This post is to help you start planning your travels.
Sometimes I find it overwhelming to think about all the stuff I have to plan for traveling, but if you understand how to make planning easier, it will get better and actually be fun.
I will tell you how I plan my travels with an example of my travel plans for this year. 

Sometimes the order is different, but those are the most important points.

Have a destination and timeframe

For some, that might be the first obstacle.
Personally, I have a huge list of things I want to see and do, and the hard part is finding out what to do first.
I am currently studying and would like to stay low budget and only have a specific time frame that I can travel in, so I have to think about that.
A goal of mine is to refresh my French again, and I wanted to spend some time in France on my own for that.
In general, I quite enjoy traveling on my own, but if you are planning on traveling with somebody else, it might be good to find out your time frame in which you can travel and that might also have an impact on the destination.

Have a plan for accommodation

This might usually not be the first thing to do, but I usually browse some websites to find the best and cheapest accommodation.
In France, I wanted to stay with someone to be able to really speak French with them.
I looked for somewhere to stay on workaway.
Then I will be able to live with them for free, often get food and just have to do some kind of work for a few hours a day.
Another thing that I kept in mind when I was looking for a host, was that I really wanted to get to the ocean again, so I just put that in the search bar as well and found something on the coast of France.
When I plan on staying at hostels, hotels or Airbnbs, I save good ones and see if they are available during that time to book them later.

See how you can get there and what you can do on the way

I take a look at what mean of transport is the best.
I look for flights and trains and maybe buses because I don’t have a car, but if you have one, you can still check the route beforehand.
Usually I have a look at what lies on that route and plan a few days ahead of my final destination to stay in another place.
For my travels it is Luxembourg for a few days when coming from Germany and on my way back by train I planned to stay in Paris for a few days.
That way can see multiple places during that one timeframe and don’t have to travel there again soon just to have seen it.
Then I plan the days and trains because I will be going by train and also thought about where it will be cheaper to book train tickets.
If it is through the French train company or the German one.
I plan on how I get from one place to the other because sometimes I will need to take a bus and can’t buy a ticket beforehand or a metro in a short time frame and don’t have time to buy a ticket there, but can’t really do it on the internet either (I got told that I can buy a metro ticket in the board bistro of my train. Let’s hope that’s true).

Book your accommodation and transport

Now I actually book all the trains and accommodations I saved.
I always make a screenshot of the booking and save the confirmation email, so I have everything on hand and put everything in a designated album in my gallery or email account.

Make plans for trips

When I have everything set, I have a look at what I want to do during the days I am there.
Often I have already thought about what I want to see at my places beforehand and can now have a closer look if I have to make a booking and what else I can visit close by.
I always like to ask family and friends who have been there to get tips on what to see or any insider information about that place.
Google Maps is my lifesaver for planning my days.
I just look for my destinations on there and mark them, so I know what is close to my accommodation and close to each other, so I can do it in one day.
For my time with my host, I have nothing planned.
I just want to enjoy the ocean, maybe have a look if I can find an open surf school, to surf again, go for swims and read a lot.
On Google Maps I had a look at what city is close by, so maybe I can do a day trip there, but I will plan that when I am there.
To get inspiration for what to do, I can recommend just googling it, have a look on TikTok, there are always great travel ideas, or just have a look on Google Maps what they recommend.

Don’t forget the details

For me, as a European traveling in the European Union, I don’t need a visa, but maybe you do and if I want to travel outside the EU, I will also have to take a look at visas a bit in advance to find the right one.
Maybe you prefer paying in cash, and you need to change cash into another currency.
Figure that out beforehand.
Have a look at your mobile plan, so you can make sure you will have internet connection there or if you need to get a new sim card, find out where to get one.
Also figure out what to pack.
I decided I want to travel very lightweight and only want to bring what is really necessary, so I have to have a look at the weather a few days before my departure and if I need specific clothing for any of my plans.
Sometimes it is also good to learn a few basic words in that language to be able to say hello and thank you, but this is optional.

I think that pretty much sums up how I plan my travels.
As I said before, that order isn’t always the same and sometimes there are more steps you have to think about.
Sometimes you also might be able to join other people’s plans and don’t really have to plan anything, but I am usually the person that has to have a plan to not get lost.
I hope you have a wonderful time discovering what the earth has to offer and have fun at planning.