Has anyone had experience planning travel/a big international relocation using Beeminder?
I’m looking for some better ways to Beemind organisational and planning efforts related to an upcoming year-long trip across the Americas I’m taking with my girlfriend starting in July.
This feels like something I really need to Beemind because I know myself to be extremely akratic when it comes to planning trips. Without Beeminder I’ll do two marathon planning sessions for a given trip, one months or weeks before and another just a week out.
I’ve tried Beeminding words inputted into a Google doc but this solution feels pretty sucky. It’s too easy to game and I don’t really feel like it moves the needle much at all. I want something that a bit more systematically captures things I really need to sort before we go (making sure we’ve bought everything, Visa/entry requirements, all major activities pre-booked well in advance) whilst also leaving room for exploration and research/deep dives of fun things we can do and see.
My current thinking is to just set up a time-spent goal and tasks completed goal to replace the word count. Is there anything I’m missing?
What are the actions that you need to do but that you are akratic about doing? Reducing the scope of the system you will implement might yield a more effective solution.
E.g. “fill-baggage” where you have to add something to your baggage every day over 4 weeks – by the end, it should be super optimized and it isn’t likely that you would’ve forgotten something.
If you already went on a trip, you might already know your weaknesses. Patching these specific weaknesses might be the best way to tackle such a large-scoped goal.
I really like using Linear (https://linear.app) for planning big things with lots of steps.
Basically it’s a normal project management tool, just done well.
My workflow for planning a trip would be:
Create a project with a well-defined accomplishment criterion, like “actually have a trip” (ie. it’s done when the trip is over and you’re safely back home).
Create sub tasks that contribute to the goal and are necessary for the goal to be done. All tasks must be measured against the necessity yardstick.
“Book tickets” is necessary.
“Research cool bars” is not necessary because the trip will have been had even without bars.
If you want to go to bars, create a separate project titled “Have a great bar experience at the trip” or whatever.
The necessity yardstick prevents me from piling up nice-to-have things that blur the distinction between “must do” and “don’t have to do”.
Optionally, estimate the tasks (in hours or days, Linear just has “points” but they can mean whatever you want them to mean).
If you do the estimates, Linear will automatically give you a prediction of ETA for the project. Sort of like the Beeminder road.
You can probably actually connect that (“the number of points done”) with Beeminder, I’m not sure.
Or you can use the built-in deadline feature to automatically see when you’ve fallen behind.
Linear also has sprints (called “cycles”). The intention is that you start your week with deciding which tasks you’ll do this week. Based on your estimates, Linear will tell you how much work in hours/days/points you’ve scheduled, and you can use the previous sprints to judge for yourself whether you’ll realistically be able to do that many or not.
I’ve used Beeminder for travel planning before, and a time-spent goal combined with a tasks-completed goal worked great for me. Tracking time ensures you’re consistently working on it, while tasks help break down the planning into manageable chunks. I also recommend setting specific milestones, like “book flights by … date” or “finalize itinerary by … date,” to keep things on track.
You might use a project management tool like Trello in conjunction with Beeminder to capture more detailed to-dos. It’s perfect for organizing and prioritizing tasks without overwhelming you.
By the way, I once stayed at The Westgate in Branson and had a fantastic experience. It’s a great place if you’re ever in the area.
