I take 2 weeks to plan trips… and still feel like I miss the best parts

Does anyone else feel like planning travel is weirdly exhausting now?

I personally take almost 2 weeks to properly plan a trip.

Between flights, hotels, restaurants, TikToks, hidden gems, visa rules, budgeting, maps, and trying to build the “perfect itinerary,” it becomes a full-time project.

Then the funny part is… when I actually reach the destination, I end up discovering so many things I completely missed while planning.

Sometimes I ditch the itinerary completely and just go with the flow and those become the best moments.

But other times I stick to the itinerary and later regret not doing the spontaneous things I came across.

Feels like there’s always a gap between planning and the actual experience.

Curious:
- How long does it usually take you to create a concrete travel plan?
- What part of travel planning drains you the most?
- Do you follow your itinerary or end up changing plans during the trip?