I fly more in a year than most people will in their entire lives, and most of my flights cost way more than they should, mainly because I have zero flexibility with my job (ironically, I’m my own boss, but that’s a great story for a long commute or a glass of wine).

I need to be in Athens on a Thursday to get there before my group. I need to fly out of Nairobi on a Sunday to get home ASAP. I often don’t have my travel plans figured out far in advance so I can watch for deals because I don’t know where in the world I will be in 6 months.

For me, the flight costs what it costs.

But here's what I've learned from leading group trips to 10+countries: the people who have the best experiences and spend the least money getting there are almost never the ones who started with a fixed destination.

They started with a feeling.

Laura Ericson petting a street cat at a waterfront café in Antalya, Turkey — *Turkey was always on my list, but the real reason I went when I did: the flight was $600 flying out of Eau Claire, WI.*

The Way Most People Plan Travel Is Backward

Someone has their heart set on Paris. Then they pick the exact dates. Then they pick the airline (usually Delta, because they have a loyalty card and are very emotionally attached to it). Then they spend three frustrated weeks refreshing Google Flights wondering why it's so expensive, before booking it anyway because backing out feels like failure.

Sound familiar?

This is genuinely how most people approach travel, and it's why so many end up spending more than planned, feeling more stressed than excited, and wondering why the trip didn't feel as magical as they imagined. When the destination is the whole point, everything else — cost, timing, the actual experience — gets forced to fit around it.

What Happens When You Flip the Script

I had a conversation recently on my podcast, Type 2 Travel, with Ashley Peterson from Ashley Gets Around — the only flight deal service that exclusively sends business and first class deals. Ashley's whole thing is following the deal, not the destination.

She once booked a flight to Bahrain because it was $238 in business class. She knew almost nothing about Bahrain. She went anyway. She had a great time.

When you start with "where can I go for a good price in the timeframe I have?" the options open up dramatically — and so does your budget for actually enjoying yourself once you're there. A thousand dollars saved on flights is a thousand dollars you can spend on food, experiences, or staying a few extra days because you don't want to leave.

But What If I Really Want to Go to a Specific Place?

Then go. I'm not telling you to abandon your dream trip to Japan. But even within a fixed destination, there's usually more flexibility than people think.

Leaving a day earlier or later can be the difference of several hundred dollars. Flying into a nearby airport and taking a train can cut costs significantly. Not being emotionally committed to one airline opens up options you'd otherwise never see.

The point isn't to give up on what you want — it's to hold the destination and time of year a little more loosely so you have room to make smarter decisions around it.

The Real Question to Ask Before You Book Anything

Before you search for flights, before you look at dates, before you do anything — ask yourself: what do I actually want to get out of this trip?

Do you want to disconnect? Eat incredible food? Challenge yourself? Meet people who see the world completely differently than you do?

Because if the answer is any of those things, the destination matters a lot less than you think. Almost every corner of the world can deliver on those things if you show up with the right mindset and a little flexibility.

Some of the most transformative experiences I've heard from people on my trips came from places they almost didn't go. The country that wasn't on the bucket list. The dinner that wasn't planned that ended up being the highlight of the whole trip. That doesn't happen when everything is so locked in there's no room for the unexpected.

Group of women learning traditional Georgian dance with a local instructor in Tbilisi, Georgia — *Georgia wasn't on anyone's bucket list besides mine — and it ended up being one of the best trips LEGT has ever run.*

Where This Gets Practical

Watch prices before you commit to dates. Look at a route over a few weeks to understand what average looks like. When you see something noticeably lower, that's your window.

Build in date flexibility. Even a day or two of buffer can make a significant difference, especially for international flights.

Look at nearby airports. Flying into Brussels instead of Amsterdam, or Chicago instead of Minneapolis, can save you several hundred dollars.

Sign up for flight deal alerts. Services that monitor deals like Going and Ashley Gets Around send you options you'd never find on your own and train your eye for what a good price actually looks like on a given route.

Get travel insurance. The world is on fire right now, literally. But that shouldn’t stop you from making plans. From flight delays and cancellations to lost or delayed luggage, shit happens. It’s inevitable. Book a policy that gives you peace of mind in case something goes wrong, and get out there and explore. I partner with Wanderwell, and I highly recommend them.

Get a travel credit card that actually works for you. If you're booking flights and hotels anyway, you might as well be earning points on them. While this is entirely personal to you and the way you use credit cards, a few I use and actually recommend are:

Chase Sapphire Reserve® — Currently offering 125,000 bonus points, which is a serious head start toward a free international flight. Best for frequent travelers who want premium perks. If this doesn’t fit you, try the Chase Sapphire Preferred instead with the same link.
Capital One Venture or Venture X — these are some of my favorite travel cards. Unless you are going to use the perks of the Chase Sapphire Reserve to justify the hefty fee, I’d swing for the Venture X instead.
United MileagePlus® Quest Card — The only airline card I carry, and only because I have a ton of other cards already and take 12+ United flights a year. Good for getting free checked bags and working your way toward airline status. Generally, I don’t recommend getting hotel or airline credit cards unless you are a frequent traveler or are always on the same airline or staying at the same hotel for work—generic credit cards offer way more diversity.

Worth noting: the right card depends entirely on how often you travel, where you fly from, and what you're saving toward. I'm not a financial advisor — I'm just someone who spends a lot of time on planes and has opinions. Do your own research before you apply.

Give yourself permission to be surprised. Some of the best travel stories start with "I almost didn't go there." And if you want to make sure you're packed and ready when that moment comes, here's what’s in my carry-on.

The Part Where I Tell You What I Do

I lead small group trips to places most people wouldn't plan on their own — Morocco, Kenya, Georgia (the country), Cuba, Greece. Destinations where the cultural immersion is deep, the experiences are genuine, and the people you travel with become the unexpected bonus you didn't know you were signing up for.

Laura Ericson group trip travelers posing on the blue steps of Chefchaouen, Morocco — *Morocco 2025* *fall group trip in Chefchaouen, Morocco.*

I handle all the planning. You just show up. The reason people who join one often come back for another is that they stopped waiting for perfect conditions and said yes to something that felt a little scary and unfamiliar.

That's where the good stuff is.

Your passport is collecting dust. Your PTO is sitting there (and if you need help making the most of it, read this). The world isn't waiting for you to have the perfect plan.

Book the thing. Figure out the rest later.