A Time to Organize the Planning!

Very shortly, I am going to be walking through the picturesque beauty of Dumfries and Sweetheart Abbey in Scotland! That's right, I am going to Scotland! Not only am I going to the very place I LOVE being in, I get to finally meet a very dear and close organizing friend! Ms. Marcia!

Over the last couple of months, we have been hemming and hawing on when we are going to go, if I can be there the same time as her planned trip, will we have time to meet up, and when in the world are we doing it?!

Well, this weekend, I finally got my butt in gear and we have dates, we have locations, we have a plan! The only thing left for me to do was to go out and get a special notebook to plan out my trip!

So, off to the store I went and I picked up this cute, short, fat spiral bound notebook from uCreate. It has two dividers which I am using one for my pre-planning notes and the other section will be for my firmed up plans.

Essentially, to any vacation or holiday, you have several steps you need to go through before the final "take off".

• Pre-Planning
• Final Itinerary
• What to Pack
• Packing
• Jumping on that plane!

In my pre-planning section, I made headers on each page of my notebook for different aspects of my trip:

• Where I want to go
• Things I want to do
• To Do List
• Budget - broken out by airfare, B&B's, trains, food, fun stuff
• Where to stay
• Important websites
• May calendar
• Tentative itinerary

I filled in the blanks outside on the patio since it's absolutely gorgeous outside and then I came in for a few more brainstorming ideas and to get some ideas on how much this little excursion was going to cost me!

Other than British Airways, my favorite website to check out before I go to Scotland is The Train Line! Not only am I going to find out how much it is going to cost me to travel all over Scotland, it's going to give me times of when they depart, how long it will take me to get there, is there even train access to where I am going, it is WONDERFUL!

So, out of the 10 "To Do's" I had on my list today, I have 7 of them knocked out and I am just giddy with excitement!

I still have to figure out which B&B's I am going to stay in and then it will be onto the next step of planning and organizing my little vacation.

Quick Steps To Get Started on the Pre-Planning Phase

If you are planning a vacation, definitely get a notebook to help you collect your thoughts. It will amaze you where and when your little epiphanies pop up and you don't want to be left empty handed.

Check around with your friends and family and see if they have some great suggestions for where you are going. If you blog, ask your blogging buddies!

Create a folder in your Online Favorites for your vacation and save any and all links you need in the folder. Just be sure and delete any obsolete sites you don't need any more. You don't need to confuse yourself!

Know the exchange rate! That part is KILLING me with going over to the UK. Lucky me gets to double everything. YUCK!

Think about the physical exertion you may need to endure. One of the places I want to go is a 5 mile walk! Ya, right! My legs haven't seen a one mile walk in years, let alone a five mile excursion! Looks like I had better invest in some tennies now and start getting these legs made for walking!

I just love planning these little trips!

Once I have all of my pre-planning done, I will start on the actual Final Itinerary. Of course, I am a ways off on that one. But it is why I love having the two separate tabs in my notebook. On the actual trip, I will take the notebook with me so I know where in the world I am going, but it will also be handy to have on hand just in case I need an emergency Plan B! No sense in letting good research go down the tubes!

Let me know if you are planning a nice little holiday and what steps you take to get you where you need to be!

Happy Organizing!

Suzanne "to Scotland" Babb