How to decide where to travel next?

Whether you’re a seasoned traveller or a backpacking newbie, it can sometimes be difficult to decide where to travel next. Selecting a destination from the huge array of options can be overwhelming. Particularly if, like myself, you’re open to anywhere but ‘sunny’ England. For others, the issue might be finding a new holiday destination that’s just right for your specific needs. So, whether you’re dreaming of faraway travel destinations or off-the-beaten-path trips, this guide will help you make the right choice on where to travel next!

Outline of how to decide where to travel next

1. Seek inspiration
2. Review your needs
3. Research deeper
4. Consider practicalities (time, budget)

1. Seek inspiration for where to travel next

The first step in deciding where you want to travel next (and also the fun part), is getting some inspiration! Spend time-consuming online material.

Instagram & Pinterest

Instagram and Pinterest are both great tools for visual inspiration. Seeing landscapes, architecture, food and people is what travel is all about. So hopefully seeing pictures of what’s out there will inspire you to get away! 

Creating groups of pictures is easier than ever and helps you to keep track of things that you’d like to check out.

Instagram is particularly useful to see where people you know have been and see what they’ve done in certain locations. However, if you are looking for places that your friends haven’t visited, the hashtag function for searches is very powerful and there are plenty of travel accounts showing the most incredible places!

Pinterest is an excellent tool for creating boards amassing all the ideas you have relating to a particular trip. You may have a board called “Camping Destinations” with all the most scenic camping spots you can find. Or you may visit someone else’s board called “Madrid” to find all the best things to see and do in Madrid. Most Pinterest posts even include links to blog articles about locations you will see in the pictures.

NOTE: Lots of photos are heavily edited nowadays and may not be realistic, but when has a picture ever done the real thing any justice?

Travel Blogs

Blogs are great for developing ideas for where to travel next. You can find anything from a road trip around Iceland’s ring road to “How to spend 4 days in the Caye Caulker”. The world is quite literally your oyster!

What’s great about blogs is that you can read about people’s personal experiences alongside pictures making them more informative than social media. I find that blogs help me better understand the kind of experience I would have in a particular place. 

Some of my favourite blogs for inspiration include:

• Nomadic Matt
• Bucketlistly Blog
• I am Aileen
• Salt In Our Hair

Polarsteps

If you are looking for something different and more personal, download the Polarsteps app.

In the search area, you are able to view other people’s trips in various categories. If you investigate, you will be able to see their route plotted on a world map with pictures and a brief description of each destination. 

I find that because fewer people use Polarsteps, the writing is more genuine. Travellers often use the app as a diary, with a short section on the individual’s thoughts or events in each place. Polarsteps also showcases people travelling some insane routes, which may inspire you to do something similar! I particularly enjoy looking at the routes in the “Overlanding the Globe” collection.

Check out my guide on how to use Polarsteps here.

Word of mouth

Blogs and social media are great and serve a purpose, but one of the best ways to get inspiration for where to travel next is by chatting with people.

This could be with friends, family, colleagues, neighbours or fellow travellers. They might have been somewhere that appeals or could suggest somewhere that they know you would enjoy. The great thing about talking is that you can find out so much more about their experiences rather than just a picture online. Plus these people usually know you better so may be able to produce ideas more tailored to your interests.

If you’re on the road already, chatting with fellow backpackers is arguably the best way to decide where to go next! Other travellers will be able to provide the most up-to-date and honest reviews of nearby places. I never would’ve visited Myanmar without speaking to others, and it turned out to be one of my favourite countries ever!

Similarly, talking to locals will give you an insight into destinations that not many others could. However, you should know that people might want to sell you all-inclusive package tours to a nearby island! (This does happen!)

2. Review what you are looking for

Having sought inspiration from multiple sources, hopefully, there are a few ideas floating around in your head!

Now you should consider the reason for your travel and what kind of trip you are looking for. Review your initial search, noting down what appeals to you with these two considerations in mind.

What is your reason for travelling?

Is your trip meant to give you time to relax? Are you looking to develop yourself, learn a new language or explore new cultures? Maybe you are looking to escape and try out a new way of life. Or perhaps there is no reason behind it at all!

Do any of the places you’ve researched align with your reason to travel? If yes, then move you can move on to the next step.

What kind of holiday do you want?

There are many types of holidays to consider, from action-packed mountaineering trips through to luxury spa resorts.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you want an active holiday or relaxing? Trips could be hobby-based like cycling, or could be more slow-paced.
• What weather do you want? Are you looking for a beach holiday in a warm-weathered country or would you prefer somewhere rural and wintery?
• What kind of environment do you want to be in? Perhaps you are looking for a city break, or maybe you want to be in the outdoors surrounded by nature and wildlife in an ecotourism project? 

What if you don’t mind?

If after the first two steps, nothing stands out as an option of where to travel next, I recommend researching events to use as a focal point for your trip. This could spark a whole vacation idea or simply provide structure for your plans.

Have a look at festivals and events worldwide. I’m talking about the huge events that thousands and thousands of people go to, whether it’s a national festival such as Carnival in Brazil or Yi Peng Festival in Thailand, or a music festival such as Sziget in Hungary.

If you are still having difficulty deciding where to travel next, consider returning to somewhere you enjoyed previously. 

3. Research Potential Destinations

Now you have some destinations in mind, you can delve deeper to find out more about these places.

If you’re spontaneous and like surprises and want to leave the exploring until you get there, that is completely fine and you can skip out on the research step. If however, you want to know where to do your research, see below:

Travel Blogs (again)

I know I’m a blogger so might be slightly biased… But honestly, I have found blogs to be the most useful tools for research as you can get detailed opinions on a destination. You can often find things that are up to date. People that have been to these places. As long as they are being honest.

Guidebooks 

Guidebooks are also helpful, however, I would recommend not splashing the cash on your Lonely Planet guidebook until you have decided on your destination. This is because you can get all the material you need to make the decision online and guidebooks tend to be more helpful to prepare you for a country or once you’re there.

Skyscanner 

Skyscanner is a useful tool if you want to research flight costs but haven’t necessarily decided where or when you want to go yet.

Using the “everywhere” function, you can type in a date and a starting airport and Skyscanner will show you flight costs to various destinations. 

Similarly, if you know where you want to go but are flexible on dates. Type in the airports and view by “Whole Month” and you will be able to view the cheapest flight options to help you decide when to go. 

4. Practicality

Having narrowed down your options, this is the point where you ask yourself how feasible your trip is, or how you can make it work. 

Time

Ask yourself: 

• Are you restricted by time? 

If the answer to this question is no, that widens your options and makes things a lot easier. Unfortunately, it also makes deciding a bit tougher! You have the option to travel AND you have the option to holiday (yes, there is a difference). 

With travel or backpacking, you are generally away for a longer period of time, sometimes with no particular end date or return flight! Travel is ideal for moving slowly through countries and really getting a feel for the culture!

With a holiday or vacation, the time you spend away is more restricted and frequently covers a smaller area or just one location. Holidays are great for unwinding from work or doing particular things that you know you want to do such as sightseeing, shopping, or skiing.

If you are restricted by time, you must ask: 

• When can you go and how long for?

The when is an important factor, as this will affect how soon you have to make plans – will things have sold out or changed price? It also affects seasons, as you wouldn’t be able to go on a skiing holiday in the middle of June!

How long is also important, as it affects what you will be able to do in that period of time. If you have just a weekend available, then you probably don’t want a flight that is going to wipe you out with jet lag before coming home again! Whereas if you have a week, you may decide that going somewhere and not moving around would be best to make the best use of your time!

Cost

How much money do you have, and how much can you budget for this trip? Then try to get a ballpark figure for how much you think your trip would cost. It is better to overestimate the cost, rather than underestimate and not have enough money. 

If you estimate your ideal trip to cost more than what you have available to spend, it’s time to start saving up!

As well as saving for your trip, you should consider how to cut costs while travelling. Do you need to stay in a 5-star hotel, or is a 3-star okay instead? Are you able to cook for yourself rather than eat out every night? It all depends on what you are willing to compromise.

And if you have enough money, time to book that trip and get excited!

Summary 

So remember:

• Inspiration: get ideas of where to go
• Review: see if these ideas align with what you’re looking for
• Research: read further into the options which stand out to see if they are still what you want
• Practicality: check if the idea you have is feasible
• Repeat

However, if this doesn’t work for you. You could always spin a globe and point. Or throw a dart at a map. Or any other way of randomising your selection.

Before you go

Thank you for reading my guide on how to decide where to travel next. If guides, itineraries, and travel content like this interest you, head over to my blog page to find out more.

If you are new to Matt’s Next Steps, check out the About Me page to find out a bit more about who I am, my travel adventures, and why I wanted to become a travel writer.

Please comment below and let me know your thoughts and experiences, or if there is anything else you want information on.

Happy travelling!