If you love traveling Switzerland, getting off-the-beaten-path, or having foodie experiences, then you're in the right place! ππ»ββοΈπββοΈWe're Jana and Brett β Aplins in the Alps β and we help you TRAVEL SWITZERLAND π¨πWITH CONFIDENCE. Learn how to maximize your experiences while minimizing your budget and planning time.
Steal our travel-planning process π
Hi, Reader!
We're planning a few trips for the rest of 2023...here's a behind-the-scenes look at our travel planning process! Feel free to steal borrow this outline for your own travels!
- How we plan our trips
- Tip of the week
- In case you missed it
- Behind the scenes
How we plan our travels
1 | Where should we go?
First, we do some general research to decide where to go. This usually looks like watching YouTube videos, scrolling Pinterest, or browsing tourism websites.
Tip: We individually research a variety of places, and then we research together to pick the final destination.
2 | Book flights/transportation
Once we pick a destination, we book flights/train tickets/a rental car to get there. This locks us into our travel dates, and then we know how many days we have to explore.
Tip: Brett often books our transportation using travel credit card points and miles.
3 | Book lodging
If we're staying for multiple days, we prefer the convenience of an Airbnb. But if our trip is only 1-2 nights, we usually stay in a hotel.
Tip: Save up to 50% off hotels using HotelCard! This is how we book hotels in Switzerland, and so far we've saved an average of 80+ CHF per night! HotelCard costs 99 CHF for a year membership β but you can get it for only 59 CHF with our link below! Bonus: you can browse hotels/destinations before you purchase the card.
| Buy the HotelCard here |
4 | Finish our research
Now we head back to YouTube, Pinterest, tourism board websites, and blogs to finalize our travel plans and craft a loose itinerary.
Tip: We write all of our travel plans in a Google doc so we can both access it and share real-time updates. Then we save all of the places we want to go on our Google Map.
5 | Enjoy our trip!
When you plan your trip well, it's much easier to have an enjoyable vacation!
Tip: Don't forget to save some time in your schedule for spontaneity and rest!
β
Tip of the week
π¬ Never want to miss an email from Jana + Brett?
If you use Gmail: Drag our email from your Promotions tab to your inbox. That makes sure you'll see our Saturday emails in your primary inbox.
If you use Apple mail: Click the arrow next to our email address and select "Add to VIPs." Now you won't miss out on our weekly dose of Swissness!
In case you missed it...
P.S. Ya'll...we're flattered! You keep booking every single slot on our Consultation Calendar! But unfortunately that means if we have no dates available on our calendar, then we're really all booked up. We promise to let you know when we open up more slots for September!
Jana & Brett | Aplins in the Alps
If you love traveling Switzerland, getting off-the-beaten-path, or having foodie experiences, then you're in the right place! ππ»ββοΈπββοΈWe're Jana and Brett β Aplins in the Alps β and we help you TRAVEL SWITZERLAND π¨πWITH CONFIDENCE. Learn how to maximize your experiences while minimizing your budget and planning time.
π£ If there was a news station reporting on Swiss transportation, THIS would be the headline today all.week.long. If you've been following us for a little while Reader, then you know we're a bit partial to the Half Fare Card and Berner Oberland Pass. And there are a few BIG updates for the 2024 Berner Oberland Pass that you won't want to miss. Today's email is full of details, so give yourself more than 30 seconds to give it a scan: βΆοΈ New video: the Berner Oberland Pass just got even better π¬...
Reader, have you ever made any travel mistakes? We certainly have! We've been caught in a new country with the wrong currency. (I think it was Denmark? Or maybe Hungary?) When we were in Paris, we missed the last bus of the night, so we had to walk 3 miles back to our lodging. (We could've paid for a taxi, but we were traveling for 1 year+ on a tight budget.) One time we mimed back and forth for 10 minutes with a man in the French countryside because we didn't speak French and he didn't speak...
Happy New Year, Reader! We hope that the first few days of 2024 have brought you an abundance of joy! For us, we've enjoyed some walks where we watch our breath puff in the cold air, clean food (and minimal sugar after the holidays), fresh-outta-the-box board games, and an eagerness to get back to work (we have a lot of big projects for the next few months!). However, things don't always go as planned... For example: We planned to have dinner with friends on New Years Eve...but we got sick...