We just got back from our 3-week trip to southern France (fabulous!) early last Friday morning, and I’ve already started thinking about next year’s trip. I’m thinking of somewhere in the eastern Mediterranean . . . either Greece, Egypt or Israel. Right now I’m thinking probably Israel. My partner says I’m crazy to start thinking about next year, so early. He’d be happy letting me plan everything, and he won’t know where we’re going until we get there.
So how far ahead do you guys start thinking about your next vacation?
I started planning my honeymoon, shopping around for hotels, flights, things to do almost as soon as I got engaged… 16 months before the wedding/honeymoon. Then again, I’m a compulsive planner.
We overlap actually. My SO made this concession to me early in our relationship.
Planning for a vacation can be half the fun and I get a little sad when a trip is over and there’s nothing big to look forward to. We’re going to Netherlands/Belgium/France next month, but we have a trip to Florida in December and Ecuador/Peru/Galapagos planned for spring break '10.
The bonus is that we have been planning these trips, in some cases, over a year in advance so we’ve been researching flight prices and hotel deals so we can more reasonably afford these trips. For example, we’re flying to Europe nonstop for $60 a piece as we’re using our frequent flyer miles, we booked a car for 10 days for $180, and some really cheap hotels too like $60 a night in Paris with parking, woot!