How to Plan a Quick Trip (48 Hours or Less)

Planning a quick weekend getaway trip can be tricky, especially when you only have two days to explore. Here we share tips and tricks to plan a quick trip, and how to make the most of your time away, whether it is a local staycation or a destination you fly to!

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We are travel enthusiasts who do not claim to be professionals! Instead, we are two Halifax, NS natives with travel blogs who somehow found one another on the internet, and now, we have a podcast!!

Join us every week as we talk about our favourite destinations, travel tips, travel fails, and all things travel!

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Disclaimer: All episodes are based on our opinions and experiences. Always do your research and make travel plans based on your budget and comfort levels.

Transcript

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Hey everyone and welcome back to the Travel Mug Podcast. I am Jenn joined as always by my partner in podcasting, Meggan. Meggan today we are going to talk about planning really quick trips, like a shorter weekend getaway because we think there is so much to consider when planning these super quick trips. You wanna make the most out of your time away, right? You do. Yeah. Yeah. You would think that a short trip would be easier to plan, but we're here to tell you no. No. So let's talk about why you might want to plan a quick trip. So, I'll be honest, for me, in the past I was kind of against these types of trips, like they felt so short and like I said, they're, they're not really less work than planning a longer trip. Um, but since we've done a few, like, we did a weekend in Boston a few, like a while ago, two years ago, almost at this point, a weekend in Toronto a few months ago. Um, and we've got a trip to Montreal coming up in a couple of months. That's just a quick trip and I've actually come to enjoy them a bit and you can actually see and do a lot. And we have usually planned these quick trips around like an event, like a sports game or a concert, but honestly, with like nine to five jobs like you and I have, sometimes a quick little getaway is all you can fit in and they can be cheaper than a, you know, week or two week trip, but the budget does add up quickly. So I know, Meggan, that you treat these like weekend trips much differently. You are the queen of, uh, Airbnb weekend getaways. Yeah, like, , that's why we don't have a house of our own as I've said before, we like to stay in other people's. Um, but yeah, we go away on the weekends like a lot. There have been years, we've done it like 11 or 12 times. We haven't actually done many of the same types of trips you were describing that you've done. So the Torontos or Bostons, we actually do mostly those locally. So we just sort of usually try to get off work an hour or two early, if we can. Start early, get off early and then head away, um, until Sunday, usually not too, too far. That's how we sort of do the quick weekend getaways just to break up the monotony of sort of making sure we're not doing the same thing every weekend.. So that's kind of how we treat the weekend getaway. Not as much, although love the idea of going to Toronto, Montreal, or Boston for the weekend. It's just not something we've done as much. Yeah, I mean both like super valid and like you can do both of them really in, in your life. So let's talk about how to get where you plan to go for your, for your weekend getaway Quick trip. So Meggan, how do you usually treat this? Well, as you can imagine, even for the listeners, this all depends on where you live and where you wanna go, obviously. So if you're lucky enough, let's say as an example to live in Europe. Trains can often be your best and more environmentally friendly option. Often rail can get you where you need to go quicker than flying just due to airport time, security, boarding, deplaning. Um, if you're like us and don't have those trains as options, a plane or a car is going to be your best bet. Train here is is not getting you anywhere fast. Uh, no, no, no, no. It's one entire day to get to Montreal from Halifax on the train. It's not worth it. No. So that is a lot to consider just depending on your circumstances. Now, if you are considering a weekend road trip and you only have, like I mentioned earlier, Friday after work until Sunday, destination and proximity to where you live really will be key. We face this a lot. Like I mentioned, we do those weekend getaways, so getting off early if possible, and then trying to maximize your time on the Sunday as well. Oftentimes I feel the the need to get up on Sunday morning and come right home and we're trying to like get out of that. Because we used to have pets, so we always used to try to get home as soon as possible. Yeah. just really trying to maximize the time that you do have since you are paying to stay there. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. I'll, I'll be checking out like one minute before you tell me to, 10 59. yeah. So if you're like me and you do decide to fly somewhere, you need to consider how departure and arrival times, how that'll affect how much time you actually have in in the city where you're going. So As annoying as it might be to take like the late night flight after work or

the like five or 6: 4:47

00 AM flight the next morning, that is probably going to get you the most time in your destination. And if you fly somewhere that's like a time zone like behind you, you can squeeze a bit more into your arrival day. Um, but that does obviously come back to bite you when you're coming home. So speaking of coming home, consider the risk of flight delays and the can and cancellations and the effect that that would have on your work schedule. I mean, like. I've seen people post online that they like fly in at like, you know,

6:00 AM and then go to work for 9: 5:25

00 AM on Monday, but that is crazy town. That is not me. Would never be me. We try to like fly home like midday on the last day so that we get home in time to, uh, prepare for the work week. Obviously a short flight is ideal here. Uh, so another thing to consider is where the airport is and how long it takes you to get into the city. So what comes to mind is flying into Toronto Pearson versus flying into Toronto's City Center or Billy Bishop Airport as an example. So Pearson's a good like 30 minutes on the train and Billy Bishop's is like, you're already downtown. Like you walk out of the airport and you can walk basically into downtown. So if you can find somewhere that's a quick flight away, you can get there early in the morning, leave a bit later in the day on the last day, and the airport is close to city center. That's it. That's your ideal sweet spot right there. That's the good stuff right there. Which is why we end up in Toronto because But it make, it makes sense. Peter's never flown into to Billy Bishop before. I'm like, you don't understand like the coolness of like just getting off the plane and boom, there I, the last time we flew into Billy Bishop, it was November. The, the, the weather was bad. We were, and you're on a small airplane on Porter and we were rocking and I was trying, so I wanted to get like this very cool shot of us flying into Toronto.'cause you see the city, I was trying not to have a panic attack, so I could not get that cool shot for you. It was horrible. You, you were not cool in that moment. was not. All right, so let's talk about Meggan's nemesis, which is packing. Yes. few times I have done quick trips because I have done that while flying and I have packed, of course, carry-on. I gotta say it is so freeing. I did a quick trip to Vegas in 2019 pre pandemic to see Lady Gaga and I took a carry-on, just as an example. And it came in handy on the return from that trip where we had to fly back through Montreal. After an overnight flight, so already you're exhausted. And there was actually an earlier departure leaving Montreal than ours. So we just walked up to the desk and we're like, can we get on this flight? Because we're booked for the, the next one a few hours later. And he's like, let me actually check. He checked, there was room, we had our bags, so we didn't have to worry about checked baggage. So that would not have been possible. But the checked bags, so there are, besides lugging around a giant suitcase, there are definite advantages to having quick carry on if your trip allows for it. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I love that. So I have a few tricks to pack a bit less on weekend getaways. So first obviously like you just need less clothes that takes up less room, that's ideal. Um, so. One thing that can take up a lot of room for people who do their hair. And despite what I usually look like on this podcast, I do sometimes do my hair and Same. uh, hair products and tools is a whole thing. And you know, Meggan has curly hair. My hair is like wavy, curly. It comes with its challenges and it does mean it does take some work to look good. So. When I went to Toronto, November, I washed and straightened my hair the night before we left. That was like Friday night, Saturday. It was good. Sunday we were flying home. I put it in braids all good. I didn't take any hair products with me, Meggan Ama my gosh. amazing, amazing. Obviously with clothes like your usual tricks of like wearing your bulkiest items on the plane. I also didn't pack alternative footwear when we went to Toronto, so that saved room. My feet did hurt though, so it was a small regret, but I just packed the wrong shoe. I wore the wrong shoes. Right, That was, uh, that was my downfall. Um, but overall, just really evaluate what you are bringing. You are, if you are gonna be gone for like, a really short period of time, like how much do you really, really need? Yeah, no, I agree. And I, I also did a quick weekend trip to Montreal. Like last year or the year Hmm. who, what is time? And I don't really remember. And I went with my friend and we stayed and I actually, we did a little shopping and I actually even had room to bring those items back in my suitcase. A carry on suitcase or a? Look at you. You're killing it. I was very proud of myself. I gotta say. Now, I think another key thing that we should talk about is like where you should stay because the, your time is limited, so you wanna make sure that you're, you're knocking things off. So talk to us a little bit about that. Yeah, so I would say like, choose a spot near the things that you wanna do. If you only have a limited time, it really goes without saying that you should choose something close to the main things that you wanna do so that you're not spending all of your time navigating rather than enjoying. And I know that it is usually more expensive, especially in a big city if you're going to New York, if you're going to Toronto, if you're going to Paris, whatever. But if you're only there for a short period of time, I think it's worth the extra cost savings to avoid wasting time trying to navigate, uh, either public transit or taking a taxi or driving a lot. I used it as an opportunity to splurge when we were in Toronto and stay at the fancy hotel.'cause two nights at the fancy hotel is, is uh, I mean, it's still expensive, but you know, it's only two nights, whatever. life is short. Exactly. What about you, Meggan? Now when you were mentioned there, uh, big cities like New York and Paris and I was just thinking about it like, sounds like so cool to say like, oh, I'm gonna like Jet to Paris for the weekend, but that's like something Europeans say, Yeah. a Yeah. or really rich people. But like I want there to be a time. It doesn't kill me, because of course it would kill you from here Yeah. that for a weekend, but I want there to be a time in life where it isn't gonna kill me. And I'm gonna say, let's go to Paris for the weekend. I, that is okay. That's, I've just added that to my bucket list right here on this podcast. Amazing. There's a Par, there's a Paris in Ontario. I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for. That's, that's gonna be a no for me. Um, but I like your, uh, Canadian enthusiasm. and now if your trip, of course, different from what you were just mentioning is simply about relaxing and the place you are staying is, is the key factor, which is often the case for us on weekend getaways, then make sure you book somewhere worth your time and your money because you will be spending the majority of your time there, and it's also in the right setting for you, such as out in nature if that's what you're going for. You are only there for a short period of time, so make it work for you. And sort of the intention of the getaway would be my advice. Yeah, I think that's really good advice to, like, before you even look at like where you wanna go, um, and what you wanna do. Like what is your intention for this trip? Is it to chill in an Airbnb and like look at different things? Or is it to go and do as much as you can in a city? That's Go. Nice. Or stay. Stay. Stay. Yeah, and I think that, uh, goes really well into our next topic, which is planning your itinerary. So. A few things to consider when you're thinking about what am I actually gonna do on my weekend getaway? So for me, one is, is this like a one and done location? So if you, if I never plan on going back there, I'm gonna wanna cram in as much as possible. And two, like on the other hand, if this is a spot where I know that I'm gonna come back like Montreal, like Toronto, the trip can be more of a leisurely pace. We don't need to jam everything in. You don't have to get it all done. I like to use the My Maps feature on Google Maps to see where the things are that I wanna do. I do this before I book the hotel, um, and then see where they are in relation to each other and try to make sure everything's close together. And then this kind of helps reduce. The time, uh, commuting in between. In Toronto when we went, there were a lot of things that we had on our, our maybe list of things to do and we opted just to stay, uh, doing things that were walkable from our hotel instead. Uh, 'cause we knew we'd be back, right? So it wasn't a huge deal to miss some things. Yeah. So another trick that I use on most trips, not just short ones, um, but choose restaurants in advance and make reservations if possible. This is so you aren't waiting around for a table, wandering around looking for food, um, 'cause that can waste a lot of time. Or you just need to be open to grabbing something really quick if food's not a priority. On that trip or that day, and I like to double up on activities. So you can take a food, food tour, so it's a meal and like a walking tour. Usually you get some history about the city on food tour. So it's a fun little double up thing you can do. Off that food. I love that. How do you usually handle it? Well, I was actually just thinking like I think something you said earlier really resonates and I think that that pick the top three or four things you really want to do and then have, like you mentioned, a maybe or like an alternative list of good to see if you have time. and then you can see what happens. Yes, it's a quick trip, but also you still want to enjoy yourself. And that at times can mean less is more. And that's okay too. Be strategic in how you see things on your list. We like to go to the furthest away spots and then work our way backwards towards our neighborhood. But no matter how you do it, whether you plan your stuff all in the same area, or whatever the case might be. Have a strategy so that you aren't disappointed by missing something that was really important on your list. You really have to be strategic with such a short amount of time. Hundred percent. Yeah. Definitely. Well, that is it for this week's episode. We hope that we've shared some good tips on how you can plan a quick trip as it really does differ from a much longer vacation with more time to explore. We were, it's so funny when we were discussing doing this episode and you had thought of the topic, and I'm like, wow, it is really different because you do have to try to, depending on what you do cram things in or choose things strategically. So hopefully we've helped you out there and we would love to hear from you if we missed anything or if you have any tips to share, you can reach out to us on social media on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube at Travel Mug Podcast. Leave us a comment on Apple or spotify. and as always, you can support the show by buying us a coffee. If you are a regular listener or first timer, we would love to hear from you. Um, but any support is appreciated. And until next time. Bye everyone.