Creating a Great Itinerary

It used to be that you needed a great travel agent to give you advice on what to do once you get to your destination.  Now there are millions of people willing to give you good advice-- just check out websites like tripadvisor.com.  But, you don't even need to get this advice to come up with an initial game plan.

To come up with our itinerary, I usually do these four things. . .  in total this could take just a couple of hours:

1. I usually start by checking out where Abercrombie and Kent take their (in-the-know) customers in the given country.  So, for example, when we went to Australia, I nearly copied their itinerary exactly (except for a few places that were a little pricey).

2. I read highlights from my favorite travel guides (for adults), the Eyewitness Travel Guides.  So far, they've had a great book for every destination we've visited.

3. I ask friends who have been to the country what they enjoyed

4. I email the concierge at our hotels and ask them for suggestions.  I tell them our kids' ages and what are interests are.  I am always careful, though with this source.  Many of their suggestions will be very touristy, package deals.  So, this is the least reliable of the sources.

I usually make a fancy chart, just like a tour company would do for us with our day-by-day plan and all the important contact/confirmation information.  But, I'm always ready at a moment's notice to ditch the plan if something better comes along.  Spontaneity can often produce adventures that are better than those we can plan months in advance.