How We Plan Our Dream Vacations
how we budget, decide where to go and plan our adventures. Plus a Free Itinerary Template to help you organize your next trip!
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As I sit down to write what will inevitably be my first letter of 2025, I am at a loss for where to begin. Do I share about my travel goals? Do a recap of the year? Ins/Outs (are people still doing that)? In the end I’ve decided to share how we plan our travels for the year including how we budget, decide where to go and plan our adventures while we are there.
Let’s Talk Money…
It’s hard to talk about vacations without talking about finances. While I wish I was the woman in your inbox who gets paid a handsome salary to travel the world, the reality is I’m not that girl. I am an actor, which means our household is usually in “feast or famine” mode. When I am working on a Broadway show or tv series we’ve got the money, but not the time and visa versa. It’s a delicate balancing act that we have managed to navigate fairly well over the years, but certainly is challenging.
Typically (if I have work lined up) we will allocate about $10k for travel for the year. This usually includes about 3 weeks of vacations (more or less) - sans airfare (we use points for that). Holiday and family travel is it’s own thing. If it’s a year with less flexibility in the budget, we will focus on staying domestic or doing a more adventure based/road trip type thing. Regardless of budget, the vacations themselves are a non negotiable. We decided early on that travel is a core value for our marriage and we stick to that.
Where to Go…
We have an ongoing bucket list of Dream Vacations. These are destinations that most likely will cost us upwards of $10k. This includes vacations like Japan, New Zealand, an African Safari and (recently crossed of the list) Kauai. These are places we know we need to plan ahead for and save accordingly.
Every September we travel somewhere to celebrate another year together. We like to switch it up between beach and mountains year to year (ie- Greece, Switzerland, Hawaii, Dolomites). And that’s pretty much the parameters we give ourselves. If we are looking to do a lot of hiking and be in the mountains, we usually head over to Harmen Hoek’s youtube for some inspiration. I also love Simply Slow Traveler for her thoughtful approach to planning and (of course) am always looking to
over at Yolo Journal for exciting new locations and hotel recs. I have a folder on my instagram for travel and whenever somewhere beautiful or interesting pops up I save it there to come back to when I’m planning.Getting here there and everywhere…
Everyone decides where to splurge and where to save when they travel (unless you don’t, in which case lucky you!). Marco would fly standing room on a plane if it were on option, so we are not the folks to chat with if you want to know about the ins and outs of business class (for that I defer to
). Where we will NOT budge; however, is the time spent in the air. Unless we absolutely MUST we only fly direct if we can help it.
As we book our flights, we also decide if we will be staying in one location for the whole trip or moving around. We do this all at the same time so we can book trains, car rentals, etc for our entire trip.
Pro Tip! If you are traveling outside the US and drive stick shift, it will cut your rental car price in half. We always do this and 50% of the time they give us an automatic anyway.
Hotel Hunting…
We have arrived at my favorite part of pre vacation…the planning! Once we have decided on a country I go down a hotel hunting RABBIT HOLE! I usually begin by typing best hotels + country you’re traveling to + travel and leisure. I would be remiss not to mention
for A+++ hotel recommendations. If cost is a factor has an amazing section on Yolo Journal called Costa Meno that has collections of small local hotels for under 300 euro/night. The way she describes it, “these are the hotels that show up on page 248 of Google search, have zero marketing budget.” These hotels are usually run by a local family and, to me, they are the gems of european travel.
Research…
Here’s the thing, it helps to know what kind of traveler you are to know what kind of research to do. When I travel I want authentic immersive experiences with a hint of luxury and one of a kind outdoor adventures. Of course I am going to see the major things (don’t worry, I won’t go to Paris and skip the Mona Lisa), but knowing how I like to travel informs the type of research I do. This is what I am searching for when I travel…
FOOD! Your girls likes to EAT and eat well. I want to know the little mom and pop pasta shop as well as the three michelin star restaurants. For this I find it helpful to look to your “foodie” folks as opposed to travel writers. I want to know where
and are eating. This is also when it helps to stay at a local B&B. The owners can usually recommend the best restaurants AND help you get a reservation. We had incredible luck with this while in Engadine and Naples.Is there a life changing hike or beautiful nature moment nearby? Obviously we knew we weren’t going to Kauai without hiking the Kalalau Trail, but what are the other must visit spots. For hiking specific trips we turn to Harmen Hoek, Kraig Adams, and Jess Wandering for inspiration.
Vintage/Antique Shops — I am constantly on the hunt for second hand treasures to bring home with us. If
has mentioned shopping there, you can be sure it’s on my list.Cute local specialty stores/food markets. We love bringing back local cheeses, chocolates and pantry items from our travels. I think it’s one of the best travel souvenirs.
Google Maps is your new BFF…
I know. Google maps for travel…groundbreaking. Once we have compiled our list I like to make different layers for different categories (food spots, beaches, hikes, things to do, etc). There is no “right way” to categorize, just whatever keeps you organized. For me, I like to be able to isolate the food so I can see what’s nearby when hunger strikes. You may prefer to organize by day as opposed to category. Truly whatever floats your boat. Obviously we color code. Below is an example of my map from Joshua Tree.
The Master Itinerary…
I know there are probably apps that do this, but I just use a good old fashioned spreadsheet. This document has EVERYTHING and I keep a digital and hard copy on me when I travel. It has all of our flight info, hotel/car reservations, addresses of where we are staying, daily activities, dinner reservations, etc. I like to have options listed so I don’t need to feel tied to any one thing. My golden rule for travel is you should have one planned activity a day, and you can cancel it for whatever reason you want. I find this gives a loose enough structure to organize your day while still allowing for spontaneity. If it is a hiking specific trip, my days are a little more structured, but still able to be adjusted depending on how we are feeling.
I have made this spreadsheet available to all you beautiful humans. Take it. Download it. Use it for your travels. Just click subscribe below and it will come straight to your inbox! If you are already a subscriber and want access to this, just DM me.
Last bit about budgeting…
There is nothing worse than planning an amazing vacation and feeling stressed about money the entire time you’re there. My husband (the more budget savvy of the two of us) always says “you can do anything as long as you plan ahead.” I used to find this kind of silly, but the more we travel the more I realize he is correct. It’s empowering to step off the plane with a clear picture of what things will cost and know that you have planned accordingly for that. I am thinking of doing a deeper dive into how we budget for vacations. Does that sound interesting to anyone? LMK in the comments.
Alright folks, that’s all. I hope this was helpful. If you like this type of content and want more of the nitty gritty about how we plan + budget, please let me know and I will make it more of a priority. Xo - Alex
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As always, photos for this newsletter were created in collaboration with Marco Pannella.
What a newsletter! Thanks for the lovely inclusion!
Would definitely be into a deep dive into budgeting! Thanks for the great post.