Do you have a Lifetime Travel Plan? Financial Plan? Fitness plan?
We’ve all heard that it is a good idea to have a plan – especially for retirement, college, longevity, etc. The key to long term success is long term planning.
You can have a lifetime travel plan too. Consider just a small sampling of the possibilities at different life stages:
1. Being in the throes of taking your kids to Disney World
2. Kids are in college and thinking of finally taking a European River cruise
3. Hoping to finally take that bucket list trip to Tahiti (KEEP READING FOR A TIP).
4. Taking your annual resort trip
5. Planning that long awaited trip to Italy
These trips can range from a minimal need for advance planning to one year or more of advance planning. Having an idea of what you want to do is a good thing but it’s even better with a plan. OK, here’s your tip; when you’re thinking of Tahiti, you’re probably not really thinking of Tahiti. While you will likely fly into Papeete, Tahiti; you’re likely of dreaming of Bora Bora or Moorea.
Did you see the latest client feedback in this week’s newsletter?
It was about a very long trip to Australia, one of the most complicated trips I’ve ever planned; really it was three us – my two clients plus me. My clients wanted some very off the beaten path places in Australia as part of their travel dreams. Places your average escorted tour will never get to visit. Getting this trip right took lots of interaction and hours and hours of work.
Wondering what goes into all of this work?
1. Studying my clients’ intake survey to understand their goals of taking the trip.
2.Understanding their travel “style” including types of hotels, tours, dining style, modes of transportation, etc.
3. Planning draft itineraries with different vendors.
4. Nailing down the “trip flow” which includes number of cities/places, number of days in each city, planning a night or two of down time after arriving in your destination (HINT: this is a good idea for Australia and Tahiti).
5. Optimizing, tweaking, changing, and changing some more for my clients including adding in tours and transfers.
6. Interacting constantly to get everything tuned up just right for you.
Bottom line: we started planning for this September trip back in March.
I consider this a short window for planning a trip of this nature as there are many moving parts to put together.
Some trips are planned out over a year in advance due to tight inventory. Are you familiar with all of the newer European river cruises on the market? Some of these itineraries, such as traveling around Paris, really do get booked out a year in advance. (There’s the long term planning once again.)
While we work on these several month or one year in advance trips, many clients might have another trip coming up like a winter cruise or trip to an All-Inclusive resort. Seeing the picture here? Would you pick and fund a college education two months in advance of packing for the freshman dorm?
OK, a simple trip does not need such advance planning. But isn’t it good to allow us time to maximize options and vendor promotions? (DEEP SECRET: I really do see the vendor promotions; maybe more than you receive. I want to make sure I have enough time to give you all of the promotions that you qualify for.)
The key is to work together on an advance basis. That’s you and me, and we’ll have fun too!
- So, what are YOUR travel plans over the next one to two years?
- What are your dream trips on a ten year plan?
Remember, we’re not booking trips out ten years, just having really fun discussions. I’ll be actively engaged in your short term travel plans while we chat about the future.
Then we begin to drill down into the details:
- Where do you want to go and when?
- Special events to celebrate during these trips?
Haven’t thought about these issues in advance, that’s ok! We will use the information gathered to begin to provide you with updates to fit your travel ambitions.
Question: wondering why I provide so much detail about that custom Australia trip above? One of my awesome client-turned-friend, normally does a big trip in the summer. I know from his lifetime travel plan that he wants to visit Australia. While it may not work next summer, it is on my back burner to keep a lookout for him.
Do not think for a moment that this is too much advance planning for your vacation travels! Does your accountant wait until you are 60 to talk to you about retirement? Does your doctor wait until you have a heart attack to tell you about good eating habits and exercise? Does your real estate agent ever discuss your “next home”?
Let’s be engaged together in your lifetime travel plan!
