What system do you use to stay organized

I use those inexpensive clear plastic report covers with colored spines that slip on to hold the papers in. This way, I have only the one I need at the moment with me, and stash the others. I include my hotel reservations, car rental vouchers, short articles on points of interest for a particular city or country. And the spines are color coded if you get all the colors, so when your husband asks which one? it's easy! The red one, of course! Have fun!

I use a blue folder that has a clip to hold paper with a two hole punch at the top. The fastener is on both sides. I put everything in order that I will use it and as we move from destination to destination,I move the papers over to the other side. By the time I am finished, I have about a good 1/2 inch of paper, vouchers and whatever.

I organize 3 ways. 1. Flexible 3 ring binder in lime green with email printouts of hotel, flight, train, car rental reservations, copied tear outs from travel books, and xeroxed recommendations for restaurants. For city to city, town to town, I tear out and dispose of each piece of paper after it's useful. If you can scan alot of the info and maximize the space of a 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper. 2. Load a USB drive and keep that in my moneybelt. 3. Load info onto my iPod Touch. All fits in the carry on or on my person.

In the past I've used simple manila folders for each destination or segment. I had all the necessary print-outs and memos, etc... and it's always been very simple and easy to use. Never lost anything even though it wasn't in any type of plastic pouch or holder.

This year I'm changing methods. I will be using a little of the old with some folders, but alot of the info I need will be on an Ultra-Portable laptop. They are relatively inexpensive and if you pick the right one, they're just as good as a standard laptop except they are smaller (usually a 7" - 10" screen). Full size memory also, unless you go solid state hard drive but then you can use memory cards (I know, I'm getting too technical again, sorry).

Anyway, this will allow me to have all the necessary info in an easy convenient size computer. I will be able to be on-line when there is signal for e-mails to minimize needs for phone, a place to download and store pictures as a back up from the camera, etc..... I can't wait to try it out next month on a trip to New Mexico as a test run for the summer trip.

Here are four easy suggestions. First, rather than a binder, consider a pocket file. (see example here: http://www.officedepot.com/a/products/476536/Office-Depot-Brand-Poly-Expanding-File/) It is plastic and rugged, plenty of pockets you can designate for each stop, and then as you toss papers you can stash brochures you pick up, ticket stubs, receipts, and other paper momentoes. It expands to take what you shove in, then shrinks to less than an inch thick if needed. The second would be to email yourself (to like a Hotmail account) copies of confirmation letters, vouchers, photocopies of passports, itineraries, even links to websites you found helpful. That way, on the road, any internet access becomes all the files you might need of your home computer. The third, would be to take a digital photo of each sheet with the camera you will lug along. You can use the view and zoom function to review the document, and even print out a copy if needed. The fourth is related, your multigig photo card can store documents as well as pictures. Just download all the files you might need for access at a computer in Europe. I even have a USB fob that my camera media fits into, so no cables, no hooking my camera up.

"I am trying to keep the lap top home, so storing what I can on the computer is not an option at this point."

Maybe you should reconsider your "options". Last time I looked "Leave thy laptop at home" was not one of the commandments. It makes sense to take it along.

Instead of two huge notebooks, I have an Acer "netbook". Not only is it smaller than a sheet of paper and just over 2# in weight (probably smaller than one of your notebooks, but with it I can also access the Internet via Wifi, which is becoming very common in Europe, and save and organize my pictures. As I plan at home, I put everything on one big Excel workbook - a worksheet for the train and bus schedules for each day, and a worksheet for accommodations and maps for each place I will stay - all on my home desktop. Then, when I go, I load it all on a single flash drive. I load the data onto my computer, but I also take along the flash drive, as a backup, just in case something would go wrong with my computer.

For my month long Europe trip last summer I too used a plastic,expandible,folder about the size of a vhs tape. I labeled each pocket as a destination and would put all of my copies of GOOGLE map directions,hotel confirmations,brochures,etc.. This method worked great for us,the folder did not take up much room and was easy to access when we arrived at the different destinations. I could throw away the papers after they weren't needed as the trip progressed.
I also had a back up file folder in my e-mail that I could look at any chance I was online.

I travel with a wi-fi capable Palm and download all my info to that. I'm getting a new quad band Blackberry that will allow me to do the same yet connect to the internet from everywhere. (Unlimited data plan for $50/month). I also carry a folder with a hard copy of everything.

WOW~ thank you all for the quick and helpful replies!

I also scan or forward copies of all e-mail reservations, plane tickets, passport main pages, etc, to my hotmail account, which I can access from anywhere in the world if necessary.

I've tried excel spread sheets but now I just type my itinerary by day in Microsoft word. I put my margins at 4" wide and about 6" long. I also use about a size 9 font. I then cut it to fit a 4-1/2 x 6" photo album sheet. I use notebook binder rings to put in the holes of the plastic photo sheets. It is compact to carry and I have each day with a page or two.
First page is my plane information, next hotels etc., next...
I have my packing list in this photo album along with all necessary information. Emergency numbers, etc.
Put your reservation numbers with the hotel info on your daily pages as well as all information at the beginning of the itinerary. You can just pull out a photo page or two to take with you if you don't want to carry all the photo pages. It has worked great for me for 3 or 4 years.
Take your 8-1/2 x 11 pages and reduce them to even a 5x7 size or what would fit a 3 ring notebook if you don't want to reduce them to a smaller font size. You can put tabs on the photo pages with the subject info. Let us know what you decide to do.

Thank you all again for the recent posts..

They all sound like wonderful methods... :-) Viv

I use the kind of school folders that have brads in the middle for three-hole punched paper and pockets in each cover. (They cost just a few cents at back-to-school time.) I put everything in chronological order, from the airport off-site parking reservations to the flight info to the first-day info (reservations, maps, photocopied articles, etc.) and beyond. I have a "permanent" copy of anything I have to hand in (reservation receipts, boarding pass info) in my book, and I keep the ones I will actually hand off in the front pocket. Along the way I put brochures, ticket stubs, etc., in the back pocket. I hang onto these after the trip so that I have them to refer to later.

I find I usually have fewer papers than many of you, so an idea that has worked very well for me was getting one of those zippered binder envelopes with the clear plastic fronts that are sold in school supply sections. They hold 8 1/2 x 11" sheets of paper folded in half. I print out car reservations, hotel reservations, travel cell phone instructions etc; fold in half, then label each group just under the fold. Each section of papers is placed in the zippered pocket with the fold up, so I can easily thumb through to find the section I want. It wouldn't work well if one had a whole lot of papers, but works great for me.

Wow. You are all so organized! I use multiple one-gallon zip lock bags. Note: Not all brands of one-gallon size bags are large enough to hold 81/2 x 11 sheets--gotta buy the right ones. The original Hefty brand works best.

I used to have a really good method but it got lost in the clutter. Actually I take a small note book for reservation numbers, addresses' & phone numbers, notes "to self" that sort of thing and a manila folder or clear plastic folder marked "take".

Our first trip was for almost 4 weeks with lodgings in 4 countries. I got a thin paper notebook and had dividers for airline/car/train, and for each country. In each section I used a plastic sleeve that fastened into the notebook. I labeled each sleeve - for example we stayed in 5 places in Germany so I had 5 sleeves. The other countries only had one place each. I had driving directions from lodging to lodging for each destination, hotel info and any other information for that location. Each section was organized with the sleeves, which I was then able to use for information we picked up along the way. I was able to take out each sleeve as needed and then put it away when I was done. It is less complicated with less destinations but it kept me organized. For my upcoming trip to Ireland I will probably just put everything into one sleeve and skip the notebook. I have done that for other trips and it works out fine.

Ziplock baggies! I shrink the font to size 9 or 10 with confirmations, directions- and relevant guidebook pages (photocopy and shrink if you would never rip a book apart:). I write the destination day/date with permanent marker on the outside. Because I make elaborate scrapbooks after I am back home, I like this system. I get rid of pages I no longer need (directions, etc) and replace them with receipts, brochures, etc. I keep a tiny notebook to jot places, etc as the day unfolds and those go in the baggie, too at the end of the day. I keep them flat on the bottom of the suitcase.

I find it helpful to just pull out the next day's baggie (put notes in there for calls you have to make, etc) the night before. It's easy to keep in a purse or daypack.

Ditto Lee. I took my laptop on a 5-week trip but didn't bother to back up files. My hard drive died before a week was out. Luckily, [1] all my reservations (hotels, flights, tours) had email confirmations on Gmail; [2] I still had my photos on memory stick; [3] I had print-outs of my itinerary and some travel notes.

Thank you all again for the wonderful ideas...

Viv :-)

ps/ what I meant by tear outs.. was for the maps they put in the back. When I typed print-outs I meant photo-copies.. sorry for the confusion. I would never tear a book apart. I have used books so much that the pages have fallen out....but that is for cooking and another web page.. ;)

I make all my notes on a mini version of the spiral bound binder (the kind that has the wire spiral on top and is probably 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches).

It contains addresses, contact numbers, reservation confirmation numbers, eticket voucher numbers, etc. I also put a list of choices of lodging at each planned stop, with phone numbers, and a list of sites to see with hours information.

As I pass one place, I tear out the pages that are no longer useful

PS I always pack some ziplock bags (big and small), they come in useful in a lot of ways including organizing paper.

I also used a small spiral notebook (from the dollar store) where I wrote small notes for easy reference. I included things like how to get to the hotel from the airport via the RER and Metro in Paris. I made a day planner so I could select what to do on each day of the week and included when the sights were closed and the markets that were only on certain days of the week. I then made my choices of what I felt like doing that day from my small notebook page. It was a real help when I did the city tour in Paris and stayed an extra 3 nights. I wrote down what the tour was providing that day and made my own notes of what I might see in that area of the city on my own. It easily fit in my jacket pocket.

I also carry a variety of sizes of ziplock bags. I store receipts and stuff for the scrapbook like train tickets, museum brochures, postcards I bought, my picnic lunches that I purchased at an open air market. They are invaluable.

For an upcoming trip in April to Italy, I am packing more small items in ziplock bags so they are easily found because I can see what is in them. I am going to put some red tape on my first aide kit baggie. I think I can smush more stuff in baggies. I always seem to take lots of little things that I do actually use, like handiwipes, wipes for cleaning my glasses, dry facewash cloths (like Dove or Olay or something, just add water to have a sponge bath in the sink). Happy Travels. June

I use the same method as Brad, except I use spiral notebooks with the spirals on the side. :)

I am somewhat relieved that I am not the only one who uses such a low tech method. Although I have to say this works quite well for me.

Great thoughts here!

I use a combination of these methods. I have a spreadsheet on my laptop which I print out. I put all teh reservations, ticket etc in a Plastic bag in my hand luggage. I put copies in another bag in my suitcase and leave a similar one with relatives at home. I have another bag in which I transfer that days forms und keep it in the outside pouch of my hand luggage where it is easily accessible.

I know people do not like destroying books, but I had a friend who has a publishing company cut teh spine off Rick's Europe book and punched holes in it to fit a small 3-ring binder. I only take the pages I will need with me and transfer to a plastic bag the same size the pages for the day I am travelling or sightseeing. WHen I get home I put the pages back in the binder and still have the complete book.

I have a cheapy pocket folder that was leftover from my kids' school supplies. I put in a copy of all my hotel/hostel confirmations, cruise confirmation, Michelin directions between cities, etc... I don't think it's going to take up much room in my backpack. I also got the slimmest date book/organizer I could find to write down where we had to be on what day, and will write all the addresses and phone numbers I need it in.

I also use a side-spiral notebook, but get the 6"x8" Mead Five Star w/nylon fabric covering the spiral. It also comes with 2 plastic dividers with pockets for tickets or vouchers that need to be handed to whomever. I use stick-on tabs for each location. I shrink copies of airline reservations for the front of the book, shrink hotel and train info at the start of each tabbed location and add interesting facts and notes that I've kept in each section. I leave several blank pages to add postcards, ticket stubs, receipts, and for journaling. Since I love to sketch, I also bring a few blank drawing sheets (thick) to sketch a few things which I also add to my book. Other brochures and stuff are kept in the plastic pockets. Yes, I bring along a glue stick and tape and it's very low tech, but I like to see my thoughts in my own writing at the end of a trip. We still pull out these books to look at and savor, and all the information, along with journaling thoughts, from each of these trips is right at our fingertips! That being said, our next trip (England) will be done in TWO books. By the time we arrive at our last stop, usually the big city, my book is bulging and I don't want to be schlepping such a thick book! That wouldn't stop me from this method, however, because I like the finished product when I get home.