Planning too much can be a big problem that can cause chaos and worry in your mind. Too often, people can plan every little detail of their trip, so they end up with anxiety because they don’t know how they are going to see it all. The truth is that planning too much is not good. However, you are probably like many people who aren’t so sure if you are this type of person. Examining yourself will help you to find out whether you are guilty or not.

Are You Guilty of Planning Too Much Before You Travel?

-You are constantly worried

You know that you are guilty of this problem if you worry about your trip a bit too much even before it has even come. Worry and fear are two negative feelings that you will experience constantly throughout the weeks leading up to the trip, but this is the reason why you need to stop with your over planning.

Do you and Mr Worry have more in common than a dislike of shoes?

-You look at your itinerary too much

If you pay too much attention to your overall itinerary, then you will definitely have problems later on. This is something that plenty of people experience, so try to avoid it as best as you can.

How many times have you checked over your itinerary? Once or twice…a day?

-You plan out every second of the trip

This is a problem that is very tough to overcome, but it is a sure sign of too much planning. It is where you plan too much and you plan every detail of your trip; a sure sign of an addictive planner.

Are you trying to plan every single second of your trip?

How To Overcome The Over Planning

-Plan everything and let it go

This technique is extremely powerful to use. The truth is that planning your trip isn’t that tough, and simply setting it all up is already good enough. The trick is to plan out everything, make sure that it is ready, and then forget about the planning. Of course, you need to make that the entire itnerary is alright and fixed, but there is no need to stress and over plan the entire thing and constantly look over the itinerary.

-Add extra days to your trip

If you get the chance to go for several more days, you can relax more often throughout the trip. Usually if you try too hard to fit everything into your trip, you will find yourself over planning and having too hard of a problem to fit all the nice attractions in. Instead, try to add a few extra days to each place that you visit so that you have many days for touring and having some downtime.

-Remember the wisdom of Robert Burns!

“The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men / Gang aft agley” In other words, no matter how hard you plan, something will go wrong!  Don’t panic over this however! Just come to terms with the fact that not everything will run smoothly.  Buses will be delayed, there will be unexpected rain, you will meet people you don’t like etc.  Acknowledging this from the start will prevent it being overly traumatic when it happens!

Planning your trip and budget is completely normal. However, you really need to make sure that you know how to plan and not to over plan. The tricks above for not over planning can be extremely helpful for you in the long run. They can help remove all the worry, fear, and scared feelings of not having a good vacation. Once that basic itinerary is fixed, you can be sure to have a trip that is planned out well.