So the saying goes, “The pleasure isn't in doing the thing, the pleasure is in planning it.” Well, they’re half right... 
 
Planning our next adventure can be the perfect antidote to winter blues. To help you prepare for your next trip we asked our Unforgettable Journeys authors exactly how they plan ahead to make the most out of their travels.

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Sophie Ibbotson plots her journey on a map: “The first thing I do when planning a trip is get a physical map and spread it out on the floor. It helps me visualise where sites are in relation to one another and how I might travel between them, as well as any major geographical features — lakes, mountains, rivers, deserts, etc. — which might be worth exploring along the way.”

You can follow Sophie on twitter here!

Shafik Meghji offers some practical advice: “Before travelling to South Georgia and Antarctica, the best advice I got was to take dry bags to keep my camera and phone safe on the choppy Zodiac trips from ship to shore, ginger tea and biscuits to ease the seasickness – the Drake Passage, south of Cape Horn, is notoriously rough – and several packs of instant hand-warmers, a lifesaver when taking photos in sub-zero temperatures.”

Check out Shafik's blog here!

Daniel Stables uses literature and music to get closer to his destination before he's arrived: “I always read as much as possible about a place before setting off – guidebooks, of course, but fiction, too. In preparation for hiking Hong Kong’s MacLehose Trail, my reading list included Jan Morris’s Hong Kong and Janice YK Lee’s novel The Piano Teacher. I also made playlists of Hong Kong music (doubly essential before a long journey) and watched a few Hong Kong films. Art can tell you as much about a place as non-fiction – sometimes more.”

Find more about Daniel's work here!

Kiki Deere is also a fan of reading up on her destination: “I always try and find a couple of books or so on the destination I am planning on visiting, whether works of literature, travel or history books. Italy’s regions are exceptionally diverse (the country was only unified in 1861), with customs, traditions, gastronomy and even dialects varying greatly from one area to the next. Reading up beforehand – and also while there – not only inspires my journey but also helps me better understand and appreciate my destination.”

Find out more about Kiki's travels here!

Huw Hennessey keeps it old school: "The first thing I always do when first planning a trip to somewhere I've never been - and a new destination is ALWAYS the most exciting - is to look at a map. No, not a whizzy phone app, but a good old-fashioned paper map. The best thing about these wonderful works of cartography is that you can instantly see all around where you're thinking of going, where else you might want to take a detour to and, perhaps more importantly, blots on the horizon you might want to avoid."
 
But he's also an advocate for going with the flow: "Alternatively - and I hesitate to say this to a travel guide publisher - but sometimes if I'm feeling reckless, I don't make any plans at all: just go, don't take a map or anything else that might lead you where everyone else goes, but just go and see where the surprise adventure takes you. (Though I must admit the last time I did that I came home with a massive hangover and a £500 credit card bill, after a New Year's Eve binge in Dublin). Happy travels!"

Finally, Steph Dyson recommends Maps.Me: "Before I embark on a hiking trip or road trip, I always download maps through the Maps.Me app to my phone. Not only is this extremely useful for navigation and means that you don't need to have an internet connection to access them, it also means you can drop pins into places that you visit so that they stay fresh in your memory and you can remember exactly where you experienced special moments - and can recommend them to friends and family when you get back!"

Check out Steph's blog here!

10 unforgettable hikes across Europe

From seeking out vampiric castles to following in the footsteps of pilgrims and polar explorers, here are 10 incredible outdoor European adventures that offer the chance to get off the grid and immerse yourself in the wilderness.

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