Travel 101: Part 1

I've been thinking a lot about travel lately - and honestly, that's nothing new.  But I've also been thinking about how I travel and how I plan to travel.  I'm assuming everyone has their own way of going about it and deciding what they'll see.  And I'm definitely no different. 

But I'm just now starting some big trip planning for 2017 and I thought it might be at least a little bit interesting to hear how I go about planning my own trips.  I've been told I'm a little too organized when it comes to itineraries and planning, but I like to see everything when I travel, and it's the best way I know how to do that. So here's my own personal Step 1 in the travel journey.  And I'm sure you're excited to hear that there will be more steps over the coming months : )

Of course, Pre-Step 1 is deciding where to go.  This is the most important  and necessary step I suppose.  In this case, I'm thinking Italy.  I've never been there, and I LOVE Italian food. It's a win-win.  However, I know next to nothing about Italy. So the very best place I know to fix that is not the Google, but the Pinterest. In the old days, I probably would have hit travel guides, but now that Pinterest exists, it makes my life so much easier. 

After initially searching on Italy travel, I learned a few things.  Lots of people have been to Italy and have written loads about their travels.  And most importantly, I never realized just how many amazing destinations there are within Italy, and how very, very little I know about any of them.  Usually I have a vague idea of what I want to see.  When it comes to travel planning, I highly suggest that.  Because after that first search, I was ready to scrap Italy and just go back to England where I knew what I liked and where I loved. 

But I pushed on.  Any articles that included places that looked interesting, I pinned.  I wasn't looking for set destinations per se, I was just looking for ideas. And in this searching for ideas I found I really liked the idea of seeing Venice (I learned most people visit during the day there, so it's kind of cool and eerie to find a hotel and do the overnight thing.) I liked Verona for no other reason than the Shakespeare connection.  I also learned that while everyone says you have to see Rome, it wasn't catching my eye like other places were.  I learned I pin a lot of food related travel items which should really come as no surprise. And so far, that's pretty much it.  I'm definitely not "there" yet. But we're getting there.

That's basically my pinning stage in a nutshell.  Pinterest helps me because I'm visual and just getting to see the photos of these beautiful places really sparks my interest in the country and gets me excited to go there.  I'll most likely stay in this stage for another few months.  By that time, I will have a general idea of the places I want to see.  Then we'll move on to the next stage - paring down the list.  Not nearly as fun, but definitely necessary if you value not racing around a country with heavy luggage for a week.