What I did was actually grabbed pictures of landscapes and/or landmarks for each general place to help me visualize a certain location. It does actually help and even provides a more concrete idea of how to write about a certain culture of the place. For example, one location I have is mostly winter all year round. From that, I can infer what locals would do to survive and what they physically would look like. I don't go into detail but the images help me enough that I know how to write about it.
It's different for everyone. I used to be a pantser but it's hard for me to stay on point when I did that. Outlining does great. It's not for everyone though. At the very least, if you are serious about your story, by all that is good and pure, write down your beginning, middle, and end. I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH. It's important to know how you'll end the story. It's also important to know the middle because it's going to help the spine of your story. However, I still find the ending to be more important.
Once you've listed down your main plot points, then you can even leave out the rest of the meticulous outlining if you'd like. Go with what you're comfortable with. If you force yourself to adhere to a certain plan, you might end overthinking.
