Travel Design

Introduction

Each of us, no matter who he is and what he does, consciously or unconsciously uses the project approach in his life. Judge for yourself, any material action is preceded by a plan, the ideological development of a future event. Whatever you are going to do - from the simplest of actions (making tea, washing the floors, meeting the girl) to difficult (building a house, graduating from the university, writing a program), you create an action plan mentally or with the help of confused means Gantt charts (it all depends on the level of structure of the project ). And as you know, planning is one of the based aspects of the project approach. From this it follows that the project management methodology can be applied to practically any life situation, for example, to travel.


The problem is how to choose the optimal methodology for your project. It is clear that for the simplest actions there is no sense in using the project approach, everything can be done in the mind. But what if the action requires more serious planning?

In this article I want to conduct a simulation on the application of project management methodology on the example of travel design. The fact is that almost all projects (regardless of type and scale) have a kind of general structure at the initiation stage, that is, at the very beginning of the project. At subsequent stages, different methods are being applied, depending on the characteristics of the project. If you find and understand this common element, then project management from the realm of something “only for advanced” will turn into a normal working tool available to everyone.
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The simulation is built on the example of a real journey that I want to make in the next 2 years. The structure of the project itself is as follows:

• Idea.
• Problems.
  In this case, the problems will be the obstacles that must be overcome in order to accomplish our plans.
• Decision.
• Action strategy

UPD: Based on the small feedback from the article at the very beginning of its publication, I want to note that the idea of ​​this trip did not appear for the sake of writing the article. This idea has been ripening for a long time. I just wrote down all the information on this idea in a notebook (a notebook specially set up for this - I have been filling it for about 2 years already). As they say, he did everything on his knee. The writing of this article was the impetus for the systematization of the collected information and a description of the developments that appeared during the existence of the idea. The main purpose of this article is not a description of my journey as such, but an attempt to apply the project approach to travel .

Idea

To make a trip to the Far East (Mongolia, China, Tibet, Nepal, India) long in 1 year - 1.5 years. Goals:

• Get the skills of extreme survival (part of the route must run through difficult areas).
• Visit major cities (Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo).
• Soak up the beaches of Thailand.
• Visit a couple of music festivals and get started on some holiday in India.
• Visit places in Russia that you had planned to visit for a long time (Far East, Baikal, Altai, Sayan).
• Well, it's over just to have a good time, which means having a travel plan, but without a hard link to it - some element of improvisation :-)

Problem

In order to carry out our plans, it is necessary to clearly understand what range of problems (obstacles) need to be solved for this.

1. Determine the route.
   
   • Checkpoints - places required to visit.
   • Events are required to visit.
   • Program - a general description of the logic of travel.
   • Route map - a graphical representation of the route on the map.
   • Calendar - an approximate travel calendar.
2. Determine the means of transportation (aircraft, train, car).
   
   • Tickets.
   • Cost of
3. Identify required resources.
   
   • Determine the amount needed for travel.
   • Identify possible risks.
   • Required skills
   • Information system
4. Determine the amount needed for travel.
   
   • How much is needed?
   • Where to get them?
   • How to store? (cash, cards)
5. Identify possible risks.
   
   • Legal issues.
   • Health (vaccinations, insurance, etc.).
   • Safety (hot spots, wiring, etc.)
6. Required skills
   
   • Languages.
   • Survival in extreme situations
   • Hitchhiking techniques
   • Street earnings
7. Information system
   
   • Blog
   • Facebook
   • Twitter
   • Google Accaunt: gmail + maps + docs + calendar + reader

Now for each of these points I need to collect information. I created a map in mind maps, for a visual representation of travel issues (a problem is an interconnected tangle of problems). Directly to collect the information itself (links, articles, comments) I created a structured document in google docs (by the way, who wants to join the filling - knock on the PM).

Decision

The solution in this type of project will be to create a specific set of artifacts. In this case, the artifact is a kind of man-made object that reflects / describes some part of the work done on the project (documentation, program code, model, etc.). In this example, the following artifacts will be:

• Map of the route.
  Map with the designation of checkpoints, events, ways of movement.
  Tool: travellerspoint.com (here I have schematically drawn the route of my journey specifically for clarity). The advantage of this service is that you can export your route to google earth, and from there to google maps. This will allow you to use the route map on the smartphone with all the resulting bonuses.
• Travel plan.
  Route + calendar: online calendars .
• Financial plan.
  
  • Costings.
    The simplest cost estimate, which shows such items as accommodation, food, transportation (air, train, bus, car rental, etc.), purchase of equipment, visas, insurance, souvenirs, other expenses.
  • Ways of earning.
    - Earnings plan
    - Savings Plan
• Package list
  A list of things to be taken on the road.
• Plan for the development of the necessary skills.

Action strategy

Action strategy is a non-detailed action plan for the implementation of the plan. This plan allows you to see an approximate order of actions that need to be done. In this case, it will be the following action plan:

• Stage 1. Collection of information (disclosure of problems).
• Stage 2. Creation of artifacts
  
  • Route
  • Plan
  • Package list
  • Financial plan
  • Skill plan
• Stage 3. Creating a system of savings and earnings to ensure travel.
  
  • The accumulation of the required amount of money.
  • Saving
  • Alternative earnings.
• Stage 4. Preparatory.
  
  • Buying equipment
  • Buying / booking tickets.
• Stage 5. Organizational.
  
  • Closing all accounts, debts, etc.
• Stage 6. Collecting a backpack and final preparations.
• Stage 7. Farewell Party
• Stage 8. Departure -> travel plan

Each of these tasks can be broken down into subtasks, and they, in turn, into subtasks and so on to the level of specific actions.
Tools: 42tasks.com , hitask.com (great service, account can be linked to google calendar)

So, if you have an action strategy, you can develop a detailed plan for its implementation. But it is better to act gradually, for example, for the stages of gathering information and creating artifacts, you can allocate half an hour per day to the project. But already at the subsequent stages, when real actions begin, it is necessary to plan depending on the folding circumstances. And it is very desirable to establish a deadline - a certain deadline so as not to delay the implementation of the plan.

Conclusion

Here I tried with the example of travel to show that the project approach is applicable to ordinary life situations. Now I propose to discuss the following topic: how can the application of the project approach be implemented on the Internet for personal projects? I have a solution and later I will voice it, but first I want to hear the opinion from the side. And in general, check whether the implementation of such a service for managing personal projects is relevant. By the way, I note that personal projects can be transformed into collective ones. For example, you do not want to go traveling alone as friends, but at the same time everyone is geographically scattered around different cities or countries in general. Moreover, creating a competent tool for personal projects, you can complicate it and adapt it for more complex projects. In short, there is something to think about and what to discuss.

PS Some of you may argue and say what is the point of planning a trip so thoroughly, and where is the element of adventure, improvisation, some spontaneity. Like Woody Allen said, if you want God to laugh, tell him about your plans. But let's think for a second, planning gives in fact more information. More information - more features. No one says that you need to be tied tightly to the travel plan. Just fate loves those who are accustomed to rely on their own strength and reasoning, and not at random, and amen.