<\/p>\n
As many of my TL readers well know, I\u2019ve long declared that for me \u2013 the hours, days, weeks (and yes, often months on end!) of bleary-eyed online research for my travels \u2013 is almost as much fun as the trip itself. Not only does the blissful planning and dreaming while-away dreary days of otherwise chilly winter doldrums, but as an avowed DIY independent traveler \u2013 arming myself with ALL the many options I\u2019ll have upon landing in my new destination will ensure that I\u2019ll not miss anything (peculiar to my personal interests, i.e. not just the tiresome list of \u201cMust See\u201ds proffered by most every website). Plus, should anything go wrong (as inevitably it often does), I\u2019ll have plenty of options.<\/p>\n
![\"TravelnLass](\"http:\/\/www.travelnlass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/DyTortugueroGroup-resize600.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nA (far skinnier) TravelnLass with an \u201cImagine Travel Alternatives\u201d group at Tortuguero, \u201cThe Costa Rican Amazon\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Curiously, this \u201citinerary planning\u201d\u00a0 isn\u2019t at all a new thing for me. Indeed, for many years I made my living off of such rigorous work \u2013 as a 20+ year international tour operator. Specializing in small group trips to Belize and Costa Rica (waaay back in the \u201980\u2019s and 90\u2019s when few had even HEARD of the tiny Central American nation of Belize), my job description (as the lone, CEO of my own int\u2019l tour company) relied heavily on designing the most wondrous itineraries (from 7 nt. to 21 nt. odysseys to several different Central American countries) that would enchant my clients with a wide variety of diverse activities yet (ever a priority) provide them with plenty of independent free time (so as to avoid the usual, tiresome \u201cIf it\u2019s Tuesday it must be Belgium\u201d group tour mentality).<\/p>\n
And THIS, I\u00a0 might add \u2013 long before we had the massive travel planning aid of this \u201cinternet\u201d contraption reliably coughing up \u201cViator\u201d and \u201cGetYourGuide\u201d tour offers on the fly.<\/p>\n
But today, I\u2019m here to simply set down in ascii, the steps I take for each of my own personal travel adventures. From inspiration and selection of where I\u2019ll head next (often the toughest decision in the process), to choosing how to get there (as cheaply and reliably as possible), what order (and how) to move from place to place, where to sleep, what activities to consider in each corner, etc. and etc. In short: cobbling together an itinerary (be it a week or a month, in a single country or three) that optimizes A. my time, B. my precious (ever limited \u2013 no matter if your travel budget is 4 figures or 5) travel dollars, and C. my personal (and arguably peculiar) travel interests\/druthers.<\/p>\n
And so it begins\u2026 This. My next TravelnLass adventure to\u2026<\/p>\n
The Great \u201cWhere\u2026\u201d a.k.a. \u201cWhere (on earth!) Shall I Go Next?\u201d<\/h4>\n
If you\u2019ve been lately following the TL then you know that \u2013 after nearly a half-century of hopping around this wondrous Big Blue Dot \u2013 I\u2019ve lately become a bit ambivalent about what new (or old) corner of the globe would make my wanderlust heart go pitty-pat. Though I\u2019ve only explored but a tiny percentage of the many (193+ by most counts) sovereign countries in the World, there\u2019s surely plenty of new options to explore. BUT\u2026<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve never been keen on \u201ccounting countries\u201d (i.e. just to check-off some arbitrary \u201c50 by 50\u201d or some such goal). For some, counting countries seems to be a badge-of-honor. But honestly \u2013 I fail to see how much \u201chonor\u201d there is in merely hopping off a cruise ship to spend a handful of hours \u201cexploring\u201d a square mile (at most) of the \u201clocal culture\u201d amid a carefully choreographed backdrop (designed by the local Tourism Board) especially concocted for \u201cday trippers\u201d. Else \u2013 worse \u2013 merely stepping across some nebulous land border and thereafter claiming you\u2019ve \u201cbeen to Xxxx\u201d. IOW, arbitrary travel goals aside, personally\u2026<\/p>\n
Travel for me has always been (and ever will be) about experiencing the authentic culture of a place, its people, its customs, its food, its peculiar wildlife, etc. Leastwise as much as possible as a foreigner. And for that\u2026 it\u2019s all about hanging around for at least a few days \u2013 trying my darndest to avoid the worst of the \u201ctourist traps\u201d, and being ever open to miming my way into the good graces of a local or three, to glean a small sense of how their culture and their daily lives differ from mine.<\/p>\n
That said, there are actually quite a few countries\/cultures that hold little interest for me. For example: neither Russia, nor most all of the Middle East has ever much sparked my travel attention. We travelers each have our peculiar druthers, and no doubt they would be most interesting places to visit. But for me, those regions of the globe simply don\u2019t tickle my travel toes. Besides, AIS \u2013 there\u2019s still more than 70% of the World I\u2019ve yet to explore, so clearly I\u2019m not lacking alternatives.<\/p>\n
The Big \u201cREVEAL\u201d\u2026<\/h4>\n
So where next for the TravelnLass? My life-long penchant for exploring the globe, has ever been inspired\/dictated by\u2026 pretty much sheer whimsy. Some sudden reminder that it\u2019s February once again, and I\u2019ve yet to experience the wonder of those magnificent Monarch butterflies dripping from the trees<\/a><\/strong> in the forests of Mexico. Or randomly unearthing an uber-cheap airfare to gawk at those legendary moai standing tall on Easter Island<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 Or suddenly realizing that I\u2019d long hoped to witness that spectacular springtime season of blooming \u201csakura\u201d<\/a><\/strong> in Japan. Or most recently the mere mention of a couple of food festivals in Ireland<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Else\u2026 as a life-long wildlife fan (I once flew down from Denver to Padre Island in south Texas for the express purpose of seeing \u2013 what was then \u2013 the last few Whooping Cranes on the Planet), often my next air ticket has been to whiz me to some obscure corner of the earth that happens to harbor some exotic species of wildlife. Like\u2026 those amazing Pygmy elephants<\/a><\/strong> in Malaysian Borneo, wild Orangutans<\/a><\/strong> at Bukit Lawang in Sumatra, and those wondrous Snow Monkeys<\/a><\/strong> at Jigokudani NP in Japan.<\/p>\n And sometimes\u2026 it\u2019s just been coincidental, like that time I opted to fly into Kigali, Rwanda for a couple of days in order to most swiftly travel overland to get to Bwindi NP in Uganda for my gorilla trek<\/a><\/strong> (where a gorilla permit was a whoppin\u2019 $900 cheaper than in Rwanda!) Though\u2026 in retrospect, Kigali turned out to be so fabulous, I wished I\u2019d allowed a lot more time there.<\/p>\n In short, I\u2019ve never had a \u201cbucket-list\u201d, and it\u2019s never been about merely adding a new country to my \u201ccount\u201d. Rather \u2013 it\u2019s always pretty much just some stray whim that suddenly prompts me to buy a plane ticket to\u2026 wherever.<\/p>\n Which\u2026 (finally) leads me to reveal my next destination(s), and why.<\/p>\n MALTA & ALBANIA<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Malta \u2013 \u201cThe Golden Island\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Why Malta<\/strong>? Honestly, mostly because of a single photo I stumbled across a few years ago that verily took my breath away in its antiquated island majesty. The truth is, I\u2019ve long been a sucker for islands (indeed, I used to live on one \u2013 Vashon Island \u2013 off the coast of Seattle), PLUS\u2026 this particular isle is (kind of) on the way to\u2026<\/p>\n Albania<\/strong> \u2013 a country that (with any luck) is still somewhat unspoiled by mass tourism. Indeed, worrisomely \u2013 lately it\u2019s been popping-up seemingly everywhere as a travel favorite. Thus\u2026 given how swiftly such global attention among the travel masses can pretty much ruin\/turn many places into cookie-cutter \u201cDisney-esque\u201d ugh \u2013 I figure I jolly-well best get my Traveln-ass there sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n So there you have it \u2013 the \u201cWhere\u201d and why of my next venture into the \u201cWild Blue Yonder\u201d.<\/p>\n As a (most happy) retiree, I can of course travel as often and as long as I like. But \u2013 unlike my earlier days of madly rushing hither \u2018n yon to most every corner of Asia when I lived there \u2013 these days I\u2019m honestly so utterly content here in my adopted home in Cuenca, Ecuador that just one or two trips each year keeps me quite travel-satiated. I just returned in October from a marathon skip through London, Belgium and Ireland, so I\u2019m happy to sit-tight awhile on this lovely Andean mountain-top.<\/p>\n Furthermore, (unlike many of my family and friends up north in my native land) I have no need to escape the frigid temps and blizzards of winter in favor of a week or two in the tropics each year. Indeed, at 8,400+ feet on the Equator, Cuenca ever remains sweetly \u201ctemperate\u201d w\/ year-round \u201cspringtime\u201d temps and tons of sunshine. Thus the \u201cwhen\u201d of any of my travels is mostly a matter of the climate\/weather in my chosen destination. That and\u2026 the (ever more urgent) need to somehow avoid the crowds of \u201chigh season\u201d.<\/p>\n Thus \u2013 after settling on Malta and Albania for my next adventure \u2013 it was just a quick matter of checking the climate and year-round weather for each locale. Both countries fall solidly in the temperate \u201cMediterranean\u201d latitude. Malta especially is smack-dab in the middle of the Mediterranean (just 50 miles from the south coast of Sicily), and Albania\u2019s topography includes both sandy Adriatic\/Ionian beaches, as well as their very own glacial \u201cAlbanian Alps\u201d (a.k.a. the \u201cAccursed Mountains\u201d), so easy enough to find a balance in temps year-round. And better still\u2026 I can comfortably visit both in the \u201cshoulder season\u201d (i.e. March\/April or September\/October) which has long been my druthers in Europe to avoid the worst of the high-season tourist hordes in both locales.<\/p>\n In short, I settled on Malta and Albania \u2013 come September\/October this year.<\/p>\n As a footloose retiree, the \u201cHow Long\u201d is of course likewise pretty much unlimited. I can easily put my few English students on hold for a spell, and I have no other responsibilities to consider \u2013 other than my dear cat Dulce. But I\u2019ve long had great cat-sitters when I travel, be it one week or six. BUT\u2026<\/p>\n I DO have a limit on just how much bouncing around this ol\u2019 dodderin\u2019 wants to (can physically!) do anymore. International travel in general is fairly physically demanding (e.g. looong plane rides, tiresome layovers, toting luggage \u2013 even my small carry-on \u2013 on\/off planes, trains and buses, etc.) And my particular travel style has never included comfy cruise ships, nor swanky all-inclusive resorts. So I\u2019ve pretty much settled on about 3 weeks as my personal \u201csweet-spot\u201d for length of trip. Thus my only \u201cHow Long\u201d for this trip was deciding how to divide my time between Malta and Albania.<\/p>\n Slicing up 21-odd days between the two destinations proved fairly straight-forward. The island of Malta is simply not all that big (but one-tenth the size of Rhode Island) so a week there should be plenty to see most all of it (along with its neighboring bitty isle Gozo). So that leaves about 2 weeks to wander around Albania. Of course, one could easily spend more time in either country, but for a first go at both \u2013 I think that divvy of time will suffice.<\/p>\n Purchasing air tickets for most any trip is generally the most expensive item and I could easily peck an entire blog post on that process alone. But suffice, my main M.O. for grabbing air tickets is to A. start early (6 months isn\u2019t at all too soon to start looking); B. be flexible with my ideal \u201cwindow\u201d of travel dates (i.e. willing to move it forward or back a few days and\/or add\/subtract a day or two on either side of my \u201cdepart on\u2026\u201d and \u201creturn on\u201d dates between Ecuador and Europe.<\/p>\n Google Flights nifty \u201cExplore\u201d map<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Which brings me to my newest air ticket buying tip: Given that I\u2019ll be again flying to Europe. And furthermore, that once one lands ANYWHERE in Europe, cheapo airline flights (like Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz, etc.) to most everywhere in Europe are abundant. So\u2026 for my planned trip to both Malta and Albania (on the same go) I simply used the Google Flights \u201cExplore\u201d map to find the cheapest hub in Europe. More often than not, that\u2019s generally Madrid. But\u2026 plugging in my rough 3 week to\/fro Ecuador dates \u2013 turns out a rt. ticket to Madrid was running $1,000+ while\u2026 those same dates from Ecuador rt. to Paris was showing a very sweet $732! Snagging that fare required a slight extension of my trip (i.e. instead of 21 days, I now have 25 days to divvy up between Malta and Albania). But hey \u2013 a bit more time is always nice \u2013 especially when it saved me more than $300.<\/p>\n Even better, with Paris as my hub (and who doesn\u2019t like a night or two in the City of Light, yes?), I could then use the European budget airlines for routing myself two different ways: Paris -> Malta -> Tirana -> Paris; else the reverse (Paris -> Tirana -> Malta -> Paris) while again divvying up the time in each country to snag the best fares and schedules.<\/p>\n In short, you can bet I grabbed that $732 rt, airfare from Ecuador to Paris pronto the moment I found it (it\u2019s now up to $969). And I\u2019m still weekly checking the intra-Europe budget fares before making a decision on what order my Malta\/Albania itinerary will play out. Which neatly segues into the next order of trip planning business\u2026<\/p>\n With the \u201cbiggy\u201d trip chores behind us now, it\u2019s time for (the most fun) travel planning (a.k.a. sublime \u201cdreaming\u201d) task to do before we book any of our (ever w\/ free cancellation) sleeps:<\/p>\n We first need to devise a plan for how we\u2019re going to choose between the (no doubt dizzying, no matter the country) array of diverse locales, along with the wondrous sights to see and fabulous things to do in our destination country(ies). And then\u2026 just how we\u2019re going to move about to see\/do them.<\/p>\nThe \u201cWhen\u2026\u201d<\/h4>\n
Next Priority \u2013 How Long?<\/h4>\n
Next Chore \u2013 Buying Air Tickets<\/h4>\n
Noodling Out the Dizzying Attraction\/Activity Options<\/h4>\n