planning / organization tools

I keep most of it in my head, on a tablet, and the bookings in email; I review things the evening before and make decision while relaxing before bed, I may have one guide book. I know ahead that I am not going to do everything that caught my interest when researching my trips. Everything is online

I'm not real competent in Excel so I do my itinerary in Googledocs. I have 4 columns, Date/Activity/Transportation/Lodging. Under activity I'll list..uh...activities, hahaha, generally sorting them by how I plan to see them. I'll add open/close times if needed. It's here that I'll list my secondary activities - or do if you are in the neighborhood things.

At the end of my template I add restaurants. I'm vegan so I do some research ahead of time for possibilities. Sometimes I will list these under activities if it's someplace I want to stop for lunch. Sometimes I'll put some stars under activities if there is a restaurant I have in mind for that day.

I have googledocs on my phone, iPad Mini and also print out a copy I keep in my purse. I'm not sure I could get all the info in 2 back-to-back pages for a month much less 5 1/2 weeks though! I do divide my trip up into segments so I can get rid of pages as I go.

I do pack city maps and manage to collect too many on the way.

I've not tried Tripit altho I've seen others recommend it. I'll have to take a look. Do you need data or wifi to view it or can you do it offline?

We have used tripit app. And also use other travel apps, such as trainline and maps.me (downloading pertinent maps ahead of time). We cull from our travel books (mostly RS) just the pages we'll need and put in a little plastic binder. The things we really want to do are always as the top of our brain, so we don't write them down. We refer to our RS pages and other web resources (yelp, for example) when we need to look for the next day's activities. All things considered, we've come a long way in finding the right mix of being prepared/planned and spontaneity for the daily adventure.

I use Evernote. I create a folder for each country, and one for transportation.

Pam, yes you can access tripit offline.

Shawn and Jazz - I've always traveled that way also - keeping a lot in my head and just referencing guide books the night before - or to help pick out a restaurant. I'm trying to be a little more organized for this trip. I have also been thinking that we may be able to hit a few more "highlights / great meals?" if I'm just a little more organized and do a little more preplanning. Not that our past trips haven't been great! Just wondering if this next trip can be even better:)

I use TripIt app for my reservations and flights. I’ll look at this for the broad contours of each day - “ok, I am taking the train at 12 and then checking into hotel x at this address” “my flight is at 9 tomorrow, here’s the confirm number for online check in”

Then I have a basic list of daily ideas and info in simple note which is an app that syncs across all devices so I can’t loose it. It’s just a text listing of ideas, very flexible. If I had a tour or definite plan I’d list it, and the details would be in tripit
Here’s an example
Saturday 29th- arrive 1PM, to hotel 3-ish? Rest and evening walk (heart of Rome OR Dolce Vita). Pantheon? Trevi Fountain?

All places of interest are marked on an offline map. I’ll also add quick notes to myself under each marked place. I use CityMaps2Go. So if I’m at the Colosseum and have time I can open the map, see what restaurants or other sights are nearby, and go there. If I’m hungry I might see a restaurant I marked, and read my note that it opens at 1 and has great mushroom pizza. If I’m not hungry I’ll ignore the restaurants and see that there is a church I marked as a second-priority (not a must see) and read my note that it has a great alter piece by so-and-so and is free. That way I can squeeze in a sight I may have missed otherwise - I might not remember that it’s nearby at the exact time I had an hour to kill.

Finally, any really useful web pages or papers are converted to pdf and put on my kindle/kindle app/husbands kindle app. that makes them available for re-downloading at any time from the cloud. So no loosing info and it’s all on my phone to access at any moment. Examples of this : the Louvre has suggested tours on its website. National Parks in the US have trail guides. There’s a scenic route to take between two points and a driving blog outlines how to do it.

This also applies to practicalities - I scan my passport into pdf and store it here in case (for the same reason people have paper copies - to show the embassy for help with replacement). Also any ticket confirmations or travel insurance policies.

My head, TripIt, an email of what I hope to see sent to myself and placed in a “trip” folder I’ve created. Thus can reference from iPhone or IPad. Look at each night to plan the next day.,if something has been pre booked I design the day around it.

I also allow flexibility if weather betrays my plans and then explore. Notes on iPhone is handy as well as a visual clue to reference.

I also use TripIt to organize overall travel details (reservations, high level lists of daily activities, transportation). I use DropBox to store scanned copies of emergency documents, a complete list of travel plans (addresses, contact info), PDFs of possible activities (saved from an Excel spreadsheet) and scanned maps from guide books (this latter category would cover your 2nd tier "would like to see" list). I make sure to open those documents on my phone before leaving so there is a cached copy if I don't have internet. I save potential restaurants and activity ideas in TripAdvisor app which I can access from my phone (with internet). Guidebooks are downloaded on my Kindle Fire tablet (which I can also use to access DropBox, TripIt, and TripAdvisor). I've switched primarily to apps for things like maps (used to use CityMapsToGo, going to try Maps.me and offline Google maps next). For my upcoming trip I was going to attempt to be paperless, except my tour company requires that I bring paper copies of certain travel documents!

I do a combo of old-fangled paper and new-fangled iPad (we don't have a smartphone).

I'm a crafty person, so I made myself a nice little coil bound hardcover organizer with pockets inside (about 6x12 inches) - I put about 12 or 14 double sided pages (pockets on both sides). Each page is a day and I put a sticky note on the top with the date and what city we are going to be in. I'll take my printouts of things like airline reservations, airbnb reservations and anything I may have prebooked - train tickets, skip the line entries - and put them in their proper day pocket. As we go thru our holiday, I discard the printouts and put in the stuff like credit card receipts, tickets or pamphlets we picked up that I may want to keep. It's great to have everything in one place (as long as I don't lose it! But I keep email confirmations on the ipad - but having to dig that out can be a hassle in airports and train stations, so I'd rather the book, which I keep in the front pocket of my suitcase.)

For new-fangled - I love my City Maps 2 Go app - I will download the maps at home and 'star' the places we want to see on the map - I can also insert notes and make my own 'pins' for places that may not already be on the map - eg - a pastry shop I want to visit, or...OK - usually it's pastry shops. So that is my map and places to see all rolled into one easy app. And what's great is I can see what may be nearby to where we are so I don't miss anything...I can check the map as we go and make sure if there is anything else nearby that I pinned, to not miss them. And I use diff coloured stars - red is always where our accom is, I use blue for shopping places we may not want to miss, yellow for restaurants (ok, ok...pastry shops), green for sights/museums, purple for photo ops.

We do usually have a physical city map - the ones that come with the guidebooks, so they are pretty small. I may or may not take the physical guidebook - I can't bring myself to tear them up, so if they are too heavy, I just make notes on the city map app or in my iPad notes app. I have bought a few digital guidebooks - but I still find I like to have the physical book so I can highlight and put sticky tabs on the pages when doing my planning at home.

Wow! You guys really gave some GREAT very detailed replies!!! I feel like some of you should do a class on trip organization!

I downloaded CityMaps2Go a few months ago, but didn't realize I could do all these things with it. I'm going to have to spend some time playing with it.

Thanks again for all of the awesome info!

My first post at the forum in the following thread was about building custom offline maps for my phone and tablet. It was a game changer for me.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/tech-tips/smartphone-app-for-maps-pre-planning-and-real-time-routing-guidance

As an aside, the ability to link to a specific post would be nice, like on TA.

I use a presentation folder with those plastic sleeves. I then have one sheet per day that outlines our day at a glance if we have reservations or advanced tickets, ideas of where to eat or things to do if we have 'open' time. I then also include anything that we need to know like needing cash for something specific, needing to pack something for an outing or activity any quirks about what we have that day. I then put any tickets behind that day's itinerary. It is 8 x 11 and works really well for us

I have a few other map apps I've downloaded, including maps.me and one called pocket earth, and of course the Apple one (or is it google??) that is on the iPad.

City Maps was the first I downloaded, so I just got used to using that one, so the others I've never given much of a chance. I do have the full version of city maps as opposed to the free version (every once in awhile the full version is made free for a day or two). You can do much more with the full version as opposed to the free version. Not sure which version you are using.

Well - I just downloaded the full version of citymaps2go. the one I had was "city mapper". Can't remember why I got than one vs. citymaps2go. Now to play with it:)

Jill - there are different versions of it. I have the 'premium' version which has all the bells and whistles - I haven't played with it since they updated and had a whole new app last year (we were in between vacays, so I won't fully explore it until I start planning our next holiday).

So if you have the 'free' version, it may not have all the applications that I've used on the premium version...

(Price Free

In-App Purchases
1. Premium Features Free
2. Pro Features $11.99
3. Pro Features $14.99
4. Premium Features $19.99
5. Premium Features $14.99
6. Unlimited Downloads $14.99
7. Pro Features $19.99
8. Premium Features $9.99
9. PREMIUM Features $29.99
10. Pro Features $19.99)

It has so many in-app purchases I don't know what the heck is going on! But I think those of us who had the old paid version were able to access all the premium features that is usually $30. Anyways...have fun with it!

Nicole, I downloaded "CityMaps2Go Pro Trip Planner". I believe it was 9.99. I've been busily making lists and putting pins on our accommodations, sights and restaurants I'm interested in:)

Thanks for the tips!

I use a spreadsheet starting when the trip is just an idea, then expand, add details and put in booking references etc as everything firms up.

Then, when all is done, I print it off on A4 and this becomes our 'running sheet' when we're travelling. It forms the first page of our travel booklet, behind which all necessary documentation, in date order, is popped into sleeves for ease of reading and access. As we move through the trip, obsolete pages, tickets, etc are discarded. It gets progressively lighter that way!

I like having hardcopies and actual printed tickets, etc. even though I am reasonably tech savvy and do lots of research, mapping etc on my smartphone while travelling. I guess it's a generational thing? There is an 'insurance' aspect too, because we are always able to ask 'Where should we be today?" or check the time of our dinner booking, even if we can't get a signal or my phone battery has died.

The downside of course is the weight, though the use of a very lightweight folder and paper minimises that problem. Of course, I also keep all important docs online too, just in case we lose the folder or we don't have it with us.

I photograph each piece of paper with my iPhone, but I also take the paper with us and usually leave most of the paper in the apartment every day.

I start with an excel spreadsheet to lay out potential places, sights, open hours and days. Once I have everything down, I start weeding it into a workable itinerary that includes the sights I'm most interested in, modes of transportation, places I'll need lodging, etc. When I'm pretty happy with the itinerary, I'll decide what I need to reserve before the trip, sometimes I reserve lodging and transportation, other times I don't. As I get a final concept. I'll transfer the times, notes, reservation numbers, etc. to my google calendar and just have it there for reference when I'm traveling. Some of the info transfers automatically from my gmail. My days are never perfectly fixed but I know I can find the information on the calendar within a day or two of when I'm likely to need it. I'd hate to lose my phone. If I did, the information is still available on my google calendar, I just have a harder time accessing it.

Extra sights to see if I have time can also be included (hours, price, closest metro stop, etc.). The calendar space will take whatever information you put into it.

I keep a daily log of expenses on an excel spreadsheet. Since many trips are mixed business/vacation, it allows me to keep very detailed records of expenses, and I can reconcile easily at the end of the day - of course, this becomes somewhat of a OCD issue when you forget an expense. When you go from country to country, you start a new column. In our 2014 trip, we were in Turkey (L), Romania (lei), Budapest (forint), Serbia (dinar), Bosnia-Herzogovenia (KM), Croatia (kuna), Montenegro (Euro), and then back to Turkey. That spreadsheet had a lot of columns.

Paul - and really everybody who uses excel - how do you access your spreadsheet to input data while on the road? I'm using excel for planning, but don't think I can access it on my iPhone. I can see how it would be helpful to track daily expenses!

I just downloaded a free app for my iPad called 'Fudget' - I have other budget apps as well for tracking expenses - one is just called 'Spending' and there is another where you can add photos (called Wealthy - I haven't really given it a go) - which I thought could be interesting if you wanted to take photos of your food or something so you can remember what that 5 euro gelato looked like...lol.

Anyways - fudget seems very easy to use and you can set up multiple budgets. I did a test one up for our monthly expenses (hubby is contemplating early retirement). It's very simple - you click 'add income' (I'd put in my budget for our holiday) and 'add expense' with a description line - you can even do multiple budgets, so you could do different ones for - say...public transport, food, accommodations, museums/sights. The interface is very easy and I may give it a go for our next trip...I actually like the idea of setting up diff budgets for diff categories.

I do like the 'spending' one I have used previously, as you can have all the categories set up and it'll show you on a pie chart where the $$ are going - but I haven't ponied up for the paid version, and ads keep popping up every 8-10 entries or so, which is annoying. Haven't noticed that with Fudget (the ads seem to be on a banner on the bottom of the page, so no pop-ups yet).

Edit to add - it does work offline AND I just noticed it has a pie chart as well - but it puts every individual expense on the pie chart, not groups. With the paid version, you can export to Dropbox. Easy to delete errors, and you can change the currency symbol, if that matters.

Thanks Nicole! I'll check out those options:)

I take out the latest travel books from the library (Rick Steves, Fodors). I do follow-up research online at the websites of towns/cathedrals/palaces/museums/opera houses/theatre/restaurants/outdoor markets.

I keep with me in my purse a slim 2 page/week calendar. Anything that grabs my interest gets written down in the calendar. I use the local plan-my-journey app in the city/town where I'm visiting to search & save the public transport directions so I can have easy access on my phone even when I'm offline.

That's it.

I'm low-tech like Continental. Although I travel with and use a tablet, typing on it is such a pain that I wouldn't want to keep an electronic budget during my trip. I take a 3" x 5" spiral notebook and try to jot down all my expenses, usually based on receipts at the end of the day. I miss a few, but the list allows me to semi-verify what shows up on my credit-card statements. (There's never been a problem with any European charges, but I have had occasional issues in the US.)

What I mainly use the notebook for is posts on this forum. It's my way of checking when and for how long I was in a particular city, and sometimes I'll want to mention the name of a museum or restaurant. I wouldn't remember many of those without my trusty notebooks.

I carry a small laptop on the road. I take a lot of pictures, and having the laptop is essential for photo download. In addition, I have never been good with doing complicated things on the phone. A small laptop/tablet is not heavy, and takes only a small amount of space. 1/2 my luggage is my camera bag, and it fits fine in that. Compared to the size of my 150-600 lens and the 10-20 fisheye, the laptop is not a huge addition.