Ten days away. Five days of leave.
Six trips that fit inside the annual leave you actually have — with the routes, the real costs and the calendar maths already worked out for you.
Six trips. All of them fit
Every itinerary in the plan has been built backwards from one question: how much of this can you actually do without asking for more leave than you have? Each one includes the day-by-day route, what it costs in Australian dollars with flights, the exact number of leave days it uses, the best months to go, and whether it works better solo, with a friend, or on a small-group tour.
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Japan — Tokyo to Kyoto by train
Cities, mountains and food, on the country's own rails. Australians took nearly a million trips there last year.
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Vietnam - Hanoi, Hoi An, and the coast between
The best value in Asia right now, and the itinerary most likely to make you extend.
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Bali beyond the bits you've seen
Ubud, the east coast and Nusa Penida — the version of Bali that isn't Seminyak.
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New Zealand's South Island by car
Ten days, one loop, no visa, no jet lag. The gentlest first solo trip there is. Give it a go!
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Sri Lanka — hill country and the south coast
Tea trains, elephants and empty beaches, in one easy to get around country.
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Thailand — Chiang Mai and one island
The classic, planned properly. Vibrant night markets, stunning landscapes and deeply spiritual.
Plus: the 2027 public holiday calendar with the leave-day maths already done, a packing list that fits carry-on, and the two questions to ask any tour operator before you pay a deposit.
How ten days costs you five
Australia hands you a small number of long weekends every year, and almost nobody builds a trip around them. Stack a public holiday against a weekend on either side and a ten-day trip costs you five days of annual leave instead of eight. Do it twice in a year and you have had two proper holidays for the price of one.
The plan has the whole 2027 calendar worked out, state by state, with the four windows worth booking early — because everyone else eventually works this out too, and flights price accordingly.
You have leave rolling over year after year and a vague plan to use it "properly" one day.
Your children don't need you every school holiday anymore, and you're still working out what to do with that.
You want to go somewhere that feels like somewhere — not a resort you could be standing in anywhere on earth.
You'd go on your own if you had to. You'd just rather not have to plan the whole thing on your own as well.
That's who this was written for.
If any of this sounds familiar
I'm Sarah. I built Women Inspire Travel because travel created a whole new incredible world for me and I wanted to make it easier for other women to feel the immense joy and transformation that exploration brings.
10% of Women Inspire Travel bookings go to programs supporting women and children — in Nepal, in Burundi, and here in Australia. You can see more about who we support on the About page with our trusted partners named.
Is it really free?
Yes. No card, no trial, no upsell at the end.
Is this just a list of tours you get paid for?
Some of the operators I link to pay me a commission if you book, and it costs you nothing extra. I only include ones I'd send a friend to, and every itinerary works just as well if you book none of them and do it all yourself. The plan is written to be useful on its own.
I've never travelled on my own.
Then start with New Zealand. It's in the plan for exactly that reason — no visa, no jet lag, no language barrier, and you can turn the car around at any point.