After I return from a trip, people always ask me the same thing. Where to next? Followed closely by, how to you decide where to go? My next destination is often a mystery to me, but I do have my ways of deciding where it will be!
In all honesty, I never really have a plan when I start to think about my next adventure. I don’t always plan my trips the same way.
I would like to share my own processes for choosing a destination because I know that deciding where to go can often be the most difficult part of travel. Decision making is hard, but if you are wondering how to make it easier on yourself, maybe one of these methods will work well for you.
I have used all of these methods at some point during my years of travel. Throwing consistency out the door, I tend to decide on each trip I take differently. Because I do all of my trip planning in “vacation mode” I don’t feel the need to be overly strict with myself. Maybe I end up with better adventures because of that.
Without further ado, here are some of the methods that I use to choose my next destination.
Use Your Bucket List
Perhaps the most obvious method of choosing a destination is to use your bucket list. Start looking into places you know you want to visit. Consider the time of year you will be traveling, the seasons, local holidays. All of these could affect your decision.
What if you don’t have a bucket list? No worries. It is easy to form one. I have been mildly obsessed with other parts of the world since I was a child. I used to read about places and dream of going there. That is how a travel bucket list starts for a lot of travelers.
If you are an adult now, and just getting into travel, think about your own interests. That will get you headed in the right direction. Do you love horses? Look into places like Iceland or Mongolia or Kentucky. Are you an avid watcher of anime? Check out Japan. Do you love a certain type of food? You get where I’m going with this.
I like to have a few options from my bucket list before I start research on flights, accommodations, and activities. Travel does adhere to a timeline, and it is not always convenient. Book a trip to the place that most fits with your schedule. That will provide you with less stress and a better itinerary.
Book the Cheapest Flight You Can Find
One of my favorite past times is perusing my options on Google Flights. Is that a weird hobby? If you go to Google Flights and click on the “Explore Destination” map you can put in a general time and place and search for flights.
What I love about this, is that you can cast a pretty wide net and search for a 2-week roundtrip to Europe in March from your home airport, or something like that. It will show you the cheapest flight available for a lot of different places.
This is essentially how I ended up going to Iceland, one of my favorite places on this earth. Once you find a cheap flight, it is worth doing a little research before you take the plunge. Look into how expensive it will be once you get there, and some of the customs. If you are on a budget, a cheap flight does not necessarily mean the place will be affordable, so it is important to check in advance.
Look into Events and Festivals
I think this is my favorite way to research destinations and is a bit more recent for me. I have stumbled upon a decent number of events while traveling, and it got me looking more into festivals to see if I could weave a trip around one.
While I was in Japan, we coincidentally were in Matsumoto during their nighttime cherry blossom viewing event where they open up the castle grounds to the public at night to celebrate the cherry blossoms. When I studied abroad in Scotland many years ago, we were taken to the Highland games by locals, and we got to see the Olympic torch being passed through Edinburgh.
What I have learned is to always look into what’s happening at each destination you consider going to. You may find something unexpectedly amazing.
There are a lot of events worldwide that may be just what you want to experience. Some of them are very niche, like Comicon in San Diego, or Tomorrowland in Belgium, or even Oktoberfest in Germany.
Just type in what you love and add festival in a search and see what pops up. You never know where you could end up going!
Personal Recommendations
I love talking about travel, so it is easy for me to bring it up in conversation. You may be surprised by how many people you know travel more than you think. Ask your friends and acquaintances if they have been on any trips recently.
Often, you will not only have a great conversation, but you will also end up inspired to plan your own trip. You can learn a lot of things you may not be able to find online by talking to someone who has been to a place recently. They can give you food recommendations and they can tell you about where they stayed.
You can also learn a lot about how to navigate a place, especially if you don’t speak the language. Don’t underestimate your connections. You probably know more travelers than you realize.
Watching Documentaries
Were you expecting this one? Did I surprise you? I frequently am drawn to places after watching TV. My lazy habit can be inspiring at times.
Watching documentaries is something that I love to do. I can learn more about different cultures, or about nature and the planet. I can also see places I have never been and start craving to be there.
So what kind of documentaries should you watch? I personally love nature, travel, and food docu-series. They all capture the world in ways that we may never see as normal travelers. However, just seeing the world through a small screen becomes an urge to see the places in real life.
Look into Places Close to Home
Are you limited on time or money? Maybe you don’t have a passport? You would be amazed at what you can find in your own town, or maybe a few towns over. A nice day trip or short road trip could be just what you need.
People ask me about what to do in Nashville all the time because I grew up a couple of hours from there. I have a hard time thinking of things because I rarely went there as a tourist. We went on shopping trips and for concerts mostly. My point is, we often miss out on some of the great things we have nearby because we know we could go at any time. So we put it off.
Don’t be like me. Find all of the great things that your city or town has to offer. Whether it is a cool new art exhibit or a hiking trail that only a few people know about. Ask around, do some research, and see something new!
Your Next Destination Could Be Anywhere
Your world is as big or as small as you want it to be. Don’t feel like you have to travel to the other side of the world and give up on a vacation altogether when it doesn’t pan out. Know that you have options!
Choosing a destination can be daunting. We all want to go to amazing places so that we can tell everyone all about our fabulous trips when we return. Just remember that travel is hard and complicated, but oh, so rewarding. Where you go doesn’t matter, but what you get out of your trip could be life changing.
I hope my destination choosing methods have helped you out and maybe given you some idea of where to start planning your next adventure. If you have any questions, I am happy to help, as always!
We are just like you: we look at our bucket list first and then we consider flights and prices. Sometimes we aim for a particular season or off-season. After accidentally running into festivals (Carnival) in both Bern and Lucerne in Switzerland this year, I think that it is a fabulous idea to research events when considering a trip. We hadn’t done this before (although we are eyeing Oktoberfest, of course), but after attending them, it really made our trip extra special. I want more moments like that–although the surprise was fabulous too. Nothing like a band playing in your lobby…