How to Plan an Active Vacation in 6 Easy Steps

Mountain biking down a volcano? Check.

Step 3: Pick your activities

Okay, maybe this is the most fun. Since you’ve already grouped activities by location, you should have a good feel for which areas you’re going to want to spend the most time in, and if you’re looking to cut costs, this is a good time to determine whether you want to drop any of the locations (island, city, country, etc.). I mean, if you have limited time and there’s just one thing that you sorta want to do in one place, but there are tons of things you just have to try somewhere else, does it make sense to spend a day of travel getting to and from that other location?

This is also a good time to do a budget check. Lots of really great active stuff is relatively cheap or free (like hiking on your own or renting a kayak for a day), but some of it gets extremely pricy when you factor in a guide and equipment and whatnot. Many guided trips we took in Hawaii provided us with a meal, which offset costs a bit, but that didn’t mean they weren’t a splurge.