How do you organize your Trip Research?

Pam, great idea! I love seeing what others to to prepare for their trips.

I'm another one who uses Google Docs, but I also use Google Sheets as well. Docs is what I use for jotting down (digitally) notes I pick up from the forum, and from reading guidebooks. Also I list the names and info about places I want to visit: Admission costs, entry times, and so on. And like you, I group my individual documents by area. For example, with this upcoming 5 week trip to England next year, I have them arranged as follows:

• London
• Cornwall
• Devon
• Liverpool
• The Peak
• Yorkshire (both Dales and North - I may separate them depending on how much is in each area)
• Northumberland (including Hadrian's Wall) Oxford

I am constantly adding, deleting and editing these as I gain information and make decisions on what I want to see and do. Eventually as I get closer to my departure date, they will be tightened up to make them easier to read as I travel. And I always put digital links in there just in case I need to check something. Those are very easy to insert with Google Docs.

With Google Sheets, I put in all the relevant information that I need, then leave a copy for my daughter just in case. For example:

• Page 1: ID stuff: my name, address, passport ID number, my Known Traveler Number, and my address and flight information.
• Page 2: Lodging information. Dates, name, website URL, payment made, payment to be made, whether breakfast is included, check in time, etc.
• Page 3: Daily itinerary with date(s), location, and sights/restaurants/shops, etc. Very basic as I like to keep things relatively loose. Also info about advance bookings needed and so on.
• Page 4: Transportation page. Last year (Scotland) I had my complete ferry schedule here, including departure and arrive time, locations, check in times, and whether I needed to book ahead and the price. This year is has info on rental cars I'm picking up, and also trains and other public transport I will be taking.
• Page 5: Costs: What I am paying or will pay for everything. I have one column for the foreign currency (if applicable) and one for USD (for example, advance payments are already converted), and any notes about deposits needed or given.
• Page 6: My packing list, which changes every trip. It is divided into: Clothing, Electronics, Toiletries, Rx., Documents, Miscellaneous (notebooks, pens, etc.), and what will be in my carry on bag when I board.

There is more than that, but that's the basic stuff I do every time.

I also go into Google maps and save every single location I am thinking about stopping at, so that it's easy for me to get directions to it, and also so I don't forget it. Sometimes I will think of something and forget to put it in my notes, but I find it saved in Google maps, so I don't miss out.

I can't say my process is all that "organized." That would be an improper use of that word! lol Maybe I will learn a better approach from this thread.

As of now I use a Word doc. I start with the list of cities I want to visit and the number of nights I think I can do (based on work demands). The cities so far are based on my daily visiting of this and the TA site, reading trip reviews, and some other general knowledge from my life.

As I read trip reviews or questions/answers, I update the doc with attractions that sound interesting to me. It's literally a bulleted laundry list of places. Or parts if a town I may stay in. Or restaurants to visit. Parks. Museums. Churches. Squares. URLs for trains. If I'm on my computer I update the doc right away. If I'm on my phone, I screen shot something and go back to it later, usually saying to myself, "well I took a pic of this for a reason..." In other words, chaos.

As I get closer the real work starts to bring the chaos into some order to come up with a draft itinerary including number of nights in each city. Then I post the draft itinerary here. And then I get good advice and revisit.

And that pretty much goes on until I have a more set itinerary and buy airfare, accommodations and any tickets to attractions that need to be bought in advance. Then I update the doc with a day-by-day itinerary.

Final itinerary is a Google doc that I can hopefully retrieve from anywhere. For Spain we did print out addresses to our accommodations just in case we needed to show that to a taxi driver. We needed that twice I think. For Italy, no printouts.

Anyway that's my not-so-organized organization process!

Not my idea, but make a new Google account (email, drive, docs, etc.) for that specific trip. So everything you have in there: hotel info, tickets, email correspondence is in one place and can be accessed basically anywhere in an emergency. Makes it impossible to miss an email or something in your day-to-day account.

Saving transportation tickets into Drive was especially helpful. It’s very easy to rename them with date, location etc. and pull up the appropriate one when needed.

You are incredibly organized! Thank you for sharing your tips. I am less detailed oriented in my planning and more of an 'outline' person. I am fortunate to travel a lot each year both internationally and dometically (it used to be for both work and pleasure, now it's just pleasure.) If I am traveling/planning trips with/for friends, I typically complete an Excel Workbook with sheets divided between activities, lodging, transportation that includes all the pertinant information along with any addtional, notable information and a link to the item's website. Then I share the workbook electronically with the group so everyone can put important dates/info into their preferred online calendar. For myself and my family, I'm less structured. Usually I send myself an email with a list of reservations we've made (loding, activities, restaurants, etc. with res #'s and website links. I also often have these reservations in the appropriate app) and also include a list of other fun things to do with each activities' timing and requirements listed next to the activity. Unless it is something we MUST make in advance, my family is the type of group that likes to wake up and see what sparks our interest. I also rely heavily on my iCal as it is linked to my home computer, iPhone and iWatch. Any reservation for anything is put immediately in to my iCal the moment the reservation/appointment is made. When we travel, I do have an international plan I use as well as relying on Wi-Fi at wherever I'm staying.

When it comes to packing, I almost exclusively travel with carry-ons, no matter how long I'm gone (yes, even for 2.5 months I'll only bring a carry-on.) I plan ahead of time my color "theme" for the trip (black, white, red or grey, white, coral, or...?) Then add layers (depending on season). I don't have a packing list per-se but I find that when I look at my list of scheduled activities, I can pack accordingly as long as I follow my chosen color theme. I also keep handy my 'liquids' travel bag that has all my toiletries. After each trip, I replenish what needs to be then it's ready for my next trip.

Researching trips, to me, is the most fun of all! I will scour the internet, social media, friends, family for any and all information, then start to pair down. I usually bookmark all the interesting websites and group by region or country (ie: Italy is by regions but Iceland is by the whole country.) I have a friend who is WAY more organized than I who has an elaborate Excel spreadsheet for all her research. Maybe someday I'll aspire to that level of organization...

Thanks for starting this thread! I'm interested to see what other nuggets of info I can get from others in this group.

Fun topic Pam! I do similar things as already mentioned. As soon as I decide on a trip I set up a multi-tabbed spreadsheet to hold itinerary ideas - URLs for websites, suggestions from this site, or recommendations from friends. I also put in a spot to do a cost/benefit analysis for flights and a calendar so I can visualize my days and pencil things in (and take them out if they don't work). And I have a master to-do list in one tab that I add to when I think of things.

Once I start making official reservations, I use TripIt to keep those in one tidy location. I also save copies of reservations/QR codes/etc. in my Google Drive so I can access from my phone, tablet, or worst case scenario a computer at a hotel. As I get closer to finalizing my plans, I will add a note to each day in TripIt with my daily itinerary choices - some days are more open, so I'll put in more ideas than I probably have time for but allows for some flexibility if something is unexpectedly closed. On occasion I've had to go to plan C or D, so this comes in handy. I also verify open/close times for sights I plan to see and include those along with the official web page link in the note so I have it handy. My personal comfort level requires I figure out transportation logistics as much as possible ahead of time (e.g., how to get from airport to hotel) and I make sure there are detailed notes for those things.

I also have a master packing list that I update after every trip, that includes the usual packing items but also things to do at home before I go, from checking for any new travel requirements (e.g. ETIAS will happen some day) to making sure the coffee grounds are dumped out. Once I know where I'm going I peel off things I don't need (e.g., swimsuit in winter months) and add anything unique to the trip I'm going on (e.g. stomach meds for Turkey).

Now if only I could decide where to go next...I'm ready for a new spreadsheet. :)

I create a OneNote "notebook" for each trip, with a "section" for:

• itinerary for each "stay" - often a city, for my trips
• todo list, with checkboxes to track completed items
• flights and other transit
• packing checklist, which can be copied from the master to each notebook
• hotels

Each OneNote "page" within a section has details, including notes, website links, map snippets, mini-spreadsheets. The itinerary section, for example, has a page for each day and separate pages for each major activity. I can move those activity pages easily from one day to another.

OneNote synchs between my laptop and phone/tablet, so I only print a select few items.

I start a new section within each trip for "things to do" when I revisit that place :-)

@Mardee - The spreadsheet function on googledocs sounds very good. I will have to try and figure that out. I like that you've got your packing list on there as well. I have a packing list on googledocs and use it every trip. I also have a specific one for Yellowstone which requires different gear than my Europe trips!

@MorganMurphy - Well, you sound pretty organized to me, lol! Good plan to add in things to your Word Doc for activities that might strike your interest!

@awrzesinski - Now that is an interesting thought to set up a separate google account. Are you setting up a different GMail account for that one as well?

@keickerman - I like your idea on sharing your Excel Spreadsheet with your group of travelers. And outlines are good as well especially in the early planning stages. I have a dumb question....on iCal. Is that just the calendar on my iPhone or is it a different app? I love the research as well....!!

@CWsocial -I will take a look at ONeNote. Several people have mentioned that before to me so I should take a look. Thanks.

@CL - I like your and Mardee's idea of multi-tabbed spreadsheets. I never worked in an industry where I needed familiarity with spreadsheets and I am intimidated by them, lol! I might try something out along those lines for my trip next October, lol. PLENTY of time to see if that works for me!! And yes, ditto to transport logistics needing to be worked out ahead of time. For myself, I've never lived where there was public transport and all I have to do is have gas in the car, lolol!!

My system is pretty simple. I put everything I need to know about the trip in a Word document. The front page has a summary of the itinerary by day. This is followed by a page (or pages if needed) for each day which has all the details. Most of it is stuff I type in, but I also paste in screen shots.

I also create a separate folder in my email account that has all the emails about the trip. Normally I create a second folder with emails from Capital One with my credit card charges and a third folder for emails with tickets attached. The actual tickets go in Apple Wallet.

On my phone, I create a photo album for the trip that houses screen shots with important information, tips, etc.

My packing list is in an excel file. I update my master packing list for each trip.

I have always printed out the Word doc. Lately, I have pulled it up on my phone more often than I refer to the hard copy, but I like having the hard copy for back up in case I lose my phone or run out of battery. Not sure I can give that up. I usually print hard copies of my tickets as well, just in case...

I create a 7-column table in Word - a column for each day of the week, and as many rows as I need for the trip. It starts with the day before the trip for last minute details.

For other Luddite travellers….I am a mostly paper and pen organizer. I will set up a folder on my email for all documents but also print out hotel, train and flight bookings. For places I have visited before, I still have and use my paper maps (some in map books) and for new places I will use RS book sections plus print out my hotel area on a Google map. I will get a paper map at the Tourist Office upon arrival. I use ~3x5” post it notes attached to walking routes from RS for museums, restaurants, other places of note to refer to. I still use a daytimer and have a travel section in it where I group notes from my research over many months. Those loose pages come with me. All of my paper trip info fits into a small plastic folder and I take what I need for that day. We are slow travellers so our days are not jam packed but we have a general itinerary.

Technology uses include the apps for train and airlines, saved barcodes etc for tickets in addition to paper ones, the local transit app, and Google maps. I have just obtained a WISE Visa to use for tapping in and out of transit if a paper pass is not available. We don’t use our regular credit cards or phones for tapping if we can avoid it as I don’t want to worry about dropping, losing, (or theft but less of a concern) either item.

I will remain paper driven as long as it’s available! I just find it easier to have it at my fingertips.

Hey Pam, GREAT topic and my oh my you are organized! I would put in another plug for TripIt, you can share it with your travel buddies. I just don't find it's that much info but I only put the biggies like hotel, meal, tour bookings in it. And agree a bespoke Google Map, that's where I put anything in a city that looks interesting, lots of restaurant ideas, etc. and you can add notes "Opens 5PM, need reservations'. I also use FlightView for air reservations & occasionally it updates me faster than the airline, even quicker than electronic boards at the airport in the US. It falls down in Europe, sort of useless, so very good to have alerts activated on your airline app... And I agree with @Claire above, yep, luddite backup! I print out airplane reservations & carry bits of RS guides, highlighted & with color-coded notes, paper maps as Google really doesn't work well among old stone buildings, & a DK Guide probably also ripped out of a larger book.

Oh gosh. A whole new Google account for each trip !? Wow !!

I do a combination of things, paper and digital. When I tried to think about how to contribute to this thread, I realized that I don’t know if I can even call what I do a system.

One thing that is important for me is that I have to have a visual of the days running. So I photocopy a month of a calendar so I can see the days, and I also make myself a kind of run-by-day card - i take a (must be 5x8??) blank card, draw lines down it to create separate days, and then write the dates and days on it, and start filling it up. This is where I might, in the planning phase, be using small post-it notes that I can move around and position (and re-position) on various days that I might do various things (or note days that I CAN’T do a certain thing because it’s the closure day for the museum of whatever).

As far as keeping my tickets and reservations, i have one email folder called “Reservations,” and if it’s a hotel reservation, a flight, bus, train or ferry reservation or ticket, rental car, museum or site ticket, whatever, it goes in there. If I end up cancelling a reservation, I move it into a separate folder of, cleverly named, “Cancelled Reservations,” along with its partner cancellation confirmation email. That way those are out of my way, but I have them as a record if necessary later.

I do research as I’m going along and save things both as separate items on my Home Screen on my ipad or my phone, and also I am making tons of notes in a notebook. As the plans get refined and nailed down, I will rewrite the info to have only the pertinent info included.

And sometimes I do a spreadsheet . . And sometimes not . . .

I do love my printouts, couldn’t go all electronic like Pam although I admire that ! I travel with a little Japanese folder with four or five tabs, and I affix stickers to the tabs according to my trip - various tabs have been called flights / hotels / bus/ train / ferry / restaurants / misc / language / museums . . .just whatever fits best for the particular trip.

I started using TripIt on my last trip, to Norway, and have entered my stuff for my Thanksgiving trip back to the States. Not sure yet if I’ll stick with it, but am experimenting with it to see.

Here We Go maps is a big thing for me - I create a map at home with my hotel(s), restaurants I want to try, shops I want to visit, museums I want to see, etc. I make sure to download the map for the country/region where I’m going at home. Then I have all that available to me even if I don’t have connectivity.

I’m often also finding other maps to work with — to me, you need all sorts of maps to plan a trip. Big-picture, broad maps, really specific close-up maps, and everything in between!! I often have a map or map book or laminated map that I am dealing with too. What can I say, I love maps and they are such a great tool.

I often pretend navigate between places either within a city on CityMapper or rough distances on Via Michelin.

And lastly, I always make myself little cards with my flight (or train) info and the next steps i need to take to get into town (if flying in) and my lodging. I like being able to pull that out of my pocket and look at it in my hand without needing my phone. All of the information of course is IN my phone, but by the time I am arriving somewhere or transferring somewhere, I’ve usually looked at what I need to do a number of times and just need the factual reminders. Metro line/destination/type of ticket or card/hotel reservation number and address, etc.

Oh yeah and lately I have been taking my screenshots while I’m doing research and organizing them into their own folder in my photos - Norway 2023 Planning for example.

Wow, this topic got me talking !!

I use bits and pieces of techniques others have mentioned, though I'm ultimately mostly a paper-based traveler. I do two things I believe no one else has mentioned:

I maintain a catch-all Word document into which I drop information that I expect to be useful on a future trip, with the country name included before the pasted-in information. The information mostly comes from this forum. My trips are long and can cover as many as 10 countries, so at any time I'm paying attention to information on a large number of countries. I've found it impractical to have a bunch of country documents open at the same time for this purpose, so I put up with the 100+ page catch-all document. I don't worry about organizing the information until it becomes pertinent for my next trip and I'm ready to move it to a country-specific Word document. Editing at that point is time-consuming but absolutely essential. The country document has the obvious sections: general info (including transportation) then sections for each city (sightseeing, restaurants, markets, shopping, hotels).

I'm not a plan-everything-in-advance traveler. I allow myself enough time at major destinations that it's not a problem having very little locked down. But traveling that way means I need to make decisions about scheduling sightseeing after arrival in each city. Not too long ago I realized I needed a better way to display sight operating hours to simplify my day-to-day decision making. I now create an 8-column spreadsheet for each of my major-city destinations. The first column is a list of sights I'm interested in (usually dozens); they are organized geographically to the extent possible. The other columns are for the days of the week. In each cell I put the operating hours for the sight in question. Closed days have grayed-out cells. This allows me to see readily what my options are on any given day, and I will notice if I'm coming up on a day with few options so I can take appropriate action. I don't bother doing this for cities with just a few sights, but it has been very helpful in places like Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius.

All my travel documents and spreadsheets are stored on phone, tablet and OneDrive, but I mainly use them in hardcopy form, discarding them as I go.

I'm also an extremely heavy user of Google's MyMaps. I create a map for any city I plan to visit with more than just a sight or two or at least for the surrounding region if I plan to hit more than one smallish place in the area. I use different colors for infrastructure (hotel, train station, ferry port, tourist office, etc.), sights, restaurants and shopping. When I'm planning a trip to a country new to me, I often set up a country-wide map and flag all the towns I might like to visit, based on guidebooks, forum posts, etc. Looking at their geographical distribution helps me trim the list, which is always necessary.

Kim, I do the same thing with calendars except I don’t use Post-it notes. It would be better if I did, but I actually write on the calendars where I will be on each particular day and where I am staying. Like you, I find it essential to know where I am visually at a glance. I usually go through about 4 to 5 different printouts before I’m done, because I keep having to rewrite and move things around. But I find it worth it although I might start using Post-it notes to save on paper. 😏

acraven, your comment about your document for future trips is a great idea! I do something like that, but not as extensively, so I may steal that ideal from you. 😊 But if I’m looking for things online, and I find something that looks interesting about a place I’m interested in, I bookmark it in Chrome. I have a specific folder in my bookmarks for future trips, and I keep it there, so that when I need it, I know where it is. And of course I also bookmark the forum posts that deal with future trips.

Great topic Pam! Enjoy reading how others plan a trip. My system uses bits and pieces already mentioned. I still like paper for backup. But for planning, my itineraries and packing lists are Word Docs. I make email files and sub-files for the trip by category, like planes, hotels, RS tour, confirmations/tickets. I also bookmark websites for sights, restaurants and hotels. My computer is an older Dell and I have an iPhone. I end up doing two sets of web bookmarks since they don't like to talk to each other. I have all the pertinent apps on my phone and try to use Apple Wallet for tickets. If tickets won't migrate to AW, I copy them to Notes with a screen shot.

Step 1: plan where and when I'm going. This starts with which RS Tour I want to take and when. Then I add independent days pre-tour and post-tour. I lay that out chronologically in the Word Doc. Example (since pain killers for my back are addling my brain today):
Next year's trip starts Tuesday 8/27 – Fly PHX to VCE
Wednesday 8/28 – Venice
Land at VCE
Check in B&B Corte Campana (5 nights)
Correr Museum
and ends Monday 9/23 – Rome
Appian Way horseback ride
Tuesday 9/24 – Fly FCO to PHX.
Each date has where I'm staying and what I want to do. It's early yet so not everything is on this itinerary. The RS tour is chronologically where it belongs and lists what the tour is seeing and free time. Next page is a copy the tour itinerary and tour map, both from the website. It's just handy to have itineraries one place as I plan.

Step 2: I have a "Cost" section that breaks down cost by category and town, i.e. hotels, trains, sightseeing. It's less about the cost and more about having a Check List as a reminder of what I need to book. I'll make notes as to closure days, opening hours. I also make a "To Do" checklist so I don't forget when to do something. I also make a "Shopping List" if I'm out of something or need to replace it.

Step 3: When something is booked it's added to my phone's calendar so I see at a glance what and where I need to go. It also helps me not overschedule as I have said several times in posts. This gives me time to catch a train, time for sightseeing, walking/bus/tram time between sights and time to eat.

Step 4: Be sure that everything booked is pinned in Google Maps and the maybe's are unpinned. This helps with walking directions and will note which tram or bus to use. I have the Citymapper app so need to practice using it too.

Step 5: Relax. Don't worry about getting lost. Have fun!
I don't keep a journal. Just not my style, but I scribble brief notes on my printed itinerary. I also caption the pictures I take with my phone as a reminder where I am and what I see. Both help when I write my trip report.

I keep a separate very complete, specific Packing List word doc for the trip and a master list which gets updated after each trip.

@Carroll - That is great to know how you use your WORD document. I have an iPhone and for some reason (I'm really not very high tech in spite of going all electronic the last few trips) didn't think you could use WORD on an iPhone. Until the last 2 trips, I've always printed out my googledoc itinerary and had it in my personal item. I, too, found I was referring to my phone more frequently than the paper copy and decided to try and do without it.

@EstimatedProphet - so let me try to visualize your method. Are you essentially doing a "calendar view" but in a word table?

@Claire - I'm only a recent convert to all electronic. Until the last few trips I did my planning on a paper calendar in pencil with a large eraser nearby, hahaha! Great idea on the 3x5 card with walking routes! To me everyone has something to give whether it's ideas for paper or electronics!

@Sandancisco - I've not used Flightview - I assume it's an app? You're now one of several that has suggested using googlemaps that way. I'll have to play with it and see how that works.

@Kim -Hahaa...laughing at your cleverly named email folder! The small postit notes to move around when planning is a good idea. Jean (from our CdA meet up group) uses a big calendar and full size postits in her planning phase. When you are saving things on your Home Screen do you create a folder on your Home Screen or do you have separate bookmarks for things on the home pages? I do use a 3x5 card with my hotel information on it to be able to hand to a taxi driver particularly when I'm tired from a flight!

@acraven - Laughing because if I used a catchall WORD document for things that catch my interest it would be hundreds of pages long, hahaha! I do bookmark stuff and pull it into folders for each trip on my laptop but that doesn't transfer over to my iPhone or iPadMini. Still that is what I use for research before travel. And also laughing because I just updated a bookmark folder for Christmas 2023 to 2024 because by gosh I AM going to get to the Christmas Markets some time! I like your idea about using google My Maps for your close in views of your areas.

Wow...So many great ideas! I love reading these and working and refining my current way of doing things!

Editing to add comments to Mardee and Horsewoofie!

@Mardee - Like you I can always use ideas to help make my information gathering and storage easier!

@Horsewoofie - Yes, I have an older Dell which may be on it's last legs since I pulled it off the table recently and have cracked one side of it and now it is getting fussy about turning on! It is a tick in the plus column to go with an Apple product so it will talk to my phone and iPad! I like your To-Do list idea as well. Sometimes it's difficult to remember when ticketing might open for trains or museums, etc! And I'm so glad someone else is already working on next Fall!

I am going to chime in for an old fashioned paper system. I am not one to plan out every day in advance but I research and have ideas on things to do and I go with the flow of the trip. While all the spreadsheets sound very lovely and efficient, I go for a journal that has details of (hopefully) everything that I might need. I do have a folder in my email box where I file any electronic responses I get about reservations but I don't generally need to access them.

Each trip has its own journal which is easy to pull off the shelf to either update before or refer to after the trip. I pretty much fill it out in the order that I plan the trip. First few pages have all the specific reservations like tour info (I mostly go on RS tours with a few days either side on my own), flight details, hotels, reservations, transportation, and other sites where I book in advance. Then is a group of pages for the specific destinations. I allow anywhere from half a page to multiple pages for each place, depending on how long I will be there. I leave lots of blank space for more data that I find in researching. I include anything that I have already booked as well as a list of ideas of things to do in that location with bits of info that I might need like days or times closed or open. Other than places where I have prebooked tickets, I don't specify a daily calendar. I decide what to do on a given day by looking at my list of possibilities and picking the activity that matches my mood, my time available and energy level, and the weather.

In the back of my journal I have more mundane details of the trip. Insurance info including policy and phone numbers for a claim. Notes that I have notified my bank of travel and ways to contact them if I have a problem with credit cards. Any other phone numbers that might be handy in case of an emergency. Passwords that I might need. Going forwards from the back, I have a page that lists everything that goes in my suitcase and personal item. (When I get home I tabulate how many times I wore pieces of clothing to help me identify what worked and what didn't). Then pages that I fill out daily while traveling: briefly, what I wore on the trip, number of steps and what I ate. And a line or two about each hotel.

The big section in the middle of the book is for my journal while on the trip. Each night I make a quick list of what we did that day (so I don't forget anything) and then when I have time I go back and recount the trip in more detail. Often the last week or so of the trip are written up when I am back home.

Even though I worked with spreadsheets daily for a couple decades I just can't see organizing details of something as fun as a trip into columns and lines on a phone or tablet. I think my creative mind is more wired for the 20th century than the 21st! And I love having a shelf of brightly colored books holding my memories of trips.

This topic is definitely a bookmark for me! So much useful information. I find that I like to print out a monthly calendar also. It helps me to keep organized and see everything at a glance. On my last trip, I used a word doc but that didn't work so well for me. Next time I will try Google doc with different tabs. I'm trying to get away from printing everything out but so far no success! Ha! And obviously I need to take a closer look at google maps to mark locations/hotels/sites/restaurants etc.

I use an email account for everything related to my trip. My folders are numerous, dated and named for each place I’m staying. Sub folders hold all my reservations for that particular stay. I rely on Google maps for getting from point A to Z. I look at Google Street view for some areas which helps me at times, as I like to pick out landmarks, buildings, or something that might help me directionally.

@Martha - I like your visual of brightly colored books on a shelf! Do you use the same kind of journal each time .... such as Moleskine?

I have used several different brands of journals, Moleskin being one of them. Leuchtturm and Minimalist Art are others. They are all pretty much the same size and I try to match the color to the place. Green for Ireland. Blue and Red for England (two different trips). Yellow for sunny Greece.

As much as I like Rick's guidebooks, I do not trust ANY guide book on museum, cemetery or church hours especially since Covid. They can sometimes be variable and I always check the official website for any place that is important for me to visit.

Also, this. A million times this.

Find the official, current website and find the correct opening days / times.

Pam, There is a Microsoft Office 365 app so if you store all your Microsoft files on the cloud, you can pull them up on an iPhone. I don’t think you can edit them though. But who cares, the phone screen is way too small for that.

Another option would be to convert them to a pdf and email them to yourself. I imagine there are many and better ways to do it, but I don’t win any prizes for being tech savvy, so you won’t learn them from me.

Pam, it’s also easy to convert Word documents to Google docs. All you do is just open up Google Drive, click New, then File Upload. That will take you to your files. From there navigate to the file where the Word document is saved and upload it to Google Drive. Once there, you can access it at anytime, edit it, and do whatever you want with it..

I do that all the time with classes I take at the university. One professor likes papers written in Word, but I like to save them in Google Drive, so it works well for that.

Before I've started booking anything, I use Excel just to lay out the dates and locations.

Once I start booking, I use Wanderlog.

But I've recently been doing some comparisons of different trip planning apps, and I've found three others that work very well.

• TripIt
• TripCase
• Kayak Trips

All four of these do an excellent job of pulling the info out of your email and adding it to your trip plan. I subscribe to Wanderlog Pro (39.99 per year), and that version automatically scans my gmail and adds reservations to my trip plan. I believe you can configure TripIt to do this with the free version.

TripCase is the only one that doesn't have an Android or iPhone app.

Wanderlog is the only one that has a budget feature. (TripIt allows you to track expenses in the old version, but I can't find a way to do it in the new version.)

Otherwise, these four apps/websites do essentially the same things, so it's mainly a matter of personal preference. I prefer Wanderlog because it actually shows every date of your trip, so you can add notes and activities and get the full picture of your plan. (The other three only show events and activities that you've added, and omit other dates altogether.

I'd be curious to know if anyone is using any of these and what you think about them.

Love that, Martha !

Your using the same notebook for planning and then for record-keeping while you are on your trip blows my mind. My planning notes are too much of a mess !!

I was thinking about Keizerckman (?) above sharing a spreadsheet with friends if traveling in a group. My brother does this. A few years ago, he and his family were going to be making a trip to Scandinavia, and I was trying to figure out if I could join them for part of it. My sister-in-law emailed me the Excel sheet and everything was there and very easy to comprehend. He had each row with the date, lodging (and whether reserved or not), onward transit if applicable (and whether reserved or not) and that sort of thing.

I am kind of like someone above who mentioned (I may be summarizing incorrectly) that they didn't like see their travel planning reduced to cold Excel cells, and that really resonates with me. But being able to see so easily where I could "plug myself in" to their trip was great ! I have referred back to that spreadsheet even in later years to check the organizational ideas etc.

I did also laugh because just a few years before that, I had organized a trip for my brother and his family, my parents, and my husband and me, and I sent everything to everybody in a Word doc. When I saw my brother's spreadsheet I chuckled at how I had probably driven him crazy with my Word doc !!! 🤣🤣

@pam regarding the iCal calendar: it is the calendar app on all Apple devices. I use a Mac, have an iPhone and iWatch so iCal us the best scheduling (calendar) tool for me as they all sync. It keeps me organized and on time! 🤞😂

On no, is this a homework assignment for tomorrow's meeting.

I maintain a catch-all Word document into which I drop information that I expect to be useful on a future trip

Oh yes, for sure this!

My catch-all is a "Future Trips" Notebook in OneNote, but absolutely the same concept. When I see a tip in a trip report or other post, or an article about an interesting place, I grab the idea for some imaginary future travel. When a real Future Trip emerges, it gets its own Notebook.

The first column is a list of sights I'm interested in (usually dozens); they are organized geographically to the extent possible. The other columns are for the days of the week. In each cell I put the operating hours for the sight in question.

I like this concept. I usually book up my mornings with something "big." This would be a good way to organize the "smaller" things that could slot in to free time in the afternoons. I'm going to fiddle around and see how I can do something similar with a table in OneNote.

You already know some of my organization secrets!

After I’ve picked a country, checked the dates for any festivals or special concerts or events, I create my large visual calendar taping 4 sheets of paper together, and each day is a Post-It with the city name on it. Those are grouped as colors, so all Palermo days are the same color Post-It. Ideas get written & crossed out on them. Hotel is written on the top. This gives me an excellent overall look at the trip as I’m working on it.

At the same time, I’m researching a lot on the internet. I create a screenshot of anything of interest. Those screenshot photos get placed into separate Shared folders of each city name on the iCloud Photos. Since I move frequently, I can easily have 10-15 photo folders. About every 3 weeks, I go into those iCloud folders and delete what’s no longer interesting or delete a city I’ve decided to eliminate.

Everything gets summarized later on in my Excel file. It has tabs for the itinerary (with hotels, cancel by date, amount of train time, activities, special restaurant.). 2nd tab is all of my trains planned, specific times, connection location, plus Plan B option. 3rd tab is my packing list. If something’s not on that list, it’s not getting packed! 4th tab is the complete detailed expenses, plus categories and a visual pie chart. IMPORTANT: if the wedge piece of the pie chart is too slim for activities, then I need to look for additional fun, memorable activities. That’s not a category to skimp.

I do load everything the last few weeks into TripIt and give my husband & adult kids access to view it. I also print out the first tab of the Excel sheet and leave that on the kitchen table for my husband (if traveling solo).

I print two of the first two tabs of the Excel for me - itinerary and train details. One goes in my backpack and one in my tote.

My organization motto has always been to overplan ahead of time to know many possible things to do; then when I’m on the train heading to the next city, it’s just picking whatever sounds fun in the moment. (I would hate a detailed “must do” filled itinerary!)

@Leslie, whoa, are we doing your homework for you? LOL! Tell everyone “hi” at our regular meeting for me tomorrow. I just had a fantastic day of shopping today in Iowa with my sister.

Trip it works very well for me. All my trips, past, present, future are available on my phone.

I do a lot of what's mentioned above, though I use different tools: Primarily InDesign, Photoshop, and Illustrator (these are professional design/image-editing/drawing tools that provide a high degree of precise control...I admit I'm a control freak about this stuff and this is probably extreme overkill for most folks, but I enjoy the process and must have my high quality documents with beautiful design, typography, maps, high-rez images; and Word, Excel, etc. just don't allow the degree of precision I want). Blame it on my design background.

I start my process like this...

I already have an extensive list of "future potential trips" roughed out, with optimal airline routings, best ways to get there/back using miles & points, a handful of highlights for each itinerary, best/worst times of the year to go, and more high-level info (hey, this is how I spent the pandemic: sketching out dozens of future trips to all corners of the world...). I rough in very loose plans for trips about 1 to 2 years in advance (I've currently got trips booked through fall of 2024: Colombia in February, Kyushu in May, Corsica in September – and candidates for 2025: Taiwan in the winter, maybe Norway or the Philippines in the Spring, perhaps Haida Gwaii in the summer, possibly Madagascar or Greece in the fall. I spend a lot of time collecting bits of info about all of these places, and file them away for when that trip comes up. Typically around 12-14 months out, I start looking closely at flights and we decide on what gets prioritized or deferred. I tend to book flights 11 months ahead, and only then does the detailed planning begin.

Like others, I start with a calendar page tracking the overall flights, where we're sleeping, and a brief, high-level "were are we today?" summary for each day. Then I assemble a (very) detailed booklet, with dedicated pages for each travel day (all the flight, boat, train details). Each day gets a single page (more than one if necessary) with all the details for location accoms, restaurant options, and potential sightseeing options. I briefly describe, and "rate" (from ▲ to ▲▲▲) every single attraction we might or might not do that day (using the same "touristic interest scale" used in the Rick Steves books - credit where credit is due - this helps us prioritize things). Special summary pages for all flights, accommodations, car rentals, trains/ferries, other things; a page on "cancel by" dates, a page on using phones there, lots of custom maps, oodles of detail snippets copied from websites, online forums, and more. This all gets updated and added to constantly. At the end of the process, I print out 2 paper copies (I get one, spouse gets one), and I make PDF versions (goes on our phones and iPads). It is essentially, a custom-made guidebook, tailored specifically for our itinerary – which is helpful, since there are few Rick Steves guidebooks for the places we are going lately (of course, if there is a Rick Book for a place we're going, we'll get that, too). Our last trip (2.5 weeks in Malta/Gozo and 5 days in Istanbul) the booklet was about 40 pages, and VERY detailed.

I really enjoy the process of researching and putting these together (though I know for some people, this would be torture). I love having everything I need (and I do mean everything!) available instantly, anytime. It makes things easier on the trip and I am convinced it gives us much better outcomes. But, yes, it is a bit of a project.

Wow! You are all so organized! I wonder how we just had such a successful 2 wk UK trip (shared with 2 others) with my seat of my a** disorganization....

I am definitely bookmarking this thread and will be checking back as I turn over a new leaf for my newly retired life.

You are so inspiring! Thank you.
Cheryl

I would be exhausted to actually take my trip after doing some of the things I read here just to plan my trip. But, more power to you if that's what you enjoy.

I simplify it as much as possible. I use Tripit Pro to keep my hotels, transportation and special events organized. I also used a paper calendar to plan out the entire trip but I've just started using an online planning calendar.
I also have a Google Doc for the things I want to see and do in each place.

I took a look at Wanderlog that Lane suggested. It's a little more work than Tripit and annoying with all the pop up tips and reminders. But there could be possibility with it.

I don't like to overplan. I prefer to keep my options open in case I hear of something while traveling I might enjoy. I've even been known to change my itinerary mid travels. As am example, on my current trip I still have two weeks to fill the first two weeks of December.

I use a Mac, have an iPhone and iWatch so iCal us the best scheduling (calendar) tool for me as they all sync.

keickerman, I also have a Mac, an iPhone, Apple Watch and iPad mini, and have found that iCal and Google Calendars both work very well together. I do make sure my events are in iCal (I like to have them on my watch display) but all I have to do is put them in Google calendar and it will sync to iCal (and vise versa).

Lane, I'm going to look at Wanderlog and see if it would work for me. I've tried TripIt on 2-3 occasions and just never follow through with it. It may be what you mentioned in that it only shows dates with events I've added. I like that Wanderlog shows them all. I'm a very visual person so seeing that big picture is important to me.

4th tab is the complete detailed expenses, plus categories and a visual pie chart. IMPORTANT: if the wedge piece of the pie chart is too slim for activities, then I need to look for additional fun, memorable activities. That’s not a category to skimp.

@Jean - this is fascinating. What are the other inputs that are going into the pie chart (in addition to activities)?

Your four pieces of paper that you are taping together — are you making one looooong sheet of paper, or are you making a bigger square?

David — wow! This is some intense designing you’re doing. I wish I were in your local RS group so I could see how one of them looks !

Acraven - I forgot to comment earlier that I really like your idea of how you’re creating the spreadsheet to show at a glance what is open and not when across a week of days. Smart !

Well, enough planning dreaming for now. Time to do the Saturday grocery run. Anyway since my next trip is home to CA and OK for Thanksgiving, I don’t need much info, lodging being 1) my brother’s house and 2) my parents’ house.

I keep coming back to Martha’s color-coded books including all her planning and her during-travel journal. I keep envisioning a shelf full of Semikolon books (German company, makes their products in Czech Republic).

Great topic Pam! Right now, my system most closely resembles Carroll (Pittsburgh). I use Word to plan a day to day itinerary. This works great now, but I am going to have to do it differently when we move from two week trips to traveling 5-6 months of the year.
acraven-especially helpful information since you are a longer term traveler.

Oh my word! Lots of catching up to do, lol!! Excellent, excellent information from everyone. I like that we have suggestions from the simpler pen and paper old school methods to David's professional design methods and lots of "stops" in between.

@Martha - laughing at your colors....no matter how many times I go to Yellowstone if I have a folder of information it is of course in a YELLOW folder, hahaha!

@Kim, I actually have a separate document for open/closed days for Paris Museums. I have not included them all but just the ones I think I might have an interest in. It's in googledocs as well so easy to access.

@Carroll and Mardee - Thanks for the info on converting files to use on an Apple product.

@Lane - I'd forgotten about Wanderlog. Perhaps you mentioned this before on the forum. It's been several years (well before Covid) that I tried it but it was a steeper learning curve than I was willing to put forth the effort for, lol.

@Kim - your post made me laugh! I'm sure your brother knows you well and he just rolled his eyes and said - I love Kim anyway, Bless her heart!

@Keickerman - Great...then I'm all set. For some reason my very old brain sometimes reverts to "diet brain" and I probably have seen "iCal" and thought it was for calorie counting. hahaha!! Good grief!

@Leslie - hahahaha!!!! No homework! But we can talk about it if conversation lags which it never does!

@Jean - We will miss you today and hope you were able to fill up your suitcase with your shopping excursion! Thanks for weighing in on the thread, wasn't sure you'd have time. That is a great idea about doing photo albums with screen shots.

@Carol, Now retired - Good to know Trip-it is working for you as well!

@David - "It makes things easier on the trip and I am convinced it gives us much better outcomes." Your statement is KEY for me. I plan because I enjoy it but at the end what I want as a solo traveler is to have everything at my fingertips in case things go south and I need to make some fast decisions. IF you are ever over in Eastern WA on the 1st Saturday, we'd love to have you at our meet up, 40-page booklets in hand, lol!! Heck, we'll even add in a special meet up, lol!!

@Cheryl - laughing because yes, being retired is a blessing and you can spend SO MUCH TIME planning and plotting, lol!! Welcome to the club...

@Frank - of all of us you are the one that travels most. After all this time of being a full-time traveler I'm sure your brain is automatically in calendar mode, lol!

@Kim and Jean - Kim, you know Jean is an engineer? I would never have thought to make a pie chart with an activity slot and then bump up activities if it looked too slim! And Kim, You'd better reconfirm your "reservations", hahaha!!! In fact, since your brother is a spreadsheet kind of guy he might enjoy this thread. Next time he can move up to a "David Level"!!

@Tammy - oh yes, you may have to work on a different system for when you travel more although you have been doing a LOT of shorter trips! What a fun proposition!

Wow....what great ideas and input!

For those of you who are daydreaming about my journals, this is the brand that I have used the most. I think it is from Germany... I have seen them in bookstores as well as online.

https://www.amazon.com/Leuchtturm-Notebook-Blanco-Sage-Numbered/dp/B008UUBHV8/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=MJLQ8M7C0VIV&keywords=leuchtturm1917&qid=1699112757&sprefix=leu%2Caps%2C212&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9hdGY&th=1

I admit that I have not read all the details of the posts above but I have a question for the spreadsheet devotees. Forgive me if you have covered this... I see you put all your information into one spreadsheet or app or another, how do you use that on the road? Do you print bits out? Or, do you use the files directly on your device? And then do you make notes as you travel?

I just finished reading these great suggestions, and it is a lot! Pam, thank you for starting this thread.

I am a very low tech person who literally couldn’t do a spreadsheet to save my life. I start my planning with a blank calendar page (or pages depending on how long my trip is), write the month and put the dates where they should go. I have little post it notes for the locations I would like to stay so I can move them around if I need to rearrange things or eliminate anything.

As for flight information, lodging, tickets, car rental, or anything else I have folders in my email account. I have an airline folder, a folder for that specific trip information, and one for train, car & travel insurance information. I also keep notes on my iPhone with the itinerary, lodging information including costs, any places to go to or eat at that sound interesting. I will admit that other than having a moderate or less budget with lodging costs I don’t note how much I spend on things on the trip. I want to enjoy the trip while I’m on it and not worry about every euro or whatever I spend. We don’t generally eat anywhere fancy or expensive and I do pay attention to costs. Also we don’t buy much, so it works out. I just pay the credit card bill when it comes.

I admire how so many of you are so technical and organized. My system has worked for me for a long time, so far so good.

On my iPhone calendar I note flight information and lodging information including address and check in time. When I arrive at the destination I can get to a map from the calendar, though I do check in advance for a general idea of how to get there either by public transportation or walking. I do have the Trip It app and just took a look at it. It had flight information for my trip to Europe next month and Seattle in January, but none of the lodging information for my trip next month so I will manually add it today.

Pam - Yes - it is exactly a calendar view. I never thought about it that way, but that's what it is.

I admit that I have not read all the details of the posts above but I
have a question for the spreadsheet devotees. Forgive me if you have
covered this... I see you put all your information into one
spreadsheet or app or another, how do you use that on the road? Do you
print bits out? Or, do you use the files directly on your device? And
then do you make notes as you travel?

Martha, first of all, I love the Leuchtturm1917 Notebooks! They are wonderful and great to use. I use them to keep track of sewing projects, to do lists and basic journals. I have dozens of colored markers and pens that I use with it, too. They're so much fun!

With regards to spreadsheets, I mostly use Google sheets for pre-planning. I make sure my daughter can access it when I'm gone in case she needs to know where I am, and I make sure I have access to the digital document when I'm traveling. Since it's automatically saved in Google Drive, that's not a problem. And I also make sure I am able to access it offline. I don't usually make notes on the spreadsheet since it's mostly pre-planning, like I said, but occasionally I might correct or change something, like a packing list entry or the cost of something. But most of my notes while traveling are done online; either on the blog that I write in when traveling or by opening or modifying something in Google Docs or Sheets.

Jean, I have you and Pam to thank for making me crave sweets this morning. First Pam talking about Woops! bakery and then your pie chart. I have visions of peach pie dancing in my head right now. 😋

After reading all these great techniques, one key thing I could do to improve my planning is use an online map to pin accommodation, attractions, restaurants metro etc so I can visualize everything in one place. When we travel I use Google maps nonstop to get from point A to B. But I've not tried...was it Google My Maps? Is this the same as regular Google Maps and I just don't know about it? I like the idea of pinning things in different colors, like red for metro stops, blue for museums etc.

Hunter-Gatherer or Magpie phase — Chrome bookmarks and Photos:
Once we decide where to go, I get out a lot of library books and I look through guidebooks we already own, putting post-it notes onto interesting pages, then I photograph the pages with my phone. These informational photos go into various albums in Photos on my laptop, mostly sorted by towns we are staying in or visiting.

I bookmark blogs and travel sites and other sources, or I take screenshots of the information, then put these into Photos. I also actually do screenshots or take photos with my phone while attending art history zoom lectures and watching youtube videos. Also bookmarks on Rick Steves. At some point, I work on getting information out of bookmarks and into Google Docs and a Google Sheet for a trip and onto our regular shared Google Calendar.

Google Docs:
I keep adding to and organizing and pruning my two Google Docs: for the trip and for my own packing list plus things to do B4 the trip. I do love spreadsheets and use them frequently in my work life, but somehow a Google Doc with paragraphs and lists and bullet points and headings (and, yes, I’m afraid also different colors, boldings, & font sizes) still makes more intuitive sense to me. Looks less boring to me, maybe? My Docs give other people “the heebies.”

I love the way I can copy and paste stuff from the internet and then get rid of all the original formatting. Love the way I can see Docs and Sheets on my phone while traveling, and easily share them. I no longer make paper copies.

My husband prefers a tidier-looking Google Sheet with tabs, so at some point I put a bunch of what’s in my Doc into this shared Google spreadsheet.

Google Maps:
I mark everything of interest on a Google map with green flags, apartments also with hearts. I did use Google My Maps for a while and then stopped, but I don’t remember why.

Google Calendar:
We use nine google calendars all the time (in addition to travel we have family, cabin, husband, me, my volunteer job, birthdays, holidays, and one that only I can see, my “Things to Do.”) Each calendar is in a different color and I do also like to use different colors for different things in my calendars, but nobody else does. For instance, I use a color I hate for doctor's appointments.

Plane tickets, apartments, and restaurants:
I spend a lot of time getting good plane reservations using Google Flights, and finding & booking the kind of apartments we like from airbnb and booking.com. My husband does the same thing with finding places to eat (also cooking and language classes for him to take).

I do enjoy all this planning.

@Kim, the four sheets of paper are taped into a large rectangle that becomes 17x22”. The 7 days of the week each get a width of 3 inches with an inch leftover. I can use that size to make four weeks of days and use the regular size of Post-It’s.

The categories for the pie chart wedges are: flight, hotels, transportation, food & activities.

@Mardee, make my peach pie slice a homemade one with a hint of nutmeg instead of cinnamon- yum!

Thanks for answering my question Jean ! Now I can envision both of these.

@Martha! Those colors are gorgeous. I can see having all the different blue hues, hahaha!! When I traveled in Oct '22 to Italy I was going carry on and needed my bag to be light. That is when I stopped taking a paper journal with me. Even the Moleskine added some weight to my suitcase so I started keeping notes in my iPad Mini.

@Andrea - Gosh, I'm so glad you said what you did about not really tracking your expenses. I was feeling like I was the only one! I don't eat high end, would often just as soon have a sandwich from a kiosk or grocery store as eat in a restaurant and am not going to do expensive activities. I just go, have fun, eat out and like you pay it off when the bill comes. I'm moderate when it comes to hotels and again, not going to stay in really posh places. Your method works for you so why change it!

@EstimatedProphet, hahaha!! OK! Now I can visualize it!

@Mardee - why is it that different colored pens and markers make my heart sing? Is it a holdover from 6-year-old Me getting a new box of crayons? Yum, peach pie sounds great! I had a molasses cookie at Woops this morning and it was so "Fall". I was laughing with the owner about Fall flavors (except I might have used Autumn as she is English!). I think I have frozen peaches. I'm thinking a peach and blackberry cobbler in the instant pot. Or actually its chilly today so the oven would work too...

@nancys8 - Oh my gosh....I love hunter-gatherer vs magpie lingo! And "My Docs give other people “the heebies.”" You realize this WHOLE thread might give anyone who's not a forum regular the heebies, hahaha!

@Jean - 2nd yum to peach pie even though it is definitely NOT peach pie season here in the Idaho Panhandle!

Several have mentioned a thing I forgot to mention I did for my recent trip that I hadn't done before, which is a trip specific Google map. To MorganMurphy's comment above, it's something you can set up using your Google account: https://www.google.com/maps/about/mymaps/

I made different colored "pins" for things I was going to on tour, places I wanted to see outside of the tour, and locations of restaurant ideas. It took a bit of trial and error when I started, but once I set up a system it flowed smoothly. The nice thing is I could access it on my phone and tablet, though somehow my phone started making it the default map and that got terribly confusing at one point (I'm 100% sure that was user error though, I'll sort it out for next time).

(And now I want pie from all the comments above. Our local pie purveyor has my favorite raspberry rhubarb on offer, I may need to go!)

I really wish I had marked every road / hike I've taken in Europe on a map.... by the time I started I'd missed a few years of hiking & skiing in the Alps, lost to history. So I loved the idea of a journal for each trip, thanks @Martha!

@Pam, Creating a bespoke map in Google Maps as simple as finding a place you want to remember, click the save button & you can create a new list, then file everything for that destination under the heading, my latest is called 'Rome, Dec 2023'. It's a private document but I've shared it with a few people, you decide if they can edit or not.

@CL, WHAT a great idea! "I made different colored "pins" for things I was going to on tour, places I wanted to see outside of the tour, and locations of restaurant ideas."

I'm thinking a peach and blackberry cobbler in the instant pot. Or actually its chilly today so the oven would work too...

If it's as wet in CdA as it was when my friend went over the Snoqualmie Pass this morning it's certainly cobbler season. The only good thing about it was that it wasn't snow falling today!! It looked very wet up there earlier, and the stats show over 2 inches of rain so far today on the Pass. The BBC forecast shows you (well, Spokane) as being very wet as well.

I've quietly been watching this thread a bit breathless with all this technology, being a strictly paper and pen (and memory) person!! Most of what in this thread is a foreign language to me.

Wow! Lots of great ideas. Fun to hear what everyone does.
I use a Word file that starts out with ideas and develops into sections organized by day and/or location.

Two things I like to do that I don't think have been mentioned:

1) The Notes app on my apple devices (laptop, iphone and ipad). In the planning stage, if I hear of something when my laptop is not handy, I write or dictate in into Notes and then later copy it into my Word doc. When I'm ready to depart, I copy my final edited text from my Word doc into Notes. I can use Notes offline on my phone and ipad, and synch them. I may also email myself the Word doc as an attachment for a backup.

2) I prefer digital guidebooks rather than hardcopy. In planning, I bookmark, highlight, and annotate (using the Kindle app on my laptop or phone) the guidebook(s) as things catch my interest. If I were better organized, I could color code my highlights more systematically. Some key info from the guidebook may get pasted into my Word doc or just a note to see page X of Lonely Planet or whatever. I consult the highlights while traveling. After the trip, I try to comment on the places I actually went and then download the highlights and comments for a record.

Oh wow! This is a fun thread. The people in my life think I am a bit overboard with my planning. Now if need be I can show them that not only am I not the only one who loves deep dive planning for travel, but I might be a light weight! : ).

My son did give me quite the complement recently when my SIL was asking us if we preferred self-planned trips or RS trips better. DS said, "Well....going with my mom is just like an RS tour for me because she does all of the planning and she tailors the trip more to our individual interests. So as long as she wants to do the planning, I prefer those trips."

I have just discovered that I rely on my memory of things more than I thought. I am reading tons of things in books and on line and watching tons of things like movies, shows, You Tube videos, but I don't really keep a list of the things that pique my interest, I just remember them.

I rely heavily on Google Maps, Google Drive and Google Calendar. Like Martha I also use notebooks. Instead of getting different colors, I choose one that has cover art that matches my destinations. In the front I start by labeling up to 4 pages for each day. Once the hotel is booked I write in all of the information such as how much will be due at check-in, address, phone number. If there are any scheduled activities such as tours or must do activities, they go in. I also have space for a list of might-do activities and the needed info about opening times and locations. Toward the back I have pages with my insurance policy number and phone number to get help. I have pages with language information for needed phrases and food items. I carry the notebook with me in my messenger bag during the trip. My intent is to journal along the way, but I find that I am usually too tired in the evening to do that.

I have an email label for travel and then sub labels for each different trip. I refer to that more often than my journal for reservation numbers if needed. I have the hotel marked on my Google maps and mostly rely on that.

Here are some links to some of the notebooks I have:

Japan
Iceland
Paris

Jean and Pam, I am going to buy some frozen peaches today. Not pie, though, I think, but a peach crumble sounds good. And Jean, I LOVE nutmeg so will definitely be using that! I buy the whole ones so I can grate them and the smell is so fragrant!

@CL - I did not make peach pie or cobbler yesterday but maybe I will today! Thanks for explaining about the maps and pins!

@Sandancisco - I'm sorry some of your hikes are lost to history but they are still somewhere on a sticky note in your brain! Thanks to you for explaining how to make different maps. I didn't know you could do that! A friend uses the old Streetwise maps and writes on them with colored markers but they occasionally get smudged before she can get somewhere, lol. This is a lot more permanent. I'm going to try it later today.

@isn31c - We had SO much rain here and over Snoqualmie. Thank goodness it was "warm" here and over the pass or we'd have had feet of snow. There is certainly a wide variety of methods! Lots of things I had not thought about, particularly the mapping aspect. You probably have "Maps of Britain" in your brain, hahaha!! Particularly with your plan to go to North London to visit that tube station!

@CD in DC - That is a great idea about using Notes - do you have a heading for your trip or city? I've got various folders in my Notes app but honestly I'm not very adept with it. I wind up with folders named as something I just "jotted" down to remember. yeesh! I like the e-version of guide books as well. Sometimes I'll buy the hard copy for planning but if I think I will need it on the trip I'll get the version to access in my Kindle app. It worked well on the Best of Italy stop in Verona where we had some free time and the guide didn't seem to know where the public bathrooms were - pulled up my Kindle version of Rick's guidebook and there on the map he'd located the toilets. I am not a fan of his maps in general as I find them a bit confusing (although I think he's gone to having North at the top of all of them which is the way God wanted, lol) but he did have the info I needed on this particular map!

@Vandabrud - I love your son's compliment! Now you know you can charge him more in the future, hahaha!! Those notebooks are cute!

@Calvados - Each person is an experiment of one! Early on in my Europe travels (and I mean 1970's) I missed some interesting festival or event as I didn't know about it. It was of course WAY different to research/book hotels back then and depended heavily on guidebooks. On a later trip (1980's) which involved driving in Yorkshire I'd done enough research that I could direct us to some of the filming locations of the old version of All Creatures Great and Small (including the watersplash ford in the opening scenes, lol). I was a research convert and needed to work on organizing everything! Digital organizing just makes things lighter for me and easier to file as I go!

@Mardee - Thanks for being on top of things this morning and reporting the spam. (Well, you ARE 2 hours ahead of me!) That cr*p is so aggravating especially in a thread filled with lots of interesting and usable links to have an embedded spam link somehow seems worse.

I can see I'm going to be busy today trying out googlemaps and seeing if I can make my pins change color and also if I can add specific maps!

I’ve started using PowerPoint. I guess I’m visual because I like to add in pictures of the places we’ll be visiting. One slide has an overall itinerary and then each day has its own slide with an outline of activities (and any relevant reservations). I print it out and take it with us, tossing pages as we go.

I tend to make post its for things and write museum times on them and then shift them around to find out what works with opening and grouping things geographically and balancing out sightseeing.

I also screenshot any QR codes needed and put them in an album in my phone’s photos in case I have any internet connectivity troubles at a ticket counter.

I just rediscovered why I abandoned using My Maps --- you can't (or can't easily) import your existing flags from your regular Google map. Being able to do this seems like an obviously useful thing to be able to do, but it seems like one of the useful things Google Maps just doesn't do (like the feature that I would really like: show me the easiest or the most scenic route from one place to another instead of the fastest route --- all it can do is Avoid Highways).

I searched for this threat after today's International Group Zoom meet up, and there are similar posts going back. One is 2015. Then, more used paper and file folders with pickets or zip lock bags, but OneNote and spreadsheets had a place too.
I am an Excel spreadsheet planner, even my 'Ottawa Dead of Winter Escape' research for future trips. But that is the big picture view.
In the past I carried a calendar page or two with details on the go, and now, my phone calendar.
I do get burnt out by the time travel is close, so I have a list of activities per city on my notes app, but do not schedule every hour of every day before I leave home. I resent having to lock into precooked trains or activities, but I do it for the ones I really need to do. I have a list of things not open on certain days, but then ai only decide what to do the night before. Weather may have some deciding factor as I tend to travel off season.
My last Europe trip was Spain, so I did take my RS paper guide book with loads of post it notes from other guide books or tips.
I no longer keep a packing list, as my locations are global and change every trip...particularly depending on how much birdwatching I am going to do. Wardrobe is much different to town wear. As I often do both, it makes for a challenge for carry on only packing. As they are often long trips, I have a pretty good memory of what I took, what works and didn't work.
I still have room for more apps in my travel planning, but if it is too suggestive of stuff I don't want to do, it is gone.

@Dana - now PowerPoint intimidates me. I never had to use it for work and it really became popular after I retired any way. I'm way impressed you are using it for collating your research!

@Nancy - that is interesting and good to know.

@Maria - I enjoyed the discussion on the Zoom talk about organization. I always pickup tips from others. Yes, back in 2015 I was probably doing pencil + eraser + calendar page, haha! On my trip last spring I had a few times where I was doing day trips out of London and made notes in my itinerary on what apps to use for which trainlines/locations. A couple of those I just got to the train station, looked at the board and bought my ticket on the app. Wow, that was so much easier than standing in line to purchase from a person (although I am sorry there are surely people losing employment due to increased app usage.). I do scope out ahead of time which trips will benefit from pre-booking (Eurostar and what was then Thalys as well as long distance trips from London to Yorkshire) and which ones it will make sense to just book at the time.

BTW, for those that still use paper methods...there is room for discussion on that as well! On the Zoom call, quite a few still use paper methods - small notebooks, calendar pages, postit notes, etc. WHATever works for you is good. This thread is a no-judgement zone, lol!

Count me as one of those who still use paper and notebooks for trip planning!
First step is an ongoing discussion between husband and myself about what destinations we'd like to group together this time. Then comes a day-by-day itinerary done as a Document on our computer.
This includes all hotels, activities, and transportation. This is printed, put into a notebook.
Next comes reservations--flights and hotels.
Confirmations are printed and put into the notebook.
Pages that follow are documents I've created for each town; attractions and town center map. Sometimes this is printed from the town's website. Maps that we've picked up on other trips--for example, a map of York--are put into the back pocket of the notebook.
Sometimes the map is cut out of an old guidebook and taped onto the appropriate page in the notebook.
At the beginning, before all this starts, I study my UK rail map that shows all rail lines. This is to be sure all our destinations follow in an easily doable order.
Research online is done to check for rail closures, work on the line, etc. Travel can be moved one day this way or that if there's a problem.
The very thin notebook is slipped down into my carry on, into the pocket meant for a laptop. No, it's not heavy, if you are wondering. Sometimes I use a clear-front notebook with a slip on spine.
When we arrive at our destination, only the piece of paper that pertains to that town is taken out. It can be folded in half and slipped into my purse.

THIS....https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/554144/Office-Depot-Brand-Clear-Front-Clip/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&region_id=001214&mediacampaignid=71700000114524310_20538419206&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw-pyqBhDmARIsAKd9XIO4r2ZDSmuS-jNs79gA-xfft0D46qmXv6joqLrECTRhSLlnXVhW5zEaAuEPEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

OR... https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/767002/Office-Depot-Brand-Clear-Front-Report/

I take a short stack of yellow Post It notes along. Notes (for changes or additions at the last minute) can be written directly on a page or on a Post It note and stuck on. For example: "London Walks to Cambridge Sept. 28" can be added and stuck on the London pages. I use a yellow highlighter marker to make the names, addresses, phone numbers of hotels and restaurants pop on a page.

P.S. After all the above are completed, my husband takes a screen shot of each page with his phone. That's our backup in case the notebook is lost. Of course, we also still have the ability through our phone to access our email for confirmations and such.

@Rebecca - I like your combo method! And good idea that your DH does screen shots of the pages!

Pam, thanks; it works for us. Thanks for starting this thread! I'm enjoying reading the other ideas here!

Wow- this is an interesting thread, especially for today, the first day of turning the clocks back. I'm going to need to reread several of these posts.
My color-coded post-it notes on a ruler-drawn calendar in a paper notebook aren't anywhere close to this sophistication.
Thanks to all for sharing!

Haven't read all the tips, but one thing I do - if I have a pre booked thing (plane, train, or even museum), I will drop the PDF tickets (plus all the verbiage, like confirmation ##) into the requisite time and date on my google calendar, PLUS use google drive for that too.

Great thread, Pam!

I like to organize my trips using a 4 page template that I created several years ago on Open Office. I do most of my initial research and planning scribbling away in a spiral notebook as I go through travel guides, websites, this forum, and others. I compare airlines, possible tours, locations for hotels and add any other salient information I may need. It's kind of organized but not. When things are finalized, they go on one of the 4 pages and on google docs for backup.

One page is devoted to transportation -- such as specific flight info, trains, and local transport, all with dates and reservation codes, if necessary. (Like Trip It except I don't mix all my data together.)

The second page lists hotel/lodging reservations with addresses, contact info, confirmation #'s, etc., including space for what I liked/disliked about the place for possible feedback.

The third page is a packing list with a blank mini calendar that I custom-date for the trip duration so that I can keep track of where I need to be. (I once forgot to go to the airport because I hadn't used the Monday through Sunday format that "synced" with my Moleskine calendar.) I track the weather before I leave and jot down the highs/lows, rain/snow, etc. on each day to get a sense of what to expect at my destination, as I'm planning my itinerary and what to wear once there. This page is also where I jot down activity-specific outfits.

The fourth and final page is for any activity that requires a reservation, such as time/date, confirmation and contact info for restaurants, walking tours, museums, music venues, parks, etc., along with notes on how to get there, or nearby subway stops.

I do use Trip It and Google drive too, which is really convenient. I usually print out a copy of reservations for big-ticket items like flights and hotel reservations too, just in case the grid goes down ;).

Like Rebecca, I like to look at maps and hone in on specific locations to get a general sense of where everything is in relation to each other. I use Google maps and city mapper but I will always pick up a paper city map from the hotel. A paper subway map is very useful if you lose connectivity and there are no obvious maps in the stations.

I keep my 4 pages with paper reservations and other notes folded in a plastic zip bag. During my trip I can update my notes, tweak my itinerary, or jot down items of interest as I go.

@Pat - Do what works for you! You can download blank calendar templates though so you might not need rulered lines, lol! But maybe you like bigger squares?

@Skunklet - Wow, that is a brilliant idea. I've been doing a screen shot and putting it in both an album and in a folder in my Notes app as a back up but adding it to my iCal (as I now know to call it) sounds great.

OK, I have a question about "Google Drive" as I see a different icon on my phone for that. It looks like that is just a catchment area for all the google products - Docs, Sheets, etc? Or am I missing something because I don't know to look for it?

For Google Drive, I have that same thing on my phone where all the Google apps are grouped together, but there is the triangle icon for Drive.

For the final itinerary, I always go back and forth about whether to categorize it by type (separate sections for accommodations, transportation, activities) versus day-by-day that puts them all together.

Pam - Google Drive is kind of like iCloud is for Apple products. For me it is the central storage space for my Google things and also my Android phone - e-mail backup, photos, plus file storage. It also has the docs/sheets/slides function inside it, making it easy to access and edit things remotely. Here's more info: https://www.google.com/drive/ I pay for additional storage and use it as back up for my home computer as well.

@ MorganMurphy and CL - thank you both for the additional information!

@Moomin-
"Forgot to go to the airport?"
Do tell- sounds like a great story!

I must be the organizationally challenged one here. My process goes something like this:

1. I start out with a vague idea of where and for how long I will be traveling. I put random notes and URL's of places that might be interesting into Bear (kind of like Notepad).
2. Eventually, I start plotting places on Google Maps and try to see where things cluster.
3. Figure out a rough itinerary.
4. Make spreadsheet that includes travel times and the time I plan to spend at each location/activity. Make sure I don't cram too much into one day.
5. Rinse and repeat until I wind up with a pretty decent written itinerary for each day as well as a spreadsheet with timetables and cost estimates.

Reservations and travel documents all go into a Dropbox folder. (I usually make printouts of everything, just in case I don't have Internet connectivity.)

I use iThoughts, a mind-mapping app, for my packing list. I have a master list that I copy and tweak a bit for each trip. The packing list is organized by which container an item goes in. For example, my main suitcase might contain a packing cube for shirts, pj's and underwear. Once the packing cube is fully packed, I collapse the cube list into the suitcase list. By the time I am ready to leave for the plane, I should have three items: my suitcase, my underseat bag, and whatever I am using to carry my passport/wallet.

@Moomin - apologies, I must have been cross posting with you and didn't see your post until Pat's comment! Your system sounds great and yes, we want to know more about that missed flight! I am sure that is one of those recurring bad dreams for many of us...like getting to finals week and discovering you'd forgotten to go to a class all term. Fortunately I've been out of school so long that has mostly faded, haha. BUT missing flights well yes! I add in weather data as well. I try to keep it to a minimum but it's helpful when I'm formulating my final packing list.

@Marie - no judgement here! I've gotten lots of ideas in reading other's methods on this thread - new tech and "old tech", lol. I'm not familiar with Bear or iThoughts so they are other things for me to look at! And I agree - I want 3 things at the front door when I'm ready to leave - suitcase, personal item and my very small crossbody that I put under my sweater after I go thru security.

One thing I forgot to mention is that on my googledocs itinerary I also add in information about luggage size and weight restrictions if I am flying any airline but my standard Delta. I did this for August which included 3 segments on Loganair and for Oct 2022 when I was doing a segment on Air France which had a slightly smaller dimension plus a weight restriction.

First I print a calendar page for when I plan to travel. Cities are noted in the boxes. Then I take a blank piece of 8 1/2 x 11 paper and list the things I want to do in each place. Research follows, flights then hotels are purchased. Then I start a file folder where tickets for tours, museums etc are placed along with my calendar and planning page. As I get closer to departure I make a small travel notebook with important details and the tickets go in a plastic sleeve to take along. I have everything in my phone but like paper tickets too; don’t like spreadsheets.

@Christa, thank you! Yours looks like an excellent way for you to organize your information and would be very easy for someone just starting out to use as well.

Ok all you paper aficionados! I nearly laughed out loud when this review link to paper notebooks AND pens came up in the daily NYT digest this morning!

All you ever wanted to know about notebooks, paper, feathering, ghosting etc, etc!!

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-notebooks/

https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-notebooks/?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20231107&instance_id=107115&nl=the-morning&regi_id=147560847&segment_id=149375&te=1&user_id=4b1cc4e474853701d8338ae5186e5ea8

I could not find a "share" link so I hope this comes out free from the Wirecutter site. If not, I will try to figure out how to get it so it's not behind a paywall.

And on that line of thinking, I started keeping a little journal during my trips - which I used to do electronically, but got a recommendation from a forum member. And now I carry the little journal and jot notes while I'm at a cafe. I like pasting the little ephemera from the trip into the notebook and have even bought postcards to cut and paste into it. You know the ones with about half a dozen little pictures of the "top sights"?

Now I buy a little souvenir notebook during the trip I'm on to use on my next trip. So my journal that I bought at the Mucha Museum in Prague became the journal for my trip to Turkey. And my journal from Warsaw is ready for the next trip!

ETA: Pam, do you think they were listening to our conversation?!? :-)

"ETA: Pam, do you think they were listening to our conversation?!? :-)"

Apparently they DO listen in on the RS travel zoom meetings, hahaha!!! I'm wearing my tinfoil hat next time!

I could not find a "share" link so I hope this comes out free from the Wirecutter site. If not, I will try to figure out how to get it so it's not behind a paywall.

Pam, yes that comes out free.

CWsocial, I love buying stationary of all kinds when I travel: birthday and Christmas cards, small notebooks or pads, and previously I have found great photo albums (as a paper and pen person I still do a small album after each trip). They are some of my favourite mementoes and are often connected to the destination ie HB in French or notepads of Italian paper.

I do really like the Greenroom notebooks, which you can find at Target. They have a soft leather-like cover (some solid colors and some with designs), are spiral bound and have lined pages that are easy to write on. I don't use them for fancy stuff, but they're great to jot notes on, to do lists, and anything else you like. They're only about $5-6 and are really nice to use. I buy 3 or 4 at a time. 😊

But I also love this one (that Pam's link for Wirecutter mentions). You can get the ruled version or a dotted version like the Leuchtturm1917 notebooks that Martha linked to. I've ordered these in the past and really enjoy writing in them.

Reading this thread over the past week has been giving me a little anxiety about my “method”. I appreciate the different styles and tips but I think I’m a committed minimalist whose system works well for our style of travel. I do take research seriously as I’m a retired librarian. We’ve been traveling internationally, annually for over 30 years. This is my very simple system that works for me.

I have on hand > colorful plastic folders for each trip I’m planning, currently 3 folders are by my morning chair.

I print out a one or two month calendar with ample margin space for making a list to choose activities from, recording details such closing dates and hours.

I print out our airline tickets with locator number.

If we’ve had to book admission tickets, I may print those out if there is no way to add a code to Wallet.

That might be it for a one month trip.

We typically don’t have a lot of hotel or apartment reservations to keep track of but if we have some they are noted on the calendar square.

When we choose an activity for the day I write it in the calendar square. The filled up one page, 8.5x11 calendar page gets saved in the travel drawer when we get home to help us keep track of our vacation.

Our plastic folder typically has 6-7 pieces of paper in it when we travel. We don’t take a guide book any more and all relevant material gleaned from the book is noted on the calendar. I was not opposed to cutting up a guidebook but I don’t even like the weight of small sections. We sometimes buy a Kindle version of a guide book but rarely use it when we are out traveling.

Thanks for sharing such a variety of research and planning. It’s easy to see that most everyone has something that works.

@Stuart - thanks for the confirmation on the link. I'm still learning with the NYT subscription what I can and can't share.

@Claire - the notebooks make lovely souvenirs! I usually travel with a very small memo pad - 2inx3in, I think. I usually leave a note for housekeeping with a tip on it so they know it's for them but always good to have some note paper handy in my electronics/bedside table cube. I like the ones from museums!

@Mardee - I'll look for the Greenroom notebooks when I go to Target next!

@Mona!! - Not meant to give you anxiety at all and there is such a wide variety of methods that works for people. I think it's good to have a discussion on how people can collate information especially if they are doing research a year or so out! I'm getting set up for starting to work on Oct 2024 travel and need to get myself organized for that.

I love buying stationary of all kinds when I travel: birthday and Christmas cards, small notebooks or pads

Me too Claire !!

Pam I really like that tip to note the carry-on restrictions for all carriers.

Well, Kim, I was making myself crazy flipping back and forth and continually looking up the exact weights, etc and thought...Precious, you can do better than this! Don't need it if I'm just flying Delta but add anything else in to the mix and ...yep, need it in writing. Since you travel within Europe a lot I'd guess you are on different airlines but your brain is WAY younger than mine, hahaha!

After Mardee started the thread on Christmas events and started talk about 2024 I started an itinerary for that. I also figured out how to make a calendar in GoogleDocs so I've got Nov/Dec 2024 set out and am adding when different sites open this year for next year's reference on travel dates. For instance, the tree at St Pancras International train station apparently goes up Nov 1. Good to know! First day of Advent is Dec 1 in 2024 and there is a Welcoming the Light service at Salisbury Cathedral I've always wanted to see.

Pam, I really love that idea and will look forward to you sharing all your work!!! 🤣🤣🤣

Seriously, that's a great idea and one I would not have thought of! I tend to focus on places and permanent sights, but adding in dates for temporary events is very smart!

Well, it seems like what I mostly want to see on a Christmas-type trip ARE the seasonal things so it seems good to plan around the opening dates. It seems like everything is open by Nov 20 or thereabouts so any travel dates after then should be mostly good but need to check on the opening dates for the Bath Christmas Market and for the Markets in Colmar.

I think I will also make note of any seasonal type walks in London or Paris for this year on the googledocs calendar!

"First day of Advent is Dec 1 in 2024 and there is a Welcoming the Light service at Salisbury Cathedral I've always wanted to see."
Pam, thanks for mentioning that!
I would love to see it also. I wish I could jump on a plane and be there for it this year!
What a wonderful place to go for a Christmas service.
You are really the queen of planning, already making plans for Christmas 2024!

One thing I forgot to mention is that on my googledocs itinerary I also add in information about luggage size and weight restrictions if I am flying any airline but my standard Delta. I did this for August which included 3 segments on Loganair and for Oct 2.

Pam (and others), you all might be interested in this. It's from the Reddit OneBag wiki, and is a Google Spreadsheet that lists all the carry-on restrictions for every airline (I think - I did not do a count) in inches and centimeters (plus weight). But definitely every major one.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XUu-yMT7ickemKMaMy4OJfi_ca8SWPtpfNjTMLMRpYQ/edit#gid=0

I also figured out how to make a calendar in GoogleDocs so I've got Nov/Dec 2024 set out and am adding when different sites open this year for next year's reference on travel dates. For instance, the tree at St Pancras International train station apparently goes up Nov 1. Good to know! First day of Advent is Dec 1 in 2024 and there is a Welcoming the Light service at Salisbury Cathedral I've always wanted to see.

Be still my beating heart! I don't know if I can wait till 2025!

That is an interesting chart but you'd still want to check your individual airline. I see a mistake right away - Air France - the dimensions are correct but the weight is not. It's 12 kg combined for your carry on and personal item.

"*In the Economy or Premium Economy cabins, your hand baggage and personal items can weigh up to 12 kg (26.4 lb) in total.

If you are traveling in the Business cabin or in La Première, your hand baggage and personal items can weigh up to 18 kg (40 lb) in total. Your cabin is shown on your ticket.*"

https://wwws.airfrance.us/information/bagages/bagage-cabine-soute#dimensions

I only know there was an error because I completely obsessed about the dimensions and weight for Air France.

And yes, adding stuff to my Christmas 2024 list as I see it. Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park opened this weekend!

That is an interesting chart but you'd still want to check your individual airline. I see a mistake right away - Air France - the dimensions are correct but the weight is not. It's 12 kg combined for your carry on and personal item.

Pam, I definitely agree about checking! I do know it's updated on a regular basis, but I don't know how often.

Relying on some unofficial list of baggage limits, cobbled together by an amateur (no matter how well-intentioned they were, or how accurate it was when first assembled, whenever that was) seems like it could be a high-stakes gamble. Airlines tweak their baggage rules often enough that I would not rely on such a source, since if you fail to meet the requirements, the consequences might be trivial but could be expensive.

(FWIW, on my last trip, there was a mismatch between what the airlines had communicated to me when I booked my ticket, and what was demanded of me at check-in time...that ultimately cost us about $500, and I'm still trying to unwind it – we had heavy, bulky stuff in our bags, including SCUBA gear; ours was a complicated, unusual situation, probably unlikely to impact others here, but it does show that luggage surprises can get expensive sometimes.)

It's worth verifying the rules and limits for your bags personally, on the airline's own website. Those are not hard to find and you should be able to rely on the details you find (and be extra careful when bringing your SCUBA gear).

Oh my word, David! $500!! yikes. And I'll bet saying "They told me such and such when I booked" did not make them bat an eye.

I create two documents in Word. The first one is our Itinerary in which I create a table with 5 columns --(1) Dates, (2) Reservations (i.e., air, hotels, car, tours), (3) cost, (4) amount paid, (5) amount still owed. Using word allows me to modify the events and costs as we plan as well as total up the costs.

The second document is my travel notes page where I have pages for each location we are visiting. It will include information regarding customs, restaurants and must sees. As I do my research reading various travel sites, forums and trip reports, I will copy the information I want to remember and drop it into the notes . As we get closer to the trip I will synthesize the notes to a one or two page list for each location.

I then take the Itinerary, the location notes, as well as copies of all the reservations and create our Travel Guide. I used to create hard copy spiral books with the help of Kinkos. I had fun creating witty titles, using different fonts, colors and pictures for the various sections. For example on our three week trip to Italy from Venice to Sicily I called the transportation section "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" and had planes, trains and automobiles on the page. As I am planning our trip to Budapest, Vienna and Prague, it is clear that we are going to be relying on our phones a lot. So, I am not going to have a hard bound book but leave it in Word or PDF format. That way each of us can call up the entire book on our phone to view the information and have the reservation at our fingertips while we are out and about.

I have made these travel books for over 20 years. Many of our friends have borrowed our books in planning their own trip.

@Katie! What a fun way to create memories of your trips...even before you travel, lol.

Oh my word, David! $500!! yikes. And I'll bet saying "They told me such and such when I booked" did not make them bat an eye.

@Pam - Yeah, it's actually worse than that (not just "I was told" I even had receipts and showed them to staff, who shrugged and just said sorry, nothing we can do, and pointed to the other airline – there were two involved – basically, it was "sorry, not my problem, go ask someone else"). There's still some fingerpointing going on but after multiple in-person visits to the local airport and escalating to local managers, I think I'm making progress, we'll see. Anyone rational person (ie, someone less stubborn that me) would have given up long ago.

@David - "Anyone rational person (ie, someone less stubborn that me) would have given up long ago."

Oh yes...that is what they are counting on! Have you considered contacting that consumer reporter, Christopher Elliott? He sometimes likes a fight! I referred a lot of people on Trip Advisor to his organization when some tour companies (NOT RS!) were being crummy about refunds during Covid.

www.elliott.org

Oh, yes. I have a potential escalation plan (official complaints to US Dept of Transportation, US Bureau of Consumer Protection, BBB, shaming on social media, local and national consumer advocates including Elliott and others, and more). I happily inform the managers of my plans to utilize any and all levers if it becomes necessary, but because (as I keep telling them) I'm not looking to cause them headaches, I want the companies to be successful, I believe that everyone involved would like to do the right thing if they can, because ultimately that's best for their customers and the companies, they just need to understand the issue and accept responsibility for it...so I'm first working with them, rather than calling for an angry mob to march on their corporate HQ and class-action-lawsuit them into oblivion. IME most reasonable people acknowledge that's a better way to go. I'm seeing progress but haven't seen my 500 bucks – yet. Ask me again in another month. 😎

Sorry to hijack this thread. My issue above is a very, very rare, edge-case one, and I doubt anyone here will ever fall down the same hole (just be careful not to rely on out-of-date, third-party info).

Now, back to discussing your favorite tools and techniques for tracking all-those-details. 🛠 🔩 📝 🧰 🪓 📎 🗺 ✓ 💰 🤦‍♂️

We'll want an update in a month, then! I like that you are laying out a plan for them!

Thanks for asking the question! I am in the middle of planning another trip and I am trying out creating a spreadsheet using Apple Numbers. I decided on this one because they had a nice template I could use.

In the past I have mostly used the Apple Notes app since in can create a chart, add photos (usually screenshots of emails and other information). Links to websites for tickets and the like. The Notes app also has a checklist option, which I have always used for my packing list.

While I prefer to write everything out in a notebook, I find when I am in the early stages, dates keep changing, information keeps updating until I leave. Also, I want to make sure I have access to everything on more than one devise. I have also printed information out and glued it to my notebook.

I do feel kind of scattered with my method though. Lots of Notes in the app for one vacation.

I look forward reading through all of the posts for ideas.

One person has to take lead an be the final booker of all things. First five trips i did all the planning. This worked out. Next two trips the wife did all the planning, this worked out. Last two trips have been disasters in planning, as we thought we would collaborate on them, as in she is writing her itinerary, and I'm writing out mine. The there the two, never met well, filled with confusion as to who booked what, where and when.

Oh no, Francis--that must have caused some problems! I agree that one person ultimately needs to be responsible for the itinerary unless you want some missed (or double) bookings!

@Mariam - A lot of people have mentioned Notes. I obviously have not delved deeply enough in to this. Is it the Notes app that comes on the iPhone or is it a different app from that? The one I've got does not seem to be as comprehensive as what others are mentioning.

@Francis - yikes...I agree with Mardee. One person needs to be the booker unless you are sitting at the same table at the same time, lol!!

Pam, when I use Notes (Apple Notes) on my Mac laptop, there is a menu bar that makes the options people have mentioned easy to spot. However, at least for me, when I open Notes on my iphone, it is less obvious where and what some of the options are. You may need to try tapping the icons at the top and bottom of the screen, including the circle with 3 dots that gives you a drop down menu.

@CDinDC - thanks so much. I'm just accessing on my phone but maybe I'll take a look on my iPadMini.

Well I've managed to progress in my planning from paper and memory to a Word Document, and it is already paying dividends in actually doing proper planning. I was planning a trip to WA for a tentative date of September 2025, then was suddenly reminded this week of an event on 3 December this year in Seattle, important enough to fly over for at almost no notice. So I was suddenly scrambling round, and of course could not find some key bits of paper!!

So I have been doing some fairly intensive work this week to transfer both memory and the other bits of paper to word. I have also been trying to re-arrange my diary for this December, with decidedly mixed success- to the extent that three appointments have been added to my diary during the week! So at the moment this December is still undecided, but at least I am much better organised now.

Stuart, that is the plus about planning, isn't it? I'm usually pretty rigid on my trip dates but as in your situation if something came up quickly I could look back on previously collected information or trips and put something together pretty quickly. I hope you make it over to WA for a quick trip!

Just wanted to add a thanks to Pam & everyone on this thread, I'm building a Dec 2023 NY trip to Rome spreadsheet with opening hours, closures, restaurants near sites we're visiting etc! Most useful, thanks all.

Hi Pam, just thought I'd add what actually worked for our NYE trip to Rome Dec 23. I found that just having the google map I created helped a lot, I could look up the opening hours of museums, restaurants, etc inside Google so didn’t carry the guidebook out of the hotel. And by using Notes to make a master list, noting opening hours and what’s open on the holidays, it worked well. I printed out my 15-page Notes and carried them with me along with a bright yellow highlighter, could grab that and look up whatever I needed the night before at the hotel. AND I re-watched numerous videos in the Notes the night before our planned visits, who can remember all that stuff?! It wasn't until we were home in Sweden that I watched something on the Caravaggio we saw & realized the significance of the painting. Ha more to learn.....

That is excellent and I thank you for circling back with an update on what worked for you!

We were just having a discussion in our RS meet up group on Saturday about using Googlemaps offline in areas where CityMapper doesn't work so your information is very useful!

And laughing about learning more about Caravaggio - I did do some diving in to Bernini last trip to Rome so I better understood things when I got to the Borghese.

We use TripIt to organize and save our travel reservations, notes. We upgraded to TeipItPro.

melT has done an awesome comparison between Wanderlog and TripIt in this thread:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/general-europe/trial-of-wanderlog-and-tripit-inspired-by-trip-research-post

Just reported the post between this one and my last one as spam.

And funny it appeared just as I bumped the thread up with a comment.

I’m embarressed to read this thread. I can’t even log on to my Google account bc I can remember my password. 🤦🏻‍♀️

"I’m embarressed to read this thread. I can’t even log on to my Google account bc I can remember my password."

Nova, I only remember because I have a cheat sheet, hahaha!!! You do what works for you! Some use a basic paper calendar...no password needed, hahaha!!

I am old school with the first part of planning. I like pen and paper. I start with a legal size pad of paper. First it is just notes of hotels, things to do, flights, you name it. Then it gets pared down, at which point I start in with Wanderlog. I love that! Another thing I do is when I am going through various websites/forums, any ideas for my destination I copy/paste various notes into a long email to myself.

I do use my phone for many things, but also like to have printed paper as a backup and of course it is so easy to see. I use a plastic folder for my trip paperwork, and have for many years, and it works for me. I just had to replace one yesterday, so bought a few since we have a number of trips coming up.

The cabinet below the tv has glass doors and shelves. Most people have tv related stuff in there. Not me, each shelf is devoted to travel planning stuff, such as books, our Covid cards (LOL) maps, foreign currency etc. Although I made a big mistake last year coming back from Germany and did not put my left over Euro in there and now I cannot find it.

"Although I made a big mistake last year coming back from Germany and did not put my left over Euro in there and now I cannot find it."

Did you want a group of us to come search your house looking for it, lolol?? With all you've had on your plate for the last year, no wonder it didn't get put where you usually put it. It will turn up. Is it with your passport? Travel purse? Left pocket of your travel pants, hahaha!!