4 ms·

Ask HN: How do you plan for your vacation?

8 points by tixocloud 9y ago

Hi guys, We're looking to understand more about how people plan for their vacations (i.e. well thought out? last minute? etc.) and thought HN-ers might have great insight.

siegel 9y ago
Do you mean in terms of actually planning the vacation? Or in terms of dealing with being out of work?
- tixocloud 9y ago
  Good one. I mean actually planning a vacation.
  - siegel 9y ago
    I'm an obsessive planner. But I mix some spontaneity in, as well. Basically, I plan out the trip (including places to stay, etc...). But any particular day, if something strikes me, I allow myself to do something completely different. However, I always have a framework in place. In terms of picking places to go, what are you interested in? I like food. So, I do Google searches for best food destinations. I read chowhound to get ideas on where foodie travelers like to go. If you have an interest, just do targeted searches for places to go for people with those interests. Might sound too simple, but it works quite well for me.
    - tixocloud 9y ago
      Thanks. I'm building a mobile travel assistant but also wanted to learn how different people plan their trips. I was planning a massive trip for my family and it took a lot of great effort but also left me feeling that I needed to have the Internet with me in case of an emergency.
dirktheman 9y ago
Oh brother... For our summer holidays we always pack up our caravan. A couple of years ago I started to make a list of campsites that friends/family recommend or that I stumbled upon on the internet. They’re all on a Google Map, and the list is sortable by country, region, stars and amenities. Also a couple of years ago I made another document with possible routes (we always make it a road trip, with anywhere between 3 to 6 stops in 3 weeks). I currently have a list of about 80 destinations, so we have a couple of hundreds possible routes to choose from. I make a general plan before we go (for instance this route from our last holiday to France): Route Kilometers Nachten Datum Ede – Le Crotoy 463 km 5 do 16/7 – di 21/7 Le Crotoy – Seillac 372 km 2 di 21/7 – do 23/7 Seillac – Brantome 319 km 6 do 23/7 – wo 29/7 Brantome – Aydat 267 km 6 wo 29/7 – di 4/8 Aydat – Melun 403 km 3 di 4/8 – vr 7/8 Melun – Ede 544 km The beauty of this seemingly rigid planning is that I can adjust it on the fly. The weather sucks? We move on to our next stop. Campsite isn’t what we expected? I can find another campsite close by that we’ll probably like in seconds. And because my route file I have a myriad of options to choose from. You might think that a planning like this takes away the adventure, but it doesn’t. A couple of years ago we liked our first campsite so much that we stayed the full 3 weeks there. I’m not bound by my planning, but it’s more like a guideline that we can divert from. For citytrips I book months in advance. I make a list of all the things I want to see and do, and plan them in advance. So our citytrips tend to be more rigid, but we like that. I would hate to waste time on finding out what's cool when you're at your destination, only to find out smart people booked in advance and you're too late. (This got us in the crown of the Statue of Liberty, for instance. And I prepared a bicycle trip around the island of Manhattan on forehand, since it wasn't a marked route there would have been no way to do it without preparation). I get that some people book last minute, but for me the preparation is just as much fun as the vacation itself.
- tixocloud 9y ago
  I love this. I'd love to somehow find the balance between planning and spontaneity. Thanks for the insight especially for the value of booking way in advance. May I ask how did you start gathering the list of all the things you want to see and do? Or even how did you decide on the destination in the first place?
  - dirktheman 9y ago
    Sometimes I stumble upon things on the internet, sometimes I search specific things in the surroundings. I'm a history buff and I love exploring old bunkers, so I search online for bunkers in the vincinity of, let's say, Avranches. Some destinations are chosen because of their convenient location. I can't travel to the south of France in one long drive, so I need two stops that are approximately 1/3 and 2/3 on the way. I check Google Maps for interesting geography, and do some research about towns/cities in the vincinity. This applies to other road trips as well: I found one of my favorite hotels ever this way (Kasbah Tebi in Aït Behaddou, Morocco: a UNESCO-protected kasbah without electricity or running water.) For the city trips I browse forums (TripAdvisor, Zoover) and 'things to do in...'-lists.
ReefAftershock 9y ago
My general sequence for an overseas trip is to use a slew of tools: 1. Choose the dates based on compatibility with my work schedule or particular events I want to visit (e.g. festivals) 2. Use Google Flights and matrix.itasoftware.com to get a idea of prices 3. i. Use a shared Google Sheet to list out options and my schedule (e.g. plotting out a row for each day of the trip, to allocate out days to each destination) 3. ii. Check Google / Wikipedia / TripAdvisor to see the top attractions - add these to the Sheet for reference while I'm on the trip, and also use this to make sure I've allocated the right amount of time to each place. 4. Use booking.com or Expedia to find the best deals for accommodation (usually I use hotels) 5. Book directly on the airline's website, since that often has the best price.
- tixocloud 9y ago
  Thanks. For any of these destinations, do have to do a lot of pre-planning around how to get the top attractions? Print maps, etc.?

8 points by tixocloud 9y ago

Hi guys, We're looking to understand more about how people plan for their vacations (i.e. well thought out? last minute? etc.) and thought HN-ers might have great insight.

siegel 9y ago

Do you mean in terms of actually planning the vacation? Or in terms of dealing with being out of work?

tixocloud 9y ago
Good one. I mean actually planning a vacation.
- siegel 9y ago
  I'm an obsessive planner. But I mix some spontaneity in, as well. Basically, I plan out the trip (including places to stay, etc...). But any particular day, if something strikes me, I allow myself to do something completely different. However, I always have a framework in place. In terms of picking places to go, what are you interested in? I like food. So, I do Google searches for best food destinations. I read chowhound to get ideas on where foodie travelers like to go. If you have an interest, just do targeted searches for places to go for people with those interests. Might sound too simple, but it works quite well for me.
  - tixocloud 9y ago
    Thanks. I'm building a mobile travel assistant but also wanted to learn how different people plan their trips. I was planning a massive trip for my family and it took a lot of great effort but also left me feeling that I needed to have the Internet with me in case of an emergency.

dirktheman 9y ago

Oh brother... For our summer holidays we always pack up our caravan. A couple of years ago I started to make a list of campsites that friends/family recommend or that I stumbled upon on the internet. They’re all on a Google Map, and the list is sortable by country, region, stars and amenities. Also a couple of years ago I made another document with possible routes (we always make it a road trip, with anywhere between 3 to 6 stops in 3 weeks). I currently have a list of about 80 destinations, so we have a couple of hundreds possible routes to choose from. I make a general plan before we go (for instance this route from our last holiday to France): Route Kilometers Nachten Datum Ede – Le Crotoy 463 km 5 do 16/7 – di 21/7 Le Crotoy – Seillac 372 km 2 di 21/7 – do 23/7 Seillac – Brantome 319 km 6 do 23/7 – wo 29/7 Brantome – Aydat 267 km 6 wo 29/7 – di 4/8 Aydat – Melun 403 km 3 di 4/8 – vr 7/8 Melun – Ede 544 km The beauty of this seemingly rigid planning is that I can adjust it on the fly. The weather sucks? We move on to our next stop. Campsite isn’t what we expected? I can find another campsite close by that we’ll probably like in seconds. And because my route file I have a myriad of options to choose from. You might think that a planning like this takes away the adventure, but it doesn’t. A couple of years ago we liked our first campsite so much that we stayed the full 3 weeks there. I’m not bound by my planning, but it’s more like a guideline that we can divert from. For citytrips I book months in advance. I make a list of all the things I want to see and do, and plan them in advance. So our citytrips tend to be more rigid, but we like that. I would hate to waste time on finding out what's cool when you're at your destination, only to find out smart people booked in advance and you're too late. (This got us in the crown of the Statue of Liberty, for instance. And I prepared a bicycle trip around the island of Manhattan on forehand, since it wasn't a marked route there would have been no way to do it without preparation). I get that some people book last minute, but for me the preparation is just as much fun as the vacation itself.

tixocloud 9y ago
I love this. I'd love to somehow find the balance between planning and spontaneity. Thanks for the insight especially for the value of booking way in advance. May I ask how did you start gathering the list of all the things you want to see and do? Or even how did you decide on the destination in the first place?
- dirktheman 9y ago
  Sometimes I stumble upon things on the internet, sometimes I search specific things in the surroundings. I'm a history buff and I love exploring old bunkers, so I search online for bunkers in the vincinity of, let's say, Avranches. Some destinations are chosen because of their convenient location. I can't travel to the south of France in one long drive, so I need two stops that are approximately 1/3 and 2/3 on the way. I check Google Maps for interesting geography, and do some research about towns/cities in the vincinity. This applies to other road trips as well: I found one of my favorite hotels ever this way (Kasbah Tebi in Aït Behaddou, Morocco: a UNESCO-protected kasbah without electricity or running water.) For the city trips I browse forums (TripAdvisor, Zoover) and 'things to do in...'-lists.

ReefAftershock 9y ago

My general sequence for an overseas trip is to use a slew of tools: 1. Choose the dates based on compatibility with my work schedule or particular events I want to visit (e.g. festivals) 2. Use Google Flights and matrix.itasoftware.com to get a idea of prices 3. i. Use a shared Google Sheet to list out options and my schedule (e.g. plotting out a row for each day of the trip, to allocate out days to each destination) 3. ii. Check Google / Wikipedia / TripAdvisor to see the top attractions - add these to the Sheet for reference while I'm on the trip, and also use this to make sure I've allocated the right amount of time to each place. 4. Use booking.com or Expedia to find the best deals for accommodation (usually I use hotels) 5. Book directly on the airline's website, since that often has the best price.

tixocloud 9y ago
Thanks. For any of these destinations, do have to do a lot of pre-planning around how to get the top attractions? Print maps, etc.?