How we prepare for a trip

What with us visiting so many places (averaging one every month), we have developed a sort of mental checklist of things we do before we set off for our travels. Our preparation for a new place goes thorugh many phases:

1. Introduction: Since we are living in a part of the country that we are not familiar with, we usually hear about a place from a multitude of sources -
(a) Friends/Relatives
(b) Travel blogs (especially the rediff travel blogs)
(c) Outlook 52 Weekends from Bangalore
(d) HolidayIQ
Once we finalise on a place, or maybe even keep a couple of places as options, we move to phase two.

2. Research: Kudos to Anshu for that! Extensive research goes into making a great trip. Things like where to stay, what to do there, how to get there, etc. is all done well in advance. Sometimes, an excel sheet is also made :) Apart from the usual research on the place itself, we also pay attention to these pointers -
(a) what is the best route to take. For that, we sometimes refer to Ok Tata Bye Bye.
(b) what we can see along the way. One can refer to Wikipedia or any of the tourist websites or travellogs.
(c) places to eat and catch a break en-route. This can sometimes be tough, but there is always information available on the net.
(d) whats the weather like at our destination. We certainly don't want to be stuck indoors, if theres lots to see and do. For weather, we check weather.com, and other travel sites.
Once again our sources for this research are mainly travel blogs and HolidayIQ. After we have finalised on which hotel/resort to stay in, we move to phase three.

3. Plan freeze: Once we know where we're going, we book our stay and then eagerly count down the days! Since, during our planning, we keep more than one option open, if a place is over-booked, we can always fall back on another option.

4. Preparation: This is my favourite part! Apart from the usual travel stuff, we never leave home without -
(a) Digital camera
(b) Video camera
(c) Charging cable for the video camera
(d) Cell chargers for the the digital camera
(e) Ipod - to hook into the car stereo for places where there is no FM reception.
(f) Jackets
(g) First aid kit - mainly some odomos (mosquito repellent), avil (for allergies), disprin (for headaches)
(h) Snacks
(i) A 5 litre cannister of drinking water
(j) Google Maps/MapMyIndia/Yahoo Maps printouts!

5. Car servicing: For any long drive, it is important that the car be in tip-top condition. If required, we give the car for servicing one week in advance. We fill up the petrol tank, get the tyre pressure checked, and check the coolant and wiper fluid. Once everything is upto the mark, its onto phase six.

6. LIFT OFF!