When it comes to planning a vacation, do you pick a location and do all the research yourself, or do you hire a travel planner to handle the details?

Personally, I find great joy in doing my own research and uncovering hidden gems. Planning the trip is almost as much fun as taking it!

Our family typically sits down together and talks about what everyone is interested in seeing or doing. This summer, however, we have limited availability. My daughter is taking two condensed summer classes that require her to be on campus four days a week, which makes planning a longer trip nearly impossible.

As a family, we’ve visited 49 of the 50 United States, Hawaii is the only one left on our list! My husband loves incorporating National Parks into our vacations, my daughter loves the beach, my son loves flying on airplanes, and I simply love an adventure. Thankfully, all of their requests usually lead us to one.

This year, we decided on a long weekend in South Florida with visits to Biscayne National Park and Everglades National Park. Once we picked the destination and decided what we wanted to do, the fun part began!

Step 1: Research the Travel

Since we only have three full days, finding a cheap, direct flight was a priority. Thankfully, Allegiant Air offers direct flights from our local airport to Fort Lauderdale.

Allegiant isn’t my favorite airline, but they certainly know how to make you feel like you’re getting a great deal with those low fares. Of course, once you start adding luggage fees, seat selection fees, and taxes, the bargain doesn’t always feel quite as impressive. That said, we’ve never had any issues flying with them, so hopefully this trip won’t be the first!

We were able to secure flights for our family of four, along with one carry-on and one checked bag, for $975. Not amazing, but certainly not horrible either.

Step 2: Book the Rental Car

If you’ve read my previous blog, you already know how much I love my Costco membership and the travel perks that come with it.

I entered our travel dates and flight information into Costco Travel and found a full-size rental car for $219. As always, I continued checking prices after booking, and eventually upgraded to an intermediate SUV for only $193!

Be sure to check out my other blog about Costco rental car tips and tricks. Over the years, it’s saved our family thousands of dollars.

Step 3: Find a Hotel

Next came finding a hotel in a central location.

We settled on Homestead, Florida, which gives us convenient access to both National Parks. Normally, I’m a Marriott loyalist, but for this trip we’ll only be using the hotel for sleeping and showering. Because of that, we decided on the Best Western Gateway to the Keys for just $99 per night.

It includes breakfast, has a pool, and had solid reviews, everything we need for a quick adventure-filled weekend.

Step 4: Research the Must-Do Activities

This is where I really start having fun.

To research the best things to do in Biscayne National Park, I used ChatGPT, family travel blogs, Pinterest, TikTok, and good old Google. I also had to keep in mind that my son is 9 years old and my daughter is 19, so finding activities that appeal to both age groups can sometimes be a challenge.

After lots of research, we booked a half-day snorkeling excursion.

My daughter and I visited the Caribbean last summer and completely fell in love with snorkeling. We’re excited to introduce my husband and son to it, and we think they’ll love it just as much as we did.

We followed the same process when planning our day at Everglades National Park. Since the park is so large and offers several unique ecosystems, it’s going to be a busy day trying to experience as much as possible.

The Countdown Is On

One of the things I love most about travel is that the excitement starts long before you ever leave home. The research, planning, booking, and anticipation are all part of the adventure.

We’re looking forward to finalizing our itinerary, discovering a few hidden gems along the way, and continuing our countdown until it’s finally time to go.

How do you plan your vacations? Are you a DIY planner like me, or do you prefer to leave the details to a travel professional?