Staying organized

If you run a quick search in the box above you will come up with a couple of long threads where we discussed this at great length. I make a "travel book" in one of those school folders with the brads in the middle. In chronological order I put parking reservations, flight info, schedules, maps, copies of pages from guidebooks, driving directions, etc., ending with the return flight info. The folders have pockets in them, but you can add pages of pockets if you need them. It only ends up about the size of a magazine, and you can throw the pages away as you finish them.

For printed items like e-tickets or directions, I write city and date where I will need the item in the top right corner, order by date, and put all the papers in a plastic sleeve. For the rare times when I have real tickets, I also just put those in the same folder (again in order of date).

I'm a big fan of TripIt. The only paper items I'm carrying on my next trip (next week!) are a railpass and my passport. Everything else is electronic, saved on my phone, and backed up online. So convenient!

I go lo tech. Works for me.
I get all hotel reservations, train tickets, flight confirmations, pre purchased site tickets and simply put each one in its white legal size envelope. On front of envelope I write what it is ie: "Thalys ticket Amsterdam -Paris" and then the date " Thursday July 3rd". Then I put all the envelopes in order and put an elastic band around them. They fit easily in my purse when travelling and once at a hotel they just stay in room. As each is used I throw it out. I did 2 train rides, 2 inter europeon flights, 6 hotels and one apartment rental agreement, and some pre purchased attraction tickets( like ET) last year and I felt very organized . Its lightweight and takes up very little space. I have done it like this for years and its seems easy to me .

I take a thin binder and put those clear plastic page cover sleeves in it. I have a section for each place I am visiting. I put my hotel information, transportation information, etc. in the first sleeve fore each city. I put pages from guide books, maps, tickets together for each city in another sleeve that is taped together at the top. I open and use information as needed and discard it when I am done. I then place any little items I want to keep (ticket stubs, post cards) in the sleeves for the appropriate location so it is organized when I get home. I also save copies of everything possible in my email so I can access it if necessary. Some of this information I have emailed to myself just so it is there, and others, such as flight information and hotel information, has usually been emailed to me.

Again, low tech. I like the plastic envelopes you can find at office stores. They come about 4" by 12" and either have a flap or a zip. Smaller than a folder or binder, and fits into my day bag. I fold my papers in Z folds, and write in large letters at the top of each page so I can find the right page quickly. While researching, I'll keep short documents of places to visit, or restaurants, with addresses, etc. I'll then refine that and print it for my envelope. Even if I get "smarter" and higher tech in real life, I think I'd have a hard time giving up on the paper info for travel. I don't want to have to charge my phone to get my hotel address after a long flight.

I use the system outlined by pat, but with some non-critical information on my so called smartphone. Light, simple, effective. In addition, on the exterior of my first envelope (arrival city), I have information to guide me via transport and the address/phone # of our hotel/B&B as I am dead tired at that point and not particularly lucid. Critical information is a paper copy and/or e-mailed to myself in PDF format. Not yet graduated to tablet, but soon so that may offer a variation. If there is a malfunction of the device, I'll have a back-up plan.

I do the plastic envelope thingee and keep it all in chronological order. So I can toss un-needed papers as we go. Prior to departure I take my whole "itinerary packet", scan it in to the computer and email to my mom and myself - just so I know worst case scenario it's out there. Things have backfired being too high tech and relying on an internet connection. Twice I have landed in a city and not had the hotel address and couldn't get my stupid iPhone to work (even though it had worked everywhere else it didn't in Brussels and I had no clue where our B&B was). Same thing in Munich - my phone has always worked in Germany but didn't that day - I knew what subway stop the hotel was but it took us a while to find it - so print out a map! I just booked my next European vacation but it's sooooo long in the future but I got first class FF tickets - into Porto and out of Lisbon ... April 2014.

I do much like the above, like Brownwen I do both a paper and a digital copy (BTW, good job on scoring those tickets...I'm currently investigating my FF options for J seats to LOndon in Sept. 2014...but I digress). I carry a "diplomatic pouch" - a soft cloth pouch with a zippered closure - with printouts of: 1. Our trip calendar (which has our itinerary and day-by-day details including flights, hotels, transportation). 2. Originals or copies of all tickets, vouchers and receipts 3. Contact info for each hotel, car rental agency, etc. 4. Tips, maps, notes and other stuff I've assembled during the months of pre-trip planning. I make a paper backup copy of all the above items and toss in in my wife's bag. I also make PDFs of each document and toss that on my iPad.
So we have 3 copies of everything (1 electronic, 2 analog). As we go along, any significant receipts or other papers go in another small zippered pouch.

Thank you all. Those are some good ideas. Nancy, I had done a search but it seemed to be from a few years ago and I wanted some new ideas. I think I'll go to our office supply store and see what I can find. I'm just not comfortable either, as some have said, with only the digital copy on the ipad. Yes, and I already have the page ready with map for our first B & B. I like the idea of e-mailing it to yourself too. I was already going to make a copy like this for our kids so they know where we are etc.
Great ideas. Anymore are welcome! :)

I do paper copies for most things as well, but what I have done is make my own journal with a daily trip log. I then put the info for hotels, flights, etc. on the appropriate day so I have it written right in my journal. I travel a lot without reservations, but with this journal I have a place on each day to write down where I stay in case I want to remember it later or refer someone else. I do have the printout from my flight and rental car but then when I don't need them I throw them out, but still have info in my journal. I might have some things in email etc., but never only in one place. I prefer having my papers:)

To stay organized with reservations and tickets, I use a lot of the ideas mentioned here. However, don't forget to stay organized with purchases also. I keep a small notebook and at the end of each day write down what I bought and the cost (converted to dollars). That makes it easy on the plane back to copy from it to the customs paper the items and the Euros I have already converted to dollars.

Oh Brenda,, that's for shoppers, I buy almost nothing , some spices and some fridge magnets,, nothing to keep track off, they could go through my bag with a fine tooth comb and maybe find a total of 100 bucks wasted on stuff.. lol I spend my money on experiences not stuff.. makes customs a breeze..
They take one look at my small bag with its herbes de provence bouillion cubes stuffed in a side pocket and send me off .. I know there is always the chance I get randomly selected, but as I said, I have no worries about that.

I make a spreadsheet or table which has our names, address and phone numbers at the top. I do it lodging by lodging and by the dates we go to each place. I include notes such as address, phone number, email, contact person, confirmation or reservation number, special calling or check in details, etc. It ends up being a mini-table of contents for the trip. I have the documents others have mentioned on my Kindle and in hard copy. I send the spreadsheet to our kids and to my Kindle. I print copies of it for each of our carry on bags and one that I have with the few paper travel docs I take these days. I find that being able to see where we are going with the pertinent details in one glance on one sheet of paper (or screen) is well worth the effort of making that spreadsheet or table.