Meet Travel Creator Dani: She Shares Budget Tips, Top Destinations, and Authentic Itineraries

Meet Dani, a passionate travel planner and content creator behind 'Plan for Me Dani.' In this interview, Dani shares how her love for travel planning began, offers budget-friendly travel tips, and discusses her top travel experiences. She also provides advice for aspiring travel creators and gives a glimpse into her Thatch travel shop, where you can explore authentic itineraries and guides from her personal adventures.

Liv Coning

Marketing Lead

Meet Travel Creator Dani: She Shares Budget Tips, Top Destinations, and Authentic Itineraries

Sep 11 2024

Meet Dani, a passionate travel planner who loves creating unforgettable experiences for her clients.

In this interview, Dani shares how she fell in love with travel planning, built her brand "Plan for Me Dani," and offers insights into her travel experiences and the creation of her career on Thatch.

Your travel planning story started with a honeymoon to Italy. Can you talk a little bit about this and why it made you fall in love with travel planning?

My honeymoon is actually the perfect example of WHY I fell in love with travel planning. My honeymoon to Italy was my first trip to Europe and I had a travel agent plan it because I thought "that was what you did".

Throughout the trip I realized very quickly how easy this would have been to do for myself. I realized that there were things that I liked and didn't like, and that I wanted full control over my planning. While I know that the planning part certainly isn't for everyone, it IS for me!

The following year I planned trips to Amsterdam, Prague, Berlin, Nicaragua, and Greece. Since then I have never looked back. Now I THRIVE on planning and I am usually googling something for one of our trips for a few hours per day.

When you’re not traveling, you’re a School Leader of Social and Emotional Learning in Philadelphia. How has your time as a teacher prepared and enhanced your travel experiences?

I absolutely think being a teacher is one of the best professions to translate into travel planning. All teachers do is plan! I am extremely type A and I love being planned and organized. I do leave some room for spontaneity on trips but I will generally have all hotels, transport, and many tours and dinners booked before we travel.

On the flip side, in teaching, you ALWAYS have to be prepared to change and adapt. I think this is also a huge contributing factor into why I am so organized and capable at solving problems that may arise when traveling. I also believe this is why my friends and family love for me to plan FOR them, they know it will be efficient, well researched, and up to good standards.

You talk a lot about solo travel. Do you have any tips for someone who may be nervous to take their first solo trip?

I am newer to solo traveling, but I would say, especially for me, my #1 tip is that it's never too late to start. I also think it's GREAT to go to a place that you already know and love to start out. You can already be sure that you'll be happy in the location and you can just relax and enjoy.

To get myself to go on my first solo trip I booked a non refundable flight to Italy. I was pretty committed after that because I knew I couldn't cancel. This was the leap I needed to get me there, once there it was AMAZING!

You also share a lot about traveling on a budget. Can you share three practical tips for saving money while traveling?

1. Plan in advance: I genuinely believe that planning in advance helps you save money in a number of ways. It helps to book flights, trains, accommodation, etc. early, as things can get more expensive the closer you get to a date. It also helps because you can make "monthly payments" of sorts on your trips and you're not dropping your entire trip budget within a few days. I will often pay for one hotel with each paycheck leading up to a trip.

2. Enjoy the outdoors. Whether you're in the mountains, at the beach, or in a big city, being outside and walking around is an adventure in itself in a new place. Being outside is COMPLETELY FREE!

3. Eat local & have picnics! Many countries and cities around the world have affordable local cuisine. This can be found on the streets, or in small eateries around the area you're traveling. Do not be afraid of the grocery store or markets!! Grocery stores & markets have some of the BEST food and you can usually take it to go to eat wherever you want! Go look at that beautiful view and snack on your local eats!

What have been your top three most impactful travel experiences so far?

It might sound corny to say but one of the most impactful was this past summer. My husband and I renewed our vows for our 10 year wedding anniversary! Some of our friends and family traveled to the Cinque Terre with us and spent 5 days all together enjoying all the best of the area. We had visited the Cinque Terre on our honeymoon and vowed to return 10 years later to do this! (We also returned in 2016 and I went solo in 2023). I planned this trip for everyone, there were 11 people in total, 3 had never been to Europe, 2 had never been to Italy, and EVERYONE had the most magical memorable time. I will always think of this trip as a highlight of my life! Also after all these trips I finally made a mini guide to the Cinque Terre which is in my Thatch shop!

In 2015 we decided to make a bold move and travel to Amsterdam for Christmas. I was very nervous to leave my family for the holiday for the first time in my life. However, my husband and I have made travel a HUGE priority and being a teacher, the holidays are the best time for me to get away without taking PTO. I consider this an impactful experience because now we go away for Christmas/NYE every year. We have celebrated in numerous countries such as Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Switzerland, Chile, Thailand, Vietnam, Grenada, Slovenia, Colombia, and this year we'll be in Ecuador. It has been so much fun to see how different countries all over the world celebrate during these holidays.

I think my 3rd would be going to Paris for the first time with my sister. I realized my deep love of Paris on this trip and I have returned 6 times since. Paris is one of the only places that I continue to return to and it has opened me up to the idea that it is okay to truly love a place and revisit it over and over. I want to see so much of the world, but I need to see Paris every year, and I have learned that there is nothing wrong with that. It is okay to have a place that calls to you and brings you so much joy that you continue to revisit. For me that is Paris.

Also hiking in the Dolomites has just altered my brain and I will never be the same! We hiked the Alta Via 1, and staying in mountain huts, hiking so hard all day, eating Italian food every night, and seeing the best sunrises and sunsets of my life is an experience I wish for everyone

Any future trips you’re excited about?

Always! We are headed to Florence at the end of November to celebrate my birthday which is in early December. We went on our honeymoon 10 years ago and haven't been back since. I am excited to explore with new eyes 10 years later.

Then, we are headed to Ecuador for the holidays! We will be heading to the Galapagos Islands and I am BEYOND excited about that! I can't wait to see all of the animals!

There may be some newbies reading this who haven’t seen your travel shop yet. What can they expect to find? What services do you offer and who may be a good fit to work with you?

In my travel shop you can find some great itineraries, at the moment mostly for places in Europe. The thing that I believe stands out about my itineraries the most is that I have lived them. I am not recommending anything that I didn't actually do or see or participate in. I wouldn't recommend anything I didn't trust or enjoy.

You will also find some guides on where to stay. Right now I have FREE guides for my favorite spots in Italy & Albania. I find that these guides are very beneficial as I spend an extreme amount of time choosing where I stay. You can trust that my recommendations aren't taken lightly and that I get very anxious recommending anything so I wouldn't do it if I didn't mean it!

What advice would you give to aspiring travel creators who want to build a brand and business around their travel experiences?

You MUST go for it! I love that quote "Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it, the time will pass anyway." I waited WAY too long to attempt to go for this dream! Now as I work towards it slowly while also working a full time day job, I have to say... I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN!

I absolutely love creating content, creating guides, sharing about my travels, helping others travel, and all of this wouldn't have been possible if I didn't just START! It's a slow build, but I don't mind at all because the time will pass anyway, and I LOVE doing it! I hope that shows through all of my work here on Thatch and Instagram thus far!