Most people spend hours (sometimes days) planning a trip and still end up overpaying or missing the best spots.

Here's the framework I use every single time:

Step 1: Anchor your budget first. Before you even pick dates, decide what you're willing to spend total. Not per-day — total. This one constraint eliminates 80% of bad decisions.

Step 2: Build around one "anchor experience." Don't plan 15 activities. Pick the ONE thing you'd regret missing — a restaurant, a hike, a neighborhood. Build the rest of your itinerary around that.

Step 3: Book flexible, not cheap. The cheapest flight at 5am with 2 layovers will cost you more in lost time and energy than a slightly pricier direct option. Optimize for energy, not just dollars.

I've used this to plan trips to 20+ countries without a single "I wish I'd done it differently" moment.

If you want the full system — templates, budget calculators, and my curated hidden gems list — it's all inside Travel Planning System.