We’ve all been there: staring at a world map with a finger hovering over random destinations, wondering if we’re about to book the trip of a lifetime or a costly mistake. The internet is flooded with travel advice, but how do you actually cut through the noise to find the places that speak to your soul?”

Plan

That statement above is something we all have done: trying to figure out where to go, what to do, and so forth. But that is where planning comes into play. You will have to do this no matter what you want to do or where you go.

I know some people who fly by the seat of their pants and others who have every minute down to what you are doing. These aren’t my styles at all. But I will walk you through the steps of what I do to plan.

Here is a breakdown of what goes through my head when looking for somewhere to go. I have a particular way of doing things, but on this trip, I had to change up a few things. This one was something that I had planned, but couldn’t go due to no job.

Here we go

1. Find the place, date, and ship (Since this was a cruise trip)
2.  Pick the cabin
3. Look at the ports the ship will be stopping in
4. Figure out if I want to do an excursion or wander around
5. Book the airline tickets
6. Book parking at the airport
7. Double-check to make sure I have all the paperwork
8. Pack and go

Break Down

1. The date was Oct. 4, 2025, an 11-day inaugural Western Mediterranean cruise onboard the Star Princess.
   1. We were booked out of Rome on the original inaugural cruise on Aug. 23, 2025. But that got canceled. So we moved it to Oct. 4, 2025, but we’re leaving Barcelona, Spain.
2. That research was done already.
3. We picked three cabins
   1. 15351  (Balcony)
   2. 15347 (Balcony)
   3. 15345 (Inside Cabin)
4. Those are all mid-ship cabins
5. I researched the ship, and since it was brand new, there was much to review.
6. The cruise was 11 days long, and we are going to the following places
   1. Oct. 4, Leaving from Barcelona
   2. Oct. 5. Marseille, France
   3. Oct. 7. Rome
   4. Oct. 8, Naples
   5. Oct. 9, Sicily (Palermo)
   6. Oct. 11, Cartagena
   7. Oct. 12 Gibraltar
   8. Oct. 15 Barcelona
7. Now, we are looking at what to do in each port. Since there are six of us, we have to figure out where we want to go.
   1. Take Rome, for instance, we wanted to see some things like
      1. The Vatican
      2. The Coliseum
      3.  Temple for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
   2. We only have a few hours in Rome, an hour away from the cruise port.
   3. We are looking for a private car to take us to these places.
8. Look at airlines and determine the best prices and airline to get to Barcelona from SLC. Unfortunately, there isn’t a non-stop flight from SLC to Barcelona.
   1. Since Delta has a hub in SLC, we fly with them all the time, so that is what we will be flying on.
   2. I wanted to take a business class or Delta One, but I didn’t have $66,000 for tickets.
   3. We were going to book Economy 
9. Book parking at SLC Airport
10. Place all paperwork in a folder and pack it in the backpack.

Nothing Big

That is the way I do things. Sometimes, it takes a few days, and sometimes, it takes me a couple of hours. It all depends on the trip and what I will be doing. I mean, this is the typical way most people do the searching.

I didn’t go into every port, but I usually looked at what we could afford and what we wanted to do in that city. Traveling with older people limits the things we can do.

What do you do to research on a trip?

Next Week

We will be talking about Carnival and the new drink package.

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