Road Warrior Organization tips/methods

There have been threads on this in the past. Here is one from 3 years ago but I would suspect the methods are still applicable.

Here is a more recent thread on the subject.

Hope that helps a little. Myself, I'm still a luddite using hard copy paper copies in a binder.

Documents can be photographed and stored as photos on your phone. Easy enough.

I have used the App TripIt for many years and now upgrade to TripPro. Everything in your itinerary is one place, saved.

Simple.

I'll preface this by saying I enjoy the planning process. To me it's enjoyable in and of itself, and I know being well-organized is key to having a great trip. YMMV.

I typically send about a year to a year-and-a-half planning most trips. That's from the initial "gee, I wonder if Beckybeckystan would be a good destination?" to heading out the door with tickets to Beckybeckystan in hand.

I do all my planning from my home computer. On that computer I have a folder named "Travel" with all sorts of long-saved resources and other stuff. There's a folder in there for "Future or Potential Trips" (after I come home, I move the trip folder into a "Past Trips" folder for later re-use). As soon as I start thinking about Beckybeckystan, I create folder for it. Everything about travel to Beckybeckystan goes in there (I have a similar structure for web bookmarks, too). Once I start accumulating actual plans, I create a folder in there called "docs to bring". Every time book a flight, hotel, a train, a ferry, rent a car, or get any other bit of information I might need while out there, a PDF copy of the receipt, itinerary, email, etc, goes in that folder. I also print out 2 copies of each document as I make the PDF. The print-outs get sorted and paper-clipped together in a physical file folder.

Every item, without exception. Includes everything from a very detailed, day-by-day trip scheduled, date-of-departure plan, maps I've downloaded and usually at least one I've created myself, language tips, all tickets, vouchers, receipts, etc. and oodles more.

The day before departure, I copy all the PDFs to an iPad Mini, which is my primary bring-along travel device. A second copy of all the PDFs go on my wife's iPad Mini or her phone. We also have 2 copies of each PDF on paper, which get clipped together and inserted into a small "diplomatic pouch". One copy of every document, neatly organized chronologically (first things that we would need - departing flight info and boarding pass, then first accommodation reservation, etc. on top, last stuff needed on the bottom). We always have two electronic copies and two paper copies of everything, one for her and one for me.

At every step of the way, whether checking in for a flight, a hotel, looking for a ferry schedule, finding a restaurant, all I need to do is pull out my iPad or folder with printed docs, and every single detail of our trip is right there, quick, easy, done. I have found that this takes 90% of the stress out of traveling.

I currently am deep in planing trips to all of the following places in the next year:

• Mexico (leaving for Baja next week!)
• Ireland
• The Faroe Islands
• Thailand
• The Maldives

Admittedly, that's a lot (even for us). As luck would have it, a ton of the details are getting settled right now, and it is challenging (some of these trips are quite complicated and require some tricky arrangements to work) - I'll need a vacation from being the family travel agent soon. But I know my system works, and even though I have many tasks I need to complete for multiple trips, staying organized is critical. I do enjoy the challenge but also know that all the planning results in a much better trip.

I have friends who shake their heads, can't believe the time I invest in this, say they hate doing trip planning and just want to go to the airport and fly off...bless them, but I notice they always come home grousing and whining about the things that they say ruined parts of their vacations ("it was so crowded...the flight was awful...the thing we wanted to see was closed...bad hotel...couldn't get tickets...got ripped off by something...etc."). Our trips tend to go pretty smoothly, even in exotic or edgy destinations. Maybe we're just lucky? Maybe obsessive planning helps.

And now, I need to make my list of family travel agent tasks for the day. Hope this helps.

BTW: I know you said "no computers, no iPads." I agree on the "no computers" part. No way in a million years I'd lug along a computer (unless work was paying for the trip). But gotta disagree on the iPad part.

IMHO the iPad Mini is by far and away, the World's Best Travel Gizmo.

It's small enough to slip in your pocket. It's not much bigger than a phone. It's light. But the screen experience (for me at least) is soooo much better than a phone (I bring an iPhone with me too, but that's primarily for making phone calls).

If you can stand the tiny screen, then an iPhone would work using my system in place of an iPad Mini - but the Mini is perfectly optimized for travel, just the right size to work well enough for anything.

I just wish they would make an updated iPad Mini. Still waiting on that one.

Good luck.

Used to carry smartphone (for communication and navigation using offline HERE app) plus a iPad mini, plus a camera. The iPad and camera were difficult to conceal and protect from security perspective. Recently bought an iPhone 8 "plus" -- it is now our only travel electronic device. No more travel with the iPad, no more travel with a camera. Screen is big enough for reading documents and the camera is more than adequate for our use.

I’ve been a phone only traveler for years. It works great!

You need two sources of data storage. One is on your phone and the other in the cloud. Cloud storage is for data retrieval in case something happens to the phone.

As referenced above, pre trip planning on a regular computer helps. I especially like to put all my info into an Excel spread sheet so I can see the whole trip at once. Then I convert it to PDF.

I use the following apps on my phone:

• Tripit (works online and off - also works as cloud storage)
• GoodReader (offline encrypted doc storage)
• Google Drive (cloud retrieval of info)
• iPhone Books
• iPhone Wallet

I put my entire itinerary in Tripit. Just forward the email confirmation to Tripit and it adds to your itinerary. You can also go in via the web and add in other events and info. This will sync with your phone and be available offline for later.

I convert everything to PDF and store it in GoodReader. This includes airline contracts of carriage etc.
I put the same info in Google Drive.

Things like etickets get stored in Wallet and Books. They’re easily available for scanning that way. I make PDFs when I get the info on my phone and then just push the PDF into wallet and books.

I also have an iXpand drive for off line backup of info. This is a great offline backup for photos too.

You can use the dictation feature for creating longer emails etc. Or you can get a small portable Bluetooth keyboard.

Closing: the converted Excel spreadsheet and Tripit are good for looking at info all in one place. I find that the time spent pre-trip filling in the web based Tripit info is well worth it. Use GoodReader for confirmations etc.

Edit: I had written Google Docs instead of Google Drive. The OP caught it.

I am another fan of Tripit.

Questions for San Jose Cindy:

1) you mentioned "converted Excel spreadsheet" - assume you mean you created PDFs
2) do you use Goodreader for anything other that reading stored PDFs?
3) by "Books" are you referring to the Apple Books app?
4) your use of Google Docs is for the what documents? perhaps everything you have in Goodreader? or, are you referring to use of you Google Drive?

Thanks to all for the excellent and prompt responses. I think I need to take another look at Tripit - tried it a few years ago but didn't like the intrusive nature of it.

I am still a person who prints out my reservations, tickets, etc., and brings them with me in a folder. I always have the electronic copies in my “Reservations” folder in my email, and I might have a pdf here or there, but I really like having paper copies.

Only exception are my train tickets in Europe, which I keep in my Trainline app.

Sometimes I get my boarding passes electronically, whether in U.S. or Europe.

P.s. I also do like David in that I organize the papers in my folder in chronological order by when I’ll need them on the trip.

Best part of Tripit for me -- I forward confirmations to plan@tripit and to my husband at the same time, so he will have the information in two places and I don't need to type it. And I can look at "past trips" to check the name and price of hotels we liked when someone asks for a recommendation.

Question for Paris Kim: noticed you are using the Trainline app. Any issues with this app verses use of RailEurope or bahn.de ?

1) you mentioned "converted Excel spreadsheet" - assume you mean you created PDFs

Yes. I create a PDF of the Excel spreadsheet. The links still work in PDF format so I can bring up websites and phone numbers on my phone.

2) do you use Goodreader for anything other that reading stored PDFs?

GoodReader actually stores PDFs in encrypted form. It also is password protected. So it is good for reading and storage.

3) by "Books" are you referring to the Apple Books app?

Correct. Sometimes I push PDFs into Books so it is easy access for the day. It’s a laziness thing because I don’t want to type my password for GoodReader. Especially if I’m accessing that document a lot during the day.

4) your use of Google Docs is for the what documents? perhaps everything you have in Goodreader? or, are you referring to use of you Google Drive?

Sorry, Google Drive. It’s a cloud based backup in case my phone gets smashed (it has happened on a trip). It’s basically the same documents stored in GoodReader. The iXpand drive can also operate as a backup as it is a thumb drive that can connect via fire or USB.

Another vote for TripIt Pro. It has its downsides, yes, but it's the best overall app I've found for this. You can email things to your account and add them to specific trips. It's way easier for me than having to figure out other methods, and then all of my emails, addresses, tickets, reference numbers, etc., are all in one place.

Downside - they're not good with Delta flight changes. You may have to go online to manually select the new flights.

I need to take another look at Tripit - tried it a few years ago but didn't like the intrusive nature of it.

You can change the privacy settings and lock it down so others can’t see it.