How do you keep travel recommendations and ideas straight?

[Deleted]

Right now, I just have 1 master google spreadsheet with food places on 1 tab and activities on another tab. I can sort it a bunch of different ways and it's good for planning, but it's not as good when I'm out and about. 

I know there has to be a better way to keep travel recommendations and ideas straight.
Anyone know of one? 





Eta: apparently my sweet geographer h has been creating a color coded Google map out of my spreadsheet. I should have just assumed he already took care of this since it's map related.

[mdgirl]

I usually send myself an email of all the recommendations with links to web sites. Sort of like a master list for the trip.

[Vespasia]

I love google maps and usually make one for each trip. I use color coded markers for activities, restaurants, hotels, etc. You can add comments, like entrance fees or who suggested it, to each marker.

I also use Pinterest, google spreadsheets, and I bookmark threads here and websites in general.

I am usually mentally planning several trips at once because I love it and this seems to keep things fairly organized.

[travelingturtle]

I use pinterest for the most part.

[msgeeksout]

I use email and TripIt.

Just for straight up recommendations and the like I email it to myself in the previously mentioned master list format. But if I I really want to remember it and organize dates, times, maps, etc I add it to TripIt as a maybe event and add and delete until I'm happy with it. They produce maps automatically so I don't have to. Then everything is in there and easy to find and track.

[mrssandro]

I bookmark them into a separate folder.

[wanderlustfoodie]

OCD travel-planner here:

I have a master google doc that lists almost everywhere in the world. Then as I read a travel magazine or article with a restaurant/hotel/sight that seems appealing, I add it in the doc next to that location.

Once I start planning a trip to a specific destination, I create an itinerary in Microsoft Word, one page for every day. The last page of the itinerary is called "Notes" and it's where I drop any information I had stored in the master google doc as well as things culled from online, tripadvisor, guide books, friends' recommendations, etc. Once I have all that in one place, I just start cutting and pasting restaurants/activities/sights from the Notes page onto specific day pages of the itinerary to create our itinerary. I also schedule free time (This attention to detail/planning is why my husband jokingly refers to our trips as "death march to fun" but don't worry, I also try to schedule some free time

I print out this rough itinerary before we leave and once we're on said trip, I add written notes to each page so that it reflects what we actually did since sometimes plans change as well as what we ate. Then when I'm back home I type up the actual final itinerary and save it.

This way I have all my itineraries on my computer for quick reference whenever friends are planning their own travels. I have a horrible memory and love looking back at these.

[Wanderista]

My trip planning varies a little bit, but I definitely made a folder for my trip to somewhere new last year with all the confirmations, vouchers and relevant phone numbers. Outside of the US, I usually have a guidebook which I use mostly for its map and for suggestions if needed. I tend to find things that I want to do while researching and then I organize which days I want to do things on but my itinerary largely stays in my head. If I keep my confirmations in order and have a guidebook with good maps/key phrases, I'm usually good to go. I'm also fairly spontaneous and enthusiastic when I travel. I tend to get more of a sense of what I want to do when I see a place.

[wanderlustfoodie]

Jan 28, 2014 23:08:25 GMT -5 @sfgal530 said:

Jan 28, 2014 4:39:49 GMT -5 travelingturtle said:

I use pinterest for the most part.

Me too.  Any time I plan a big trip I create a Pinterest board to pin hotels / restaurants / activities that I want to do, then about 3 months out start actually planning (since some of those restaurants and tours book up in advance).

wanderlustfoodie, have you ever looked at TripIt?  I feel like that could be an app you'd enjoy.  

I joined TripIt when it first started. I like it but still prefer my old way. I'm a techie's worst nightmare