TRAVEL SERIES: How to plan a last minute weekend getaway

Happy Tuesday Y’all! I’m switching it up a bit this week on my travel series because I just planned a last minute weekend trip to Chicago. So, I figured why not give y’all some insights and tips on planning a last minute weekend getaway. Most vacations I take are normally just for a weekend, so planning one on such a whim was easy.

You’re probably wondering why I picked Chicago since it’s still so cold outside. Well… I didn’t pick it, it kind of picked me! My friend Jordyn reached out and said her plans fell through but she still wanted to go, so I figured why not? I’ve always wanted to go, plus Kyles from Chicago so I figured it would be fun to explore his hometown while he’s gone!

Now on to the more important stuff, how we actually pulled off such a last minute vacation. When most people go on vacation it tends to be planned out in advance, accounting for every aspect of their trip. Well with planning a quick or last minute trip, a decent amount of planning comes into play. It’s actually more important in these kinds of trips because you’re on a time restriction. You may only have one week to plan 3 full days in a busy city… think about it, you have to account for that one week to plan and then utilize the time you have in those three days. If this is a vacation planned months in advance you have time to do your research, compares costs, book reservations, etc. that way when the time comes for your trip you’re worry-free. Now if you’re planning in one week you have to cram all that research into a short time span. I know, it sounds stressful but it can be fairly easy if you go about it the right way.

At this point you’re probably like, I have not a clue where to start. Well, this one can be fairly simple, start with:

Location

This might sound like common sense but you need to pick a place that can be realistic for the time or budget you’re working with. It might be hard to get overseas for a weekend trip so it’s important to take into consideration how long you’ve got. Chicago is a great weekend trip for me because it is only a few hours from my house. Your budget plays a big roll in where you can get to as well. As much as we all wish it were free to travel, it’s sadly not. But, it can be relatively cheap depending on where you travel to. I can’t be only willing to spend a few hundred to travel to Rome when the flight alone can be a couple hundred. Just think appropriately and don’t over do it on a pricey place when you can go somewhere you’ve never been for cheaper.

Once you’ve established your travel destination, the next key thing you need to plan for is:

Transportation

When going just about anywhere, you’re going to have to think about how you’re getting there. You can’t just say you’re going to Aruba and wake up in Aruba the next day, although that would be nice! There are so many forms of transportation for you to choose from. You could fly, take a train, ride the bus, take a boat, or maybe a taxi depending on where you go. I’m from northeast Ohio so Chicago is only a few hours from here, but with Chicago traffic, we opted out of the drive. Instead, we decided to get bus tickets. I think it’s fun if you can do something like this… you get to view the scenery, spend time with your travel buddy, or catch up on needed work.

This one may sound a little crazy but it really helps ease the planning process. Now that you picked your location, start researching:

Create an itinerary

If you get a running list of things you want to do, you may see a trend in their location. You could have a list of 10 things and of those, 7 of them may all be relativity close to one another.  If that’s the case then it would be ideal to look for lodging in that area to cut back on additional travel costs or time. Yeah, it might be nice to have that hotel that is 30 dollars cheaper, but the commute may be long or could even rack up a pricey taxi tab.

Now that you know how you’re getting to your destination and have researched it some, it’s time for you to figure out your:

Lodging

Some people find a place to stay first then book their transportation, but I think it’s easier to find a place to stay once you’re there than it is to book a flight the day of. Along with transportation, there are so many options for lodging while traveling. You could book a hotel, a condo, a house or maybe even a hostel depending on where you’re traveling too. Luckily, technology makes it so easy for us and gives us a multitude of resources to find a place. There’s hotel comparison sites, readily available travel agents, or even sites like Airbnb. When booking out lodging, we bounced around so many ideas before settling on this.

Super excited to go on this quick trip! We are finalizing up our itinerary for the weekend and I’m so excited to share some of the things we will be doing while we’re there. If y’all have any must-do things while we are there, send them my way!