# @stephmylife on Instagram

- **Type:** Video
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C7mbxXDt_Fs
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/31312534-stephmylife-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/11a8aa62cd.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-05-30T17:32:27.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Stephanie Barry Woods (@stephmylife) — https://gondola.cc/stephmylife

## Caption

Sometimes planning trips means spreadsheets, guide books, and tons of research. Sometimes you plan your itinerary on the Notes app the night before you fly 🥹

As someone who loves a good planning session for a trip, I have had some incredible travels when very little planned, mostly because there are a few things I’ll never leave for a trip without knowing: 

Get your seasons right: a surefire way to have a bad trip is to have no idea what weather you’re turning up to. Make sure you find out!

Pin pin pin: Open the Google maps app, zoom into the middle of the cities or towns you’re off to, and start pinning. (Watch my ‘sit star see’ highlight for how to do this). I click attractions -> top rated and pin what I like the look of. Then restaurants -> top rated. Then parks, then bars. it takes about 30 mins to create a basic list of the main sights and eats. You will fine tune this list later. The main thing is that with this list you can see the pockets of the city where lots of things are happening. As I gear up to the trip, I pin any recs I get or see so I don’t forget them.

Get free guides: Free, downloadable walking tours have been our go-to for trips where we didn’t have a ton of time to plan. Google any city and you’ll find free walking tour maps that you can follow. Pick a route and add your own stops with your pins.

Make a mood itinerary: Chances are the reason you’ve not had time to plan is cause you’re *busy* and you don’t just need a cool trip but a chance to chill out. That was the case for this video, so we mapped out our trip loosely with slow days, busy days, evenings out and evenings where we’d just come home and sleep. We set the pace with this mood itinerary, and on that trip we slotted our meals and activities into it. You’d be surprised how hard it can be to allow yourself to relax when you go on a trip after being super busy.

If I know the weather, have a list of pins, some walking tour guides and a mood itinerary I am so happy to get on that plane and figure the rest out! 

Anything you’d add?

#tripplanning #travelplanning #laostravel #travelblogger #travelguide

## Stats

- **Views:** 83,864
- **Likes:** 397
- **Shares:** 0
- **Comments:** 9

## Credits

| Name | Username | Profile | Role |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Stephanie Barry Woods | @stephmylife | https://gondola.cc/stephmylife | Influencer |

## Tags

travelguide, tripplanning, travelblogger, laostravel, travelplanning

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