Not all trips need to take months to plan. Read how we picked our destination, time-frame, and bought our plane tickets in 3 hours.
Some people take months to plan a trip. In theory, it probably should take that long. We’re adults. We have a lot going on in our lives. There’s a lot to consider. For some people…
Some things in life don’t need to be a big production. Not to say that others would wholeheartedly disagree with us. But that’s what makes the world go round. For us, travel is something worth being excited about. It’s not something to work yourself into a frenzy about to the point where you don’t even want to go on the trip anymore. Travel, adventures, exploring, these are all things that are supposed to bring joy into our lives. At least, that’s what we think. And we’re right - for the record. Now, you may want to pick a fight with us about this mentality but here us out. I’m sure you can think of a time when you planned a trip that took years off your life. Sounds fun right? Ya...no, not so much. Wouldn’t it be better to go into your trip with all your years in tact? It truly can be that simple! Don’t believe us? Let’s chat about how we planned our trip to Houston.
We were getting antsy. It had been a while since we went on a trip - especially one together - and this wasn’t okay. Both of us are used to traveling on a regular basis, therefore, sitting still eats away at our souls. It’s one of the things that bonded us through the years. So, one day, when the travel bug decided to take a chunk out of us as a friendly reminder that he was still there, ready and waiting, we set our plan into motion.
The catalyst was a girls trip a friend of ours was planning to Nashville. The month selected was September…but this isn’t about that trip...this is about how we didn’t want to wait 7 months to go on a trip. When the date was selected, we hopped off the group chat and started our own conversation - which consisted of “I can not in any way shape or form wait that long to go somewhere. Let’s plan something. '' Seeing as it us, we were clearly on the same page. A trip needed to happen, and it needed to happen sooner rather than later. We made a plan to talk that weekend and let the wheels start turning.
Alabama. Wait what? We know, you thought this post was about Houston. Stay with us, we promise it will get there but to be transparent and honest with your guys...Alabama was the state we picked. We’d heard there was this part of Alabama that was warm, beautiful, and was reminiscent of the Myrtle Beach. Perfect. We wanted soon and we wanted warm so we knew the South was where we were going before the conversation even started. Alabama’s in the South - sounds good to us. So, on one Saturday afternoon, we started planning. That simple. It did help that prior to the start of our conversation we knew the general area that we wanted to go. We weren’t picking from the whole world. We knew we wanted a trip in the States...that narrowed it down big time...we knew we wanted to go somewhere warm...seeing as how it was currently February at that time, that fact narrowed it down even more. Parameters help, but also not overthinking helps as well. You’ll see where that comes into play later.
So, back to Alabama. We know you’re dying to know how we ended up in Texas so here we go! In two separate houses, in two separate states, we began planning. We found the “Myrtle Beach- esk” place we were looking for: Gulf Shores. Looks beautiful. We’re sold. Then we started looking at the airport we’d need to fly into. EEEEERRRRRKKKKKKKKKKK. Hold please - what did we just figure out!? The closest airport is how far away? Over an hour? We’d be flying into Florida to drive to Alabama?! We aren’t flying into the state we’re going to...what? This needed to be discussed. After being nice about it for approximately 13 minutes...comments like: it won’t be that bad...we can make it work...renting a car isn’t a big deal...we both knocked that off and were honest. Not this trip. We don’t want to deal with any of that. We want a - low maintenance, Uber from the airport, walk around the area, fly into the state we’re visiting - trip. We’ll see you another time Gulf Shores… you’re beautiful but you’re just not for us this time.
Back to the drawing board. The South. That’s all we knew. So, we talked and decided to travel along the Gulf and see what strikes our fancy. Mississippi - we stayed on that state for about 7 minutes before we decided that wasn’t the one. Next up, Louisiana - it had been brought up in our group of friends, as a potential location for girls trip. So, we passed on jumping the gun there. We know, you know what’s next...think about a state Map… we clearly had a pattern going...next to Louisiana (going west of course) is TEXAS! Boom. We’d successfully found our way to the Lone Star State. The conversation that proceeded went exactly like this:
“How about Texas?”
“Texas sounds good”
“Alright, let’s go with Texas”
Not. Even. Kidding. We are just that awesomely in tune when it comes to traveling.
Of course, we don’t need to tell you, it’s a big friggin state. Therefore, after deciding which state we’d be venturing to, we needed a city. Here’s how that conversation went:
“Let’s go with a southern city”
“Okay”
“One that has an airport by it so we don’t have to rent a car”
“How about Houston?” “I’ve never been to Houston”
“Me either”
“Works for me”
“Me too”
We compared life schedules, ended up picking April as our travel month because it wasn’t to far away but wasn’t so close that tickets would be expensive. We looked into plane tickets, matched our flights as close as possible to each other, and purchased tickets that day. All in all, the whole selection process took 3 hours for us to plan. Brag moment, you know we would have taken less time had Alabama not thrown us a curve-ball but even with that hiccup we planned this trip like a boss.
Disclaimer: we completely acknowledge the following factors that helped make this possible:
1. There were only two of us...the less people you’re coordinating with the easier it is.
2. We don’t have children - not that there's anything wrong with kids. We aren’t bashing having kids. That doesn’t change the fact that planning trips takes more time and effort when you have kids to take into consideration. That’s just a fact. Sorry, but the pick up and go aspect of your life becomes more difficult when you have a little person to take care of. That’s not a criticism. People still travel who have kids - they just have more planning to do and a 3 hour map out session probably isn’t possible. Now, if you have kids and can do that - you’re amazing - tell us your secrets because we have friends that would love to know how you make that possible.
3. We don’t live pay-check to pay-check. We completely acknowledge that there are circumstances that other people have that prevent them from planning a trip effortlessly. That being said, you can set the parameters well in advance or start planning trips little by little if that’s your situation. Maybe you can’t buy your ticket on the same day you plan your trip. That’s okay. However, you can select the state, city, date, and look into flights so you know what you need to save. For the record though, we both work. No one else is supporting our lifestyle.
4. We prioritize traveling. Not everyone needs to travel like we do. Some people are content with never leaving their state. That’s okay! It’s not for everyone. But this blog is about staying connected through traveling. Nevertheless, we also talk about in state traveling. So, don’t give up on us just yet! We don’t always travel big. The point we’re trying to make it that any type of adventure, no matter the distance, is important to have in your life.
XoXo Leanne
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