Planning an Itinerary

 Research. Some people believe in just pointing a finger and going. I think you can waste a lot of time if you haven’t done your research. That said, an itinerary needs to be flexible. What works best for me is to make a broad outline with room for change.

Before you go any farther, you need to discover what type of traveler you are. Some people like to be on the go and see as much as possible. What works best for me is a 4 to 7 day stay in each place. I’ve also done trips where I’ve rented a house and stayed in one place for a month with day trips to other places. Decide first how much time you have and how much you want to move around.

How to begin? 

  A friend of my sister’s who I met while traveling in Guatemala told me that she loved Nicaragua and mentioned Granada. I almost didn’t look any further because I thought it sounded dangerous—what was that whole Iran/Contra/Sandinista thing all about?  Ignoring the thought, I typed in Granada, Nicaragua, into Utube. There are multiple videos of this most charming, colorful city. The more I watched, the more I wanted to go. One video even showed a boat going out onto Lake Nicaragua on which Granada is situated. A fin of a fresh water shark swam along the boat. Was the video doctored?  It could have been, but I was intrigued by the possibility. Other settings are easy to authenticate: all the videos show the