The screen has the 50 browser tabs open, the Ryanair deals, the Airbnb wishlist, the “Top 10 European Cities” blog posts, the TripAdvisor rankings, the Instagram geotags, and the WhatsApp from the friend who is the “up for the anything” but the “not the camping”, and the decision of the next European trip has the paralysed you. The decision paralysis is the most common travel problem of the connected age: the too much information, the too many options, the fear of the wrong choice, and the result is the weekend that becomes the Monday, the holiday allowance that expires, and the trip that never happens. Making the decision is the hardest part of the travel. Here is how to make it.

How to Choose Your Next European Trip

• The 3 questions that eliminate the 90% of the options: 1. The budget: the budget is the first filter, and the honest answer eliminates the most of the options. The £200 for the long weekend (the return flight under the £80, the accommodation under the £60/night, the food under the £30/day, the eastern Europe: the Kraków, the Budapest, the Prague), the £500 for the week (the return flight under the £150, the accommodation under the £70/night, the food under the £40/day, the Portugal, the Spain, the Greece outside the peak), and the £1,000 for the week (the return flight under the £250, the accommodation under the £100/night, the food under the £50/day, the Italy, the France, the Scandinavia). The essential rule: the budget determines the region, and the region is the not negotiable. 2. The time: the 3 days (the single city, the walking distance to the everything, and the no day trips, the Barcelona, the Rome, the Paris), the 5 days (the 2 cities or the city + the day trips), and the 7–10 days (the 3 cities or the region, the Tuscany, the Algarve, the Dalmatian Coast). The essential rule: the number of the destinations is the number of the days divided by the 3, rounded down. 3. The weather and the season: the beach holiday in the January (the Canary Islands, the 20°C, the Madeira, the Cyprus), the city break in the April (the everywhere, the best month for European city break: the warm, the green, the uncrowded), the mountains in the July (the Alps, the Dolomites, the Pyrenees, the cool, the beautiful, and the escape from the heat), and the Northern Lights in the February (the Tromsø, the Abisko, the Rovaniemi). The essential rule: the season changes the destination, and the destination in the wrong season is the mistake. More Europe →
• The decision-making method, the coin toss and the commitment: The essential method: the 3 options that survive the filters, the coin toss, the 2 out of the 3 (the best of the 3 tosses), and the commitment. The commitment is the essential: the flight is bought, the accommodation is booked, and the trip is the real. The research that continues after the booking is the enemy, the “better” option that appears in the Instagram feed the day after the booking is the illusion, and the trip you have the booked is the better than the perfect trip you have the not. The essential mantra: “The mediocre destination that I have the booked is the better than the perfect destination that I have the not.” Europe is full of the beautiful places, and the decision, not the destination, is the most important part of the trip.