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<\/a><\/p>\nIn short, a loosely structured travel itinerary is a trip planning method that provides all the comforts of a trip structure, but leaves out a bulk of the specifics. There are no hour-by-hour or minute-by-minute plans. There are no museum tours you have to see or group excursions you have to wake up early for. With the loosely structured itinerary, you get to flexibly choose exactly what you want to do, all while having the blueprint of your trip in your back pocket. It\u2019s a way to plan a vacation that allows you to wake up every morning and decide what<\/em> you want to do rather than abide by what you have <\/em>to do. This not only takes the pressure off individual days of your trip, but more importantly, it allows you to take into consideration recommendations and information from other travelers and locals when you actually land in the country, rather than basing your entire vacation off a Yelp review.<\/p>\n Every trip starts and ends with a few inflexible limitations, and they\u2019re usually time-frame,<\/strong> budget<\/strong>, and destination<\/strong>. Whether it\u2019s how many vacation days you\u2019ve accumulated or how much money you have to spend, these are the fixed restrictions that you\u2019ll have to work within, mostly because they\u2019re out of your control.<\/p>\n So, before delving into the fun part, start here. Ask yourself:<\/p>\n Once you establish these boundaries, you\u2019ll have plenty of room to plan the fun bit.<\/p>\n And when picking a destination, consider currency<\/strong>, climate<\/strong>, and\u00a0expectation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Thinking these factors through will make it much easier to narrow down a long bucket list of countries<\/a> you\u2019d like to see to a much more manageable and realistic size.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve nailed down the constraints of your trip, you can get to the fun bit. Spend a few days researching your destination so you can familiarize yourself with what you\u2019d like to see, do, or try while there. Whether it\u2019s hiking, exploring a city, eating local cuisine, or taking museum tours, doing your research will get you acquainted with your destination and give you options, ensuring that you always have an activity and sidestepping the dreaded day of nothing to do.<\/p>\n And other than the obvious activity research, be sure to look into the more practical stuff as well:<\/p>\n Looking these up well before your trip will cut out any unexpected obstacles when you arrive at your destination.<\/p>\n Depending on how long your trip is, mapping out your route can be as simple as flying into and out of the same city. For more extended trips where you may fly into one city and out another, this step is paramount to getting a sense of orientation and planning the direction of your trip.<\/p>\n Think of it like connecting the dots: if you fly into City A and fly out of City B, all that\u2019s left to do is connect the two with sights you\u2019d like to see along the way. Let’s say, for example, that you’re booking flights to Peru<\/a> and would like to fly into Lima and fly out of Cusco. Then, you’d have to take a look at a map of the country and find cities along that route that you\u2019d like to visit, like Ica, Paracas, and Arequipa. Now you know vaguely in which direction you\u2019ll be traveling and can plan accordingly. The reason this step is so important is that having planned a route like this will ensure you won\u2019t spend precious hours or days of your trip winding around detours and circling back to your point of origin. You\u2019ll have an easy-to-follow and straightforward line to follow from Point A to Point B. You can even plot it on a map and bring it with you.<\/p>\n Now that you know where you\u2019re going, you can divvy out your days based on how long you\u2019d like to stay in each city. Keep in mind, this is tentative and will likely change. The whole point of a loosely structured itinerary is to allow for flexibility, so think of this step as formulating a skeleton of a trip so you have a sense of timing, but with wiggle room in case you want to deviate from it.<\/p>\n Say you arrive in Rome and find it too loud and boisterous. Your itinerary may say that you have four days there, but you hear that Florence is nice and quiet. There\u2019s no reason why you should force yourself to stick around Rome if you don\u2019t want to. Go ahead and move on! But having this sort of backbone to your trip can be really helpful in figuring out how many cities you\u2019ll have time for, and how long you can realistically be in each one.<\/p>\nHow Do You Create a Loosely Structured Itinerary?<\/h2>\n
Define Your Non-Negotiables<\/h3>\n
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Get to Googling<\/h3>\n
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Map Out Your Route<\/h3>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nDivide Your Time<\/h3>\n