How to plan a multi-country trip

Sketch the geography first and the calendar second. Draw a line, not a loop, and let the cheapest open jaw flights decide the ends. Backtracking is the single biggest waster of days on multi country trips.

Three nights per city is the usual floor for a place worth flying to. Two countries per week is brisk, three is a blur. Long overland legs deserve their own day rather than being squeezed onto an arrival day.

Check visa rules and passport validity for every country on the route, not just the first. Note which ones share a currency or a rail pass, and which need cash at the border. Compare two candidates side by side, for example Thailand vs Vietnam, before committing.

In AvioStory every visit starts as its own trip, so a six country route becomes six honest entries. Merge them into one named trip afterwards if you want a single story, and split them again whenever you need the detail back.