The Ultimate Guide to pick your next Travel Destination
- kiaranemeth
- Feb 11
- 8 min read
Updated: Feb 13
You are ready for your next adventure but the question is - where to go? With the daily use of Social Media we are able to see the beauty of the world we live in within just a view clicks. Which is why we get overwhelmed by all these great places to travel and can´t decide where to go first. Time and money concerns, as well as not knowing what you truly want causes a state of indecision. In this Blog I will help you to find your next travel destination based on your own preferences and circumstances with an easy follow along step-by-step guide.
Travel priorities:
Before you think about all the places you could potentially go to I recommend to start with a little reflection exercise to gain a little bit more clarity for your plans. So make sure you get yourself a pen and paper, something to drink and make yourself comfortable in a place where you have some time and quiet peace to reflect on your plans.
First I like to reflect on the purpose of my travels. Do I want to escape the stressful day to day life to a place full on relaxation? Or would I like to dive into a new adventure, explore a new culture or something totally different? Write down everything that comes to your mind when thinking about this question. Second I continue with my personal interests. I personally like to surf, dance and just being close to the beach makes me happy. Think of all your interests. Would you like to sleep in the nature, close to some good restaurants or the shopping malls? Would you like to get to know more about the history of a certain place or just enjoy the city? If you are done with writing down your thoughts on this questions I like to move on to the travel style. Luxury or budget? Backpack or Suitcase? With others or solo? You can also think about your travel duration. Is it just going to be a short trip or will you stay away for longer? And if so, how long? Therefore would you like to stay in one place for the whole trip or would you prefer to travel around?
Give yourself some time to think about these questions and what you want this trip to look like cause these answers can be super individually. You might want to go on your first ever solo trip whereas someone else wants to choose him/her next destination on the digital nomad road. But to think and reflect about these questions can help anyone regardless of which situation you are in.
If you like you can add the following question to your thinking process to make your trip a little more interesting. What is one thing you want to experience or achieve on this trip? It can be something really small like swim in the ocean once but also something bigger for example to make a bungee jump.
Budget:
If your priorities are set we can move on to money question. It is important to have a little overview on how much savings you have for your trip and how much you would like to spend. Therefore it can be helpful to make a short note and calculate the budget you would need for your trip. Depending on your individual situation it might make sense to do the budgeting first and find accomodation and trips based on that. For someone else it could be more useful to think about the adventure first and come up with a budget that you would have to safe up to make it happen. But what do we have to think about when it comes to budgeting a trip?
Your first thought would be where are you going and how do you get there? By car? By plane? Depending on that you would have to calculate your costs on either fuel or plane tickets to get to your wished destination. I can recommend to compare different options from Skyscanner, Google Flights or your local travel agent to make sure you get the best deal. Check if you need a certain Visa to enter the country that you have to apply for in advance. You don´t want to be stuck at the airport and be sent back home cause you forgot to purchase the right visa. As you would have to sleep somewhere an accommodation is necessary as well. It might be an adventure to go somewhere without having anything booked but I recommend, especially if you are taking a longer flight somewhere, to have a view nights prebooked as you will be super tired and exhausted from the travel and maybe have jetlag as well. When the travel and sleep situations are ticked off the list we can continue to the most important part. Food! You can google or ask AI for advice on how much you would have to calculate on nutrition. This highly depends on your diet and what you like to eat but after about 1,5 years of travelling I can say that local food is the cheapest and often the best option. You can also ask some friends or people you know that have been there already. Maybe they remember how much they have spent on food while travelling. Last but not least you most probably would like to see a bit more than just your accommodation. Therefore you can look up different tours online on Trip Advisor for example or just walk around when you are there. As Backpacker in Hostels or in Hotels its always a good option to ask the staff at reception for some recommendations. They always have great ideas and maybe know some hidden gems that are not on the map and not as touristy as other places yet. Usually all of them are friendly and happy to help you. Now you just need to write all of your costs down and sum them up. Please do not forget to check your travel insurance. If you go for a short period of time you most likely will be covert by your usual insurance but make sure to double check and eventually get another one if needed.
Seasons:
As different as locations can be, so does the climate. Whereas Southeast Asia has dry and rainy seasons Europe and Oceania has all four seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall. So if you plan to go a sunny beach vacation going to Bali in January doesn't make any sense as it is in the middle of rainy season. On the other hand, Bali in rainy season is less crowded and even though it´s raining a lot doesn´t mean you will never see the sun. So you see that choosing the right time to travel to your chosen destination will impact your adventure. If you are a digital nomad or at least not dependent on travelling around a certain time of the year the "shoulder season" could be a smart option for affordable and less-crowded travels. This type of season is location dependent so make sure to do some research on the best time to travel your planned destination.
Safety and accessibility:
Especially for solo travellers and women, but also everyone else it is recommended to check the safety in this country or place you would like to go to. Choose a place with good infrastructure and reliable public transport or make sure to have a plan on how to get around safely. I shared some tips on safety in my blog about solo travelling. (Read that blog here.)
Inspiration:
You eventually have done this before even starting to plan your trip. At least I for myself have a folder of videos saved on my instagram account for some travel inspiration. If you haven´t done so yet it can be helpful to browse through Instagram, TikTok or Pinterest to find some inspirational posts and places you could visit. Read or watch some blogs and vlogs or go to a library to read through travel guides by Lonely Planet for example. If you are more of a visual person and maybe decided to plan ahead and safe up a travel visionboard can be a great motivation. Therefore just write your dream destination in the middle of a paper and copy great pictures and quotes around it that capture the vibes and feelings you would like to feel during your travel. A Spotify playlist could be another funny idea of getting yourself into the mood of the upcoming adventure.
Nowadays ChatGPT or any similar AI device can be really helpful when it comes to planning trips. It can help with budgeting, travel seasons as well as safety and inspiration. The more information you give it the more it can show you advice and help about planning. But make sure to double check as AI can make mistakes as well. Or you just trust in yourself and experience the whole process yourself ;)
Narrow your options:
If you are a passionated travel soul like I am you might be reading this blog cause you have too many options and can´t decide on where to go first or next. If that´s the case you most probably will still struggle to narrow down your options to one destination. Therefore I recommend to grab either pen and paper or any other digital device you like to make notes with. To come up with a decision I would do the following steps:
List your top 3 destinations
Write down pros and cons based on categories like cost, weather, activities and safety.
You can use your notes you have made earlier when thinking about your travel purpose, interests and style as some pros can turn into cons and vice versa when considering personal preferences.
But at this point a little reminder. No destination is "perfect". There will always be some positive and negative things to any destination. Try to go with the decision and place that excites you the most. And once you made that decision, book something small like the flights or your first accommodation to make this trip happen.
Mistakes to avoid:
From my own or friends experiences I can say that there are a view mistakes I would like you to avoid in order to make the most of your trip. As I am a really structured person I tend to over-plan and not allowing myself to fully experience the place and getting to know some people more deeply. But also planning too less or "waiting for the perfect conditions/moments" should be the way to go. Start somewhere and somehow and just have a look what happens. Try to find your own mix of planning and uncertainty. Following trends without considering personal preferences is another thing I would like you to avoid. As I told friends and family that I´m going to Bali there were two types of responses. The positive ones that were happy for me and told me that they loved it and can't recommend it enough. Or the negative ones that looked at me with a surprised face and told me they did not like Bali at all and would never go there again. This just shows once again that experiences and travel destinations are as individual as every single person itself and that you might love a place someone else doesn´t. And that´s totally fine. You just have to be aware of that and do not set yourself high expectations based on what others have told you in a positive and negative way. And last but not least don´t underestimate costs and forget to do your research. Even if a flight for example is really cheap there are still a view more things to consider and prepare your budget on.
Conclusion:
In the end I would say there is no right or wrong choice you could make. Trust in yourself and pick a destination that aligns with your personal dreams and situation. Make sure to prepare yourself well enough for your trip and enjoy the adventure. And believe me, I don’t use all of the steps mentioned above every time. They are meant to serve as guidance and inspiration for you.
If you would like to know more about my adventures make sure to follow on Instagram or Facebook. Let me know if you found this blog helpful and what your next travel destination will be.
Think - Plan - Execute!
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