare-boat charter.

We're still deciding on the boat and destination. We started with BVI but may end up in Belize or similar depending on availability of boats and convenience of flights. I'd love a catamaran, for the space, but it's more expensive and more work (especially to dock) without a knowledgeable crew. The kids are taking sailing courses this summer but just on tiny boats.

The farthest out I've planned is late Spring next year-a family trip to Croatia and Slovenia. In between then and now I will be going to Greece, Portugal and then next month, Paris with my two oldest granddaughters. I love, love, love having trip planning and the resulting travel to look forward to. This is a fun topic, Andrea. Thanks for starting it.

My wife and I have a 'date' every Sunday morning at Tim Horton's (the Canadians will understand) to read guidebooks and plan future travels. Sometimes it's just to add to the bucket list and sometimes it's specific. We just got back from the RS Loire to the South of France. We booked it last summer and spent every Sunday researching/planning/anticipating. We're not sure what our date for the upcoming Sunday is going to be, but Scotland or Sicily is in the mix for next year. By the way, if you bring a Rick Steves book to a Tim Horton's on a Sunday morning you get involved in a lot of conversations as people walk by. My nervousness about driving for the first time in England during the planning stages was comforted somewhat by a person sitting next to us and noticed my London book. He had lived outside of London for a few years and he described his experiences on driving for the first time on the other side of the road.

I also love reading historical fiction and I'll usually pre-plan books a few months out to coincide with the trip. Ready tale of Two Cities and Three Musketeers before France.

@Allan, nice dates. Do you have 2 RS guides? Does one read to the other? Side by side reading with 'wait, don't turn the page, I'm not done yet?' Just trying to picture how that plays out..;-)

Maria, we usually have two books (not always RS books) and sometimes a laptop as well. Sometimes the fight starts if we both want to look at the same book ;).

Sometimes the fight starts if we both want to look at the same book Then I hope it is quiet 'rock, paper, scissors'. One doesn't want to get kicked out of Timmy's on a planned morning out.

We only have one RS book on each topic, and on at least one occasion I've said to Mary, "I can take that book from you if I wanted to."

She just makes a face and ignores me.

All these trips sound wonderful! I power through the mundane by dreaming about future trips and listening to other people talk about theirs!

We are leaving in 4 weeks for our trip to England, Scotland and Ireland. We are taking my mom for her first overseas adventure, and I cant wait!

In October we are going to Turkey. A few days in Istanbul, Ephesus and Cappadocia.

Next March we are planning a hiking trip to Patagonia to celebrate my hubby's 40th birthday.

That is the end of our officially planned trips, but we are thinking in December 2020 we may take my 20 year old sister in law to London, Paris, Vienna and Rome for a couple of weeks. She has been wanting to go and her parents have no interest, so we told her we would take her.

We probably need to take a break after that, but I am holding out hope for the RS Adriatic or Southern Italy tour in 2021. We will see what happens.

Nicole, I have traveled a few times with my step-mother-in-law and father-in-law. It went very well until the last trip, in April. They seem to have lost their adventurous spirit (or maybe they never really had it, and I didn't notice), and have gotten hesitant and fearful. We were pretty frustrated with them by the end. I think that will be the last time with them for anything overseas.

BigMike, I had an interior room on my first cruise and still had a blast. But on the 2nd we got a balcony... now can't go back.

Jaimeelsabio, in Frankenmuth, I prefer the chicken dinner at Bavarian Inn to the one at Zehnders. In truth, neither are all that good, but it is the thing you do when you are there. We'll be there in July for one night after three nights in Indiana for a Liverpool game.

Allan, sometimes I am envious of couples who have such a shared approach to trip planning, and work the enthusiasm into daily life together. But then I remember that it is better if Chris lays off my planning. I choose -- though I've learned I need to tempt him with certain things I know he'll want to do (e.g., convinced him to go to Sarlat after I showed him the canoeing option in Rick's show, or tell him we can go to some cheesy torture museum).

Maria, you're right that the planning gets us through the long winter. It would be better to actually be on a trip, but I'll take the dreaming.

Thanks everyone! Now soon back on the job for the afternoon to afford those travels!

We are 3 weeks away from our 2019 trip to Italy (exploring castles and then a deeper exploration of the Ligurian coast). We have an Alaskan cruise with an aging relative in the planning stages for 2020 and then maybe a week on the east coast later that year. But that means no European travel for 2020 and that has left me a little sad. However, that just gives us plenty of time to plan for 2021. Trips that are in our mental back pocket are Sicilia, France and Barcelona, some combination of Cambodia, Thailand & Laos, the Greek Isles, London and Belgium, Croatia (again). So many trips, too little time and money!

No real trips planned for now.

I also turn 50 next year — in January, so I am thinking of renting a house in Scotland in May 2020 and inviting friends to join. People can’t travel in early January, they’re just back from their Christmas and New Year’s Leave — so why not wait a few months to celebrate (and take advantage of not only better weather but also all the early May French holidays!!). We’ll see if I go through with it.

And definitely have to go home to OK for Thanksgiving - my driver’s license expires at the end of November!

Andrea...my mother in law was one of those people who would say...why do you have to go see it in person when you can just look at a photo of it. My father in law was in the RCAF, so he travelled some, including to Australia or New Zealand and some places in Europe. Other than living on bases in Manitoba, Quebec and back home in NS, I don’t think m-i-l had any interest in travelling.

The last 10-15 years of her life, she didn’t even want to go in the car for a few hours to visit her friends in her hometown...it was such a big production for her.

Our longest planned trip was about two years since we wanted a particular river cruise and it tended to fill up by about 18 months out. The shortest was four days when a pair of seats opened up on a charter flight to Europe. Obviously very little planning. We have boasted that we could packed and at the airport ready to go in three hours if necessary.

Well, let’s see. Been thinking about the trip to Costa Rica with my granddaughter when she turns 10 (in another year) ever since I came back from a trip to Paris two years ago with her sister.

I toured part of the Canadian Rockies last September and had an extended weekend trip to Vancouver BC with my sister in February.

Longer term planning is: for Europe and U.K., think I want to re-visit Bavaria and take in some of Northern Italy (first time in the North) the year I retire and after that, a trip to Scotland in probably 2021.

I love reading everyone’s idea of travel fun.

Linda

Funny but even since you posted this question and I responded to it, I have a new answer. Figured out today — with emails to my bosses for permission and everything — that while I can’t take a real vacation in August, I can at least go meet up with my brother and his family at the start of their Scandinavian vacation the first weekend of August for a long weekend in Stockholm!! I am so excited to see them in six short weeks! And to get to see Stockholm, where I have never been.

Don't rub it in, Kim. For you going to Stockholm is a little like us driving to Omaha. One of my fantasies is to have an extended stay in Europe and take advantage of those quick weekends. But, like all fantasies, it probably will remain only a fantasy.

Thinking about Egypt in early 2020. Just returned from Asia and am traveling again now.

Planning ? Got tickets for Christmas 2019 when the United mileage books opened in January 2019 -- then saw super-cheap basic economy to Paris for April 2019 and jumped on it so the planning time for that one was under 3 months.

Already planned. Staying with friends for another London Christmas. Flight booked. Also staying in Mousehole the see the Harbor Christmas Lights Parade as well as visiting Penzance and St Ives.

Maybe Sicily or Portugal or Spain or a return trip to Cuba next Spring.

Wish list includes Iceland for the Northern lights, Rwanda to see the gorillas, Machu Picchu, New Zealand.

Travel keeps me sane.

This topic is so fun. My family and friends think I am nuts about all my planning and dreaming so far ahead. Usually I don't tell people what I am planning. I get some comments like "it must be nice" or "just can't stay home, huh?" And yet, these are the same people that want me to help plan their trips or go along with us after they have been planned. I budget all my trips and have an extra job just so we can go. I figure there will be a day that travel has to stop (God forbid). Anyway, I planned 3 trips for 2019. We just completed #1-Scotland and Iceland. Trip #2 is to the Pacific Northwest and up to Canada and finally in November we go to Cartagena for our anniversary. Next year we are looking at a big one- Cambodia, Viet Nam and Japan. It takes me a lot of exploring and reading to really come up with a good itinerary. We have been using frequent flier miles so we need at least dates 11 months out.

We recently returned from the RS Village Italy tour. We went early and stayed at the first tour hotel in Padua. While eating breakfast, we met another couple who were going on the same tour. Long story short, we got along so well that the four of us are planning to go on the RS Best of England tour in September 2020. Our plan is to visit Liverpool before the tour, since we are all Beatles fans. In addition, we will spend time in London after the tour.

Bob, that is super!! What a fun story. How cool to meet like-minded friends on your tour.

I booked in July of 2018 for a Road Scholar program (Art History in Belgium and Holland) in September of 2019 as the single supplements were selling out that far ahead. Meanwhile I did the Rick Steves Belgium and Holland tour last April to see the tulips and decided I did not need to delve deeper into the art history of the area so in May I switched my downpayment over to a tour of Provence in October.

I just can't decide that far in advance if a certain trip is right for me! There are so many places I want to go! I'm always impressed that people can decide really far ahead and stick to it, lol!

Just now reading this great discussion. I too love to plan trips and have a loose bucket list. In February we did my (always) #1 trip to Egypt. We wanted to go before we needed canes or walkers, and it was everything we hoped for and more. I have four US itineraries planned in my head, as well as several international ones. We always go on our own to Europe and US/Canada/Mexico. Driving there (even England and Ireland) is not a problem for my husband, and I am a pretty good navigator (even without GPS devices!) Likewise, our Chili trip which included Easter Island and a small 4 day cruise at Tierra del Fuego was a lot of fun to plan and experience. Trips where we can't read the language (e.g. Arabic, Chinese, Turkish) we take an organized tour (Kenya, Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, China).
The planning is a lot of the fun. We went with some relatives for 3 weeks covering northern France in 2017 and it was a successful combination of history, culture, scenery and the always enchanting lifestyle of the French. I began researching airfares, places to stay and things to do about 9 months before the trip, taking into consideration everyone's "must sees". Now I am planning a trip to Quebec province for the same relatives for fall 2020.

My husband and I celebrate our 50th in 2021 and will rent a place for a week in a small town in the Drome region of Provence, then a week in the Dordogne area, using a car for short day trips. Another week somewhere else (Piemonte region of Italy? Northwestern Spain?) We plan on lots of relaxing and enjoying the food and slower lifestyle in the French countryside.

Some one on this thread mentioned the southwest...we have made many road trips in Arizona, Utah, New Mexico and Nevada, as we live in Southern California, and I recommend it HIGHLY! The national parks in Utah alone are a joy. Santa Fe New Mexico is charming and Tucson Az. has a lot to offer. We're not fans of Las Vegas, but Nevada has some charms of its own, nature wise. California is a summer-long place to visit...Yosemite, Lassen, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, the Mojave, the Redwoods, magnificent seashores, Lake Tahoe. And those are just the natural wonders.

To all the trip dreamers and planners and takers....Enjoy each stage of your travels. As "Auntie Mame" said, "Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!" If you can travel, do it! If you can't, keep dreaming!

I plan future trips to calm me down when I'm stressed. Travel is my passion and researching/ dreaming/planning takes me out of the 'here and now' during times of upheaval or monotony, and reminds me there is something on the horizon to look forward to.

This year we bought a new house and I had surgery, so time and money limited travel, but brighter days are coming. March 2020 we will likely do a repeat trip to Savannah and add Charleston, OR maybe San Antonio as we may have a business reason to be in Houston. October 2020 is Italy! Revisiting places I've been that my husband has not (Rome, Siena, Florence, maybe-hopefully Venice which he isn't sold on...and maybe Assisi if time permits).

2021 I'm thinking Spain, which will be a first for us both.

We have multiple trips in various planning stages going on combined with what seems like a revolving door of friends and family visiting, But we always feel like we are on vacation while we show off Lago Maggiore when we have visitors.
Sept 15-22- Dolomites
Sept 22-27- brother and family visiting
Sept 27-oct 1- another brother visiting
Oct 5-16- friends visiting, then Bologna, Rome
Oct 16-30- Puglia, Adriatic Coast
Late Dec/early January- Vienna, Budapest, Prague, Salzburg
Feb- skiing someplace TBD
April - Sicily with cousin
May- August 14- someplace in Europe after we leave Verbania until we board QM2 back to Us
August 21-Oct 31- NY, Maine, Colorado, who knows where else as we drive across US back to California.

I am always planning a year ahead, because we fly British Airways business class with miles, and I grab two award seats on our Seattle flight the day they are released, 355 days in advance.

We will be going to Italy for a hiking trip, and our flights are already booked for the last two weeks of July. I will sign up for a guided hiking tour once the dates are firm, and then fill in the days before and after with more fun. I have already booked one hotel, in Locarno, as our visit will fall during their Moon&Stars music festival, and I was afraid the hotel prices will just go up and up. I got a nice little boutique hotel right on the lake for a decent price. The rest of the planning for that trip can wait.

And we are tentively planning a return to Alaska for June 2021. No foreign travel that year; we will focus on US and Canadian national parks.

At the end of this month I'm leaving for a month-long stay in Paris. I have a week-long stay in Honolulu (my first time in Hawaii) booked for January 2020. Starting to discuss a possible trip back to Paris and perhaps elsewhere in December 2020. I have to space out my trips and pay for one before I do another, but can do at least one major trip a year, maybe 2. I also love the research and planning stage. It keeps me occupied and thinking about travel virtually all year.

we fly British Airways business class with miles, and I grab two award seats on our Seattle flight the day they are released, 355 days in advance.

Wow Lola I am simply in awe !!! I imagine a lot of hard work goes into what helps acquire those seats, but still that sounds amazing.

I am finally getting my “summer” vacation week after next — I have rented a house in Brittany for a week. Way out in Finistère past Quimper.

Hoping/planning on going to the States for Thanksgiving (well anyway my OK driver’s license expires Nov 30, so I had BETTER make it before then!!).

Currently planning Australia for June of 2020. Will book hotels sometime this fall and book the flights during the winter.

I leave on a 6 wk trip tomorrow - France & England - started planning over 7 mos ago. Already thinking about next year, but nothing definitive yet...
We’re all so lucky to be able to travel... : )

Today is 'T' day for us! (travel day). I should be getting the finishing touches put on the packing, but instead I'm on RS...lol.

Prague, Vienna, Innsbruck, Bolzano, Verona, Venice and London! 22 nights. All are new except the last two, so should be fun.

Our last trip was the RS Village Italy tour in the spring of 2019. On the tour we met and really connected with another couple, and ended up hanging out together. We also discovered that we are travel compatible, so we agreed to go on the Best of England tour with them in September 2020. Before the tour starts, we will be spending some time in Liverpool (we are all Beatles fans!)

Some of my big trips are centered on total solar eclipses, so the dates and locations are known hundreds of years in advance . But I have also jumped on great airfare deals with a planning period of 2-3 months between purchase and takeoff.

Christmas markets trip this year started with booking a favorite apartment for New Years Eve -- about November of last year. Air reservations (using miles) when the books opened in January. And then there was "filling in" the time and places between landing in Paris and departing from Berlin. Several base cities, with an assortment of possible day trips (to be selected on the fly.)
And there IS another good eclipse in 2024 ....

So nice to know how many other people do this. I have my top 10 next trips in mind and love to think/dream about them. As far as true planning/research though, I’m currently working on the next three - NY and DC over Christmas for two weeks (my kids have no idea what cold feels like, so that will be an experience). Three weeks in France, Germany and Austria in summer 2020 (looking at flights obsessively for more than a month now, waiting for the right price). And Africa for summer 2021 (I want a safari, Cape Town and Victoria Falls - trying to determine which tour operators are reputable and affordable...). For summer 2022, I want to do what I call my Central European Blitz trip - Budapest, Bratislava, Prague and Berlin. I’d love to do that as a Christmas trip but I don’t think I can get enough time off at Christmas to do it then.