Deciding where you want to travel can be one of the most difficult parts of planning a trip. If you love traveling, your travel wish list is most likely quite long, so how do you pick a destination when you decide to go on a trip? I have spent a lot of time dreaming of places I want to go, planning, and more importantly, executing the trips, so here is how I do it. I keep an ongoing travel wish list with my destinations, the duration needed for those trips, and the best time of the year to visit. Then, when planning my next trip, I look at this list and narrow it down based on those factors for the specific trip.
Choosing Your Travel Wish List Destinations
The easiest way to choose your travel wish list destination is to ask yourself “What type of trips do I like?” For example, if you like beach vacations, then you will be focusing on warmer climates, and if you like hiking trips then you can focus on National Parks. First, come up with a list of these categories and then start putting destinations alongside them.
You may need to research what destinations fit into your desired categories. I recommend Pinterest, WikiVoyage, or Lonely Planet for information regarding many destinations.
Based on your travel desires, your list may vary in length. I can tell you my travel wish list is extremely long as I have a passion for travel and love various types of trips!
Type Of Trip Category Examples
- Beach/Relaxation
- Cultural Immersion
- National Parks
- Adventure
- Cities
- Arts/Museums
- Skiing
- Hiking
- Wellness
- Solo
- Family
Determining The Duration and Best Time To Visit
Now that you have your travel wish list destinations, you will add two key categories: Duration and Best Time To Visit.
Duration
The duration is how long you want to spend in the destination. These are based on factors such as how long it takes to get to the destination and what kind of trip it is. For example, San Fransisco takes just a couple hours to get to for me and I like to spend 2-3 days in a city. So, that is the perfect weekend trip. However, Egypt takes about a full day to get there for me, and there are multiple places I want to see there, so I will need over a week for that trip. Once you do this exercise for each destination you now have another factor that helps to determine when it makes sense to go on that trip.
Best Time To Visit
Determining when the best time to visit a destination is one of the most important factors for your travel wish list. For example, if you want to go on a ski trip you obviously can only go in the Winter. Or, maybe you prefer to hike in the fall to avoid crowds so your National Parks season will be the Fall. Separate each destination by the desired season on your list.
Both of these categories may include more research. For each destination on your list, you will need to research the best time to visit, the climate, duration of travel time, time zones, visa/entry requirements, and what activities you can do there to help fill out your travel wish list. Again, I recommend utilizing Pinterest, WikiVoyage, or Lonely Planet.
Download my Travel Wish List Template to get started on yours now!
After following these steps, you should have a complete travel wish list! This is fun to start dreaming about where your travels can take you, but it is also a productive exercise to save you time when you start planning a trip. If you are ready to plan your trip, find out how to master the art of planning a trip here! And if you need travel wish list inspiration, check out my guides from some pretty cool destinations I have been to!
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