6 steps to research and budget for a vacation [free template]
You have some ideas in mind about your next vacation and want to plan out the details? Or maybe you want to build an itinerary budget so that you have motivations to save up for your next trips? In this post, we will take a deep dive into steps to build a budget-savvy travel plan.
As a highly organized person (and Financial Planning & Analysis professional), I am excited to see well-researched plans with alternatives and contingency options. That way when circumstances change, I always have choices. Plus, designing a trip that aligns with my budget is being financially responsible. Having a detailed plan is not an antithesis to spontaneous fun. In fact, I would argue that by staying on top of my budget status, I have peace in mind to be carefree during my trip and can engage in spontaneous activities knowing that I can easily swap for something else on my list.
So here are the 6 steps:
Determine Destination
Set a Preliminary Budget
Research & Compile
Compare & Rank options
Pick options best fit your preference and budget
Put together a detailed itinerary and daily schedule
Now let’s dive into nitty-gritty details:
1) Determine Destination
Start by deciding where you want to go. Consider factors such as your interests, the time of year/season, trip length, participants. Needless to say, cost is often the major factor in choosing a destination. But you don’t need to fixate on a single destination at this point, you can develop several plans and pick out the one that best fits your budget.
A getaway weekend
A road-trip
A domestic trip
An international trip
2) Estimate a preliminary budget
An example of High-level budget estimate for 7-day trip for 2 people to Alaska
Determine how much you're willing to spend on your vacation. Be realistic about what you can afford and the corresponding travel style (low budget backpacking vs high-end luxury package).
Do some quick research on costs per person or costs per night for main categories like transportation, accommodation, meals, activities. Stay high-level at this stage is perfectly fine.
3) research & compile information
This is the most time-consuming part of trip planning: doing (extensive) research on options for all categories so that you can decide on an itinerary that both fits your budget and allows you to check off your wish list.
3.1. Research Transportation options (how to get there and get around)
Look into different modes of transportation: flights, trains, buses, rental cars. Compare prices, travel times, and any additional fees or requirements. Consider flexibility in your travel dates as it can affect prices.
How to get to the main destination (city/town)
How to get around the city/town and between attractions (public transportation vs Uber/Lyft vs rental car vs tours)
These tools are available at your finger tips:
Google Flights & Google Map
(previously Scott’s Cheap Flights) Going
Costco Travel
Aggregator sites like Kayak, Momondo, Cheapflights, Orbitz, Booking, Expedia, Hopper
My personal secret to selecting the best fit options is to gather all essential information in a spreadsheet (yes, I am exactly the stereotypical finance spreadsheet guru)
By listing out most essential factors like cost, length, layover, seat & baggage fees, I can easily rank options and select best fit ones.
Any mode of transportation can be compared and ranked in similar manner.
3.2. Research accomodation options
Research various accommodation options that suit your budget and preferences.
How many people are travelling? Do they require special accommodation? Consider their ages and personal needs, especially elders, children, and people with disability
Location: How easy is it to get around? Is it in a walkable neighborhood? Is it accessible to different modes of transportations? How close is it to restaurants, convenient stores, and other attractions?
Amenities: Are there airport shuttles? Free Wifi? Breakfast included? Parking Options? Dining Options? Gym? Swimming Pool? Sauna? etc.
Price & Vacancy
Accommodation options include:
Resort
Hotel
Motel
Vacation Rental like Airbnb, VRBO
The tabular format allows for easy comparison of features and amenities.
3.3. research activities, attractions, tours
Research both time and cost required for each option and determine which ones align with your interests and budget. Some attractions may offer discounted rates during certain times or have special deals available. Group options in 3 main categories:
MUST DO: non-negotiable items, rank #1 on the list, the items you have been dreaming of for years
WANT TO: second in desirability tier, you definitely want it, but you won’t cry if you have to skip it
OPTIONAL: items that rank no 3, 4, 5 on your list, things that are nice to have, but you can totally skip
When researching sites, attractions, and tours, it’s important to know the following
What days of the week is it open? What are operation hours? Are there peak vs off-peak hours?
Given season and weather, what would work better? Inside vs Outside attractions
What’s the nature of the activities? Do you need to be very active and break a sweat, or just chillax?
Are there attraction passes that cover multiple sites at discounted price? How many days do they cover? Do they offer priority access/”skip-the-line” options?
Do you need to book tickets or register in advance? How far in advance?
Are there any restrictions that might apply to some family members like age limit?
How to get there? How long does it take to get there?
Tools to do research
Google Map
TripAdvisor
YouTube videos from people who had experienced it
Social Media sites like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc.
Travel Blogger’s Posts, Travel Magazines
Ask people who are from there, had lived there, or had traveled there
Ranking options in order of desirability allows you to easily cut out options that budget doesn’t allow.
3.4. research restaurants, cafes, bars, bakeries, shops
There is a must-try cuisine or local delicacy? Do you want to dine at that famous Michelin restaurant? Do you crave special dish that’s all over the internet?
Look them all up. Put them on the list. Estimate the costs. Rank them.
4) Compare and Rank options
As you compile all information in the extensive research step above, you should already form your preference towards certain options vs others. Discuss with your travel partners to move some items up the rank while demoting others to lower ranks. There are endless combinations.
You can limit to 3 ranks or extend to 10 or 20 ranks. The choice is yours. But you need to know what you like more than the other, especially when it comes to step 5 where you might need to cut many items to fit your budget.
Drawing from my experience developing and managing budget for my companies where investments are always ranked in order of their ROI potential and impacts on company’s margin, I design my travel research template in similar (and more simplified) manner.
Cost Summary from all options ranked no 1 (MUST DO) and no 2 (WANT TO)
The summary section allows me to easily see how many items and their total costs in each rank and each category. Then by comparing to the preliminary budget set above, I can see that I could take all options in rank 1 (MUST DO) and even some options in rank 2 (WANT TO).
5) Pick options best fit your preference and budget
In order to finalize the perfect itinerary for your dream vacation, you need to know how the costs from all of your favorite options are stacking up against your set budget. If the total cost of all selected/booked options is under your budget, “congratulations, you did it”. If the total cost of all selected/booked options exceed your budget, you need to cut some items.
Important tips:
Be very strict with yourself (and travel partners) about rank #1 items. These items are the first to get into your budget and the last to be cut out. You might WANT it all but you DON’T NEED it all.
Be flexible. Watch for promos and deals. Lower price tag could bump an item ranked no 4 to no 2 on your list (because you can now do more with less money).
Don’t overload your schedule. Be generous when budgeting for time spent in each location/activity. You can never predict delaying factors like weather.
I design my template in a way that when I put a checkmark in the “Booked” column to indicate the final items I select for my trip (in this case a combination of all items in rank 1 and a few items in rank 2 + 3), the total quantity and cost are automatically calculated.
Summary table and pie chart provide comprehensive view of budget allocation.
Summary table shows that I am currently $690 under my budget. This “Remain” amount is needed because I only list out some special dining options in my research template. There are other regular meals each day that I didn’t bother to put on the list.
In general, when you set a budget, you should also leave some space for unexpected expenses.
6) Put together a detailed itinerary and daily schedule
You made it!!!
This last step is actually super easy as you have done all the heavy workload above. You just need to move all the “Booked” items, which is your itinerary, to a day-by-day calendar so that you have everything carefully laid out in a centralized place.
That’s it!
For people who want to schedule their days by the hours.
FINAL thoughts
As an avid traveler and a finance professional, I enjoy the planning & budgeting step just slightly less than the trip itself. In most cases, it heats up my excitement as the departure day draws closer.
Here is a FREE Excel template.
If you want to use the Google Sheet that I design (featured above), you could visit my Etsy shop here:
