Half of the joy of taking a trip is in the travel planning – that whole journey, not the destination thing. I think I must have been a travel agent in a past life or maybe in my next life that will be my profession. When I plan, I plan right down to the hour, sometimes the minute, keeping in mind that if I can’t accomplish my entire itinerary, that is okay. Despite being a great planner (yes, I’m tooting my own horn in terms of travel planning), I do enjoy spontaneity! Remaining flexible in my mind allows some of that spontaneity to dominate my journey. My traveling philosophy is, “How often am I in (insert country or city-specific name here)?!” That, alone, serves to justify the aching feet, pulsing shin splints, and overall exhaustion at the end of each day.

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“How often am I in (insert country or city specific name here)?!”

I jam-pack my agenda and I mean jam pack! One of my favorite websites to utilize in the travel planning process is booking.com. They allow me the freedom to pay now or at the time of check-in on a large selection of lodging, which can be very beneficial for those of us on a tight budget. Their search filters are also very helpful. Best of all, most of the accommodations allow free cancellation up to days, sometimes hours, before check-in. They also have a “genius” program, which includes special perks such as early check-in and discounted prices for frequent bookers. Booking.com is my go-to for reserving my next hotel, hostel, bed and breakfast, or in the case of my current travel planning, a female-only capsule hotel in Japan!