How to Plan a Trip to Somewhere You’ve Already Been
In the travel world, there’s this sense that you have to go, go, go and check as many places off your bucket list as fast as you can. The competitive nature of travel is easy to get swept up in – and it can get ugly! But we can’t always go somewhere new. So what happens if you have to plan a trip to somewhere you’ve already been?
The pandemic brought world travel to a halt. Many people who were counting countries had to hit pause (even if some of us were so close to hitting 50!). And in that time, a lot of people began travelling closer to home, rediscovering their own backyard and planning trips to places they’ve already been.
So how do you plan a trip to a place you’ve been before? How do you get excited about going back to a place that isn’t new? How do you save face in a travel community that always seems to promote the new and extreme?
Let go of the FOMO
The first thing you need to do is let go of the FOMO (fear of missing out). Yes, you aren’t going somewhere new but you’re still travelling! You’re taking a holiday and getting to experience a place that isn’t your home. Don’t take that for granted.
You need to make the most of your situation and accept your trip for what it is. It’s helpful to realize that you’re never really done with a place. I hate when people say something like, “Oh, I already did Paris” as if a city as big and vibrant as Paris could ever be “done” – especially if their definition of done is a three day trip!
There will always be other trips and opportunities to visit new places. This isn’t one of those times. Accept this trip for what it is and move on.
Redo the things you loved
Revisiting a country or city is a great opportunity to redo the things you loved. We’ve all had a great meal or a special experience abroad and wished we could go back and repeat it again. Well, now you can!
When my dad and I visited Paris in 2018, we stumbled upon this incredible Italian restaurant, Villa Andrea, where I had the best seafood pasta of my life. We liked it so much we ate there two nights in a row! So when Colin and I landed in Paris in 2019, I couldn’t wait to bring him to Villa Andrea. And once again, we ate there two nights in a row!
London is a place I will never get tired of visiting. I love taking in a show in the West End, riding the tube, discovering new restaurants and even seeing the same sights. It’s hard to get tired of places as impressive as Westminster Abbey or Borough Market! Amsterdam is another place I loved revisiting. After studying abroad there for five months, it was so special to come back four years later and rediscover my old haunts.
Do the things you missed
Returning to somewhere you’ve already been gives you a chance to do the things you didn’t have time for on the first trip. Or a chance to experience the place in a different way or at a different time of year.
On my first visit to Iceland, I was solo and visiting in the dead of winter. I took tour bus trips to various sites around Reykjavik. On my second trip, I was with Colin, who can drive, and so we rented a car to see more of Iceland at our own pace. On my first trip to Naples, I spent time exploring the city and on a quick side trip to Pompeii. On my second trip, I had time to visit Herculaneum too and experience an in-home cooking class!
Time of year makes a big difference when revisiting a place. Colin and I first visited Salzburg, Vienna, Munich and Nuremberg in the summer and got to revisit them all in December to experience the Christmas Markets. We also revisited Munich in late September for Oktoberfest. That was definitely worth a second trip!
Skip the mistakes
Planning a trip back to somewhere you’ve already been allows you to learn from your mistakes and do better the second time. This is your travel redemption story!
The first time I went to Rome, I didn’t buy tickets to the Colosseum ahead of time and so waited in a long line to enter. I also didn’t opt for a tour. On my second visit, I pre-booked tickets online months in advance with a tour guide and access to the third floor. It was a much better experience the second time around!
It was the same story in Amsterdam. While I was living there, I visited the Anne Frank House a few times and always stood in the long line up to get in. But by my 2018 visit, tickets were being sold online and I quickly scooped some up so we could avoid the line!
Other travel mistakes I’ve rectified include dressing better for London weather (on my first visit I had to buy a Union Jack sweatshirt from a street vendor because I got so cold) and learning how to use the Barcelona metro system (my ticket still stopped working but at least I didn’t have a meltdown in the subway this time!).
Add somewhere new
There’s no reason why a trip to the same place needs to be limited to everything you’ve seen and done before. Besides doing some new things, why not add on a nearby destination?
When we planned to visit Madrid in February 2020, I wasn’t thrilled. I hadn’t loved my first visit to Madrid in 2012 and so wasn’t looking forward to going back. But when my sister suggested we add Toledo, a town just 30 minutes from Madrid by train, to our itinerary, I began to change my tune. And by the end of the trip, I had totally enjoyed our time in Madrid!
On a 2017 trip to San Francisco with our moms, we decided to spend more time in Napa than in San Francisco. We had all already been to San Francisco, but hadn’t spent much time in the nearby wine region, so had fun touring wineries, taking in the views and shopping in small towns.
See it through someone else’s eyes
One of the best ways to enjoy a place you’ve already been is to see it through someone else’s eyes. There’s no better feeling than watching someone else fall in love with a place that you love. It really makes you appreciate that spot (and maybe even that person!) so much more.
I’ve been lucky enough to have this experience with my favourite people in some of my favourite places. In 2019 Colin and I had a 24 hour layover in Tokyo and I was determined to make him fall in love with the city that I had called home for a month in 2014. Even though he was incredibly jet-lagged, Colin did love Tokyo and we both can’t wait to go back to Japan when we can (we even tried to honeymoon there!). I also got Colin to change his tune about London, my favourite city in the world, on our first visit together in 2018. Prior to that, he thought he hated London but he just hadn’t experienced it properly (AKA with me!).
I got to bring my dad on his very first trip to Europe in 2018. I absolutely loved seeing Europe through his eyes and watching him fall in love with all of the architecture, history and food I knew he would enjoy. I also got to be there for my siblings’ first trip to Europe and enjoyed our time in Spain so much more, despite it being my second visit, because they were there loving it too.
And lastly, one of the coolest travel feelings was introducing our moms to Prague when we lived there in 2019/2020. They visited us after we had been living in Prague for about three months and we had the best time showing them around, doing all the fun touristy things and introducing them to our life abroad. For weeks leading up to their visit we had been perfecting our itinerary and constantly saying to one another, “I can’t wait to show this to the moms!” It meant so much to us that our moms loved Prague like we did!
I hope I’ve convinced you that revisiting a place you’ve already been isn’t so bad and there’s actually a lot of good that can come out of it! What’s a place that you would love to plan a trip back to?
