(Important) Steps to draft a travel itinerary

Hello. It has been awhile since I wrote anything here. I'm doing good so far. :) By the way, the bf suggested that I should start a new blog to record down all the places that we have been to and also for the purpose of sharing our itineraries with people whom rely on blogs to get information on the places that they're going *cough. me. cough* My reaction was like, "Nobody is going to read what I write" and "I don't have the time to blog" and "I am a lazy pig". However, I was quite surprised to see my Bangkok Itinerary post and Bangkok Day 1 & 2 post to be viewed so frequently; 164 and 211 counts respectively. That is like, woah. So yeah, maybe I could start sharing more of food and travel posts in my blog. :)

I remember mentioning about updating about my drafting of Guangzhou itinerary for the bf but sadly the itinerary is in my laptop. Will share it here when I have the time. Promise! I have a hard time drafting Guangzhou's itinerary because I'm a half-banana. Haha. I know a little bit of Chinese but researching about something in Chinese is quite difficult for me. But I really like researching about new places and then put these pieces of puzzles together. It's fun! So how do I draft out my itinerary? I follow a few easy steps to get a draft out and then update my draft accordingly as at when I have new details to add in. Here are the basic steps that I follow:-

Destination

1. List down a few places/countries which you would like to visit. 
2. Choose a destination. (this is quite obvious, I know. Haha.)
3. Wait for cheap flights. (seriously this is what I usually do. I'd wait. Hahaha)

Flight Ticket

1. Choose the travel date with the cheapest flight ticket. (I am a budget traveler, so no choice but to fly with Air Asia almost all the time and I usually buy my flight ticket during promotional period)

*To save cost, I usually don't purchase travel insurance, baggage and in-flight meals when I'm traveling within Malaysia. 

Drafting Itinerary

1. Find the list of attractions for the place you're visiting.
2. Find a hotel nearby the subway station (very important)
3. Read on lots and lots of reviews especially on Trip Advisor and Agoda before proceeding with your hotel booking. (extremely important)
4. Find the subway map (applicable only if there's subway of course)
5. Look for reviews on the places of attractions which you have listed down and eliminate whichever unnecessary (some places are really not worth your time if you have a tight schedule)
6. Finalise the places which you're going to visit and search for the directions to those places. (how to go there?)
7. To also jot down the admission fee (if any) and the operating hours for each place. 
8. After you have all the information as stated above, start to draw up a plan as to which places you would like to visit on Day 1, Day 2 and etc.
9. Estimate the known cost which you would have to incur for this entire trip i.e. total admission fee and total transportation fee. (at least you'd know how much you have to set aside when you're there)

A very important note:-

To ALWAYS know how much you have spent before the trip (on your flight ticket) and during the trip so that you won't overspend the next time you're there. 

But remember that your itinerary is only meant to be a guide. You can always choose not to follow it during the trip. I'm speaking from experience on this matter. I was so excited before my Korea trip to the extent that I spent too much time on my travel itinerary. So when my actual plan deviated from my planned itinerary, I got so fed up and it slightly ruined my mood for the entire trip. To stay calm when your plan is not being followed is difficult for people like me. However, staying calm is very important especially when you're traveling in a group. There is no point in being moody if other people refuse to follow your plan. The main objective of the trip should be to enjoy yourself and also to relax and not just to realise your itinerary.

I really hope that this helps some of you who are in the midst of planning your upcoming trip. :) Till next time!