How to Organize Your Travel Plans | Luxury Travel Blogger

A well-organized travel itinerary can play a role in ensuring your next vacation is a resounding success. From plane tickets to passports and accommodation bookings, there’s a lot to keep track of when you’re putting your plans together. In addition, planning travel with the continuing effects of the pandemic can often be a challenge, particularly if you want to go abroad.  No matter where you’re planning to go or what you’re planning to see, you’ll need a solution for storing your documents and one of the best organizational apps. By storing all your trip information online, you’ll have access on the go anywhere in the world. 

Decide on a Travel Destination

Due to the ongoing effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, your international travel destinations might seem somewhat limited. Countries in Asia that were traditionally open to American tourists have shut their borders for more than two years. Australia, New Zealand, and several destinations in southeast Asia also have limited entry and access. 

European travel is significantly more accessible than in Asia or Australia. However, you’ll still need the maximum number of vaccination shots available along with a negative Covid test for the majority of countries. If traveling outside the country seems like too much of a hassle, there are plenty of exciting and unique destinations within the country that sometimes look and feel like a foreign country. 

If you’re looking to get away from the mainland for a little while but don’t want to leave the country, consider traveling to one of the smaller, more isolated islands in Hawaii. Maui and the Big Island are beautiful places to visit year-round, with plenty of hiking, swimming, and biking options to choose from right outside your vacation property door. If you want to avoid the crowds in Hawaii and want to have a truly adventurous trip, you can also visit the Virgin Islands, Guam, and American Samoa without having to worry about Border restrictions. 

Create an Itinerary Document

An itinerary is your travel planning master document, where you can keep all data about your destination, accommodations, and bookings. How you format your itinerary is entirely up to you. The simplest way of organizing this document for many travelers is by creating a timeline. Where are you planning to be at specific dates and times during the trip? 

If you’re staying in one place for the entire duration of the trip, a timeline organization strategy might make less sense. Instead, you may want to consider grouping the attractions you’ll do within a single day but not assign them a specific date. Highlight all the things for which you’ll need to purchase tickets or create a booking in advance to ensure you don’t forget anything. 

Research Attractions

Researching what you want to do and see at your destination is an enjoyable way to get you excited about your upcoming travel plans. There are a few avenues through which you can find information about what’s popular at a specific destination. Sites like Trip Advisor can give you a breakdown of the most popular spots, with ratings and recommendations from other travelers. Guide books from respected brands like Lonely Planet and Rick Steves are a fun option to read up on attractions in conjunction with the destination’s history.  

Unfortunately, researching attractions online tends to highlight the touristy sights rather than the hidden gems. In addition, Trip Advisor and other recommendation articles may have affiliate programs through which they’ll promote certain attractions or booking options. In many cases, it’s not exactly an unbiased opinion. Pay more attention to user reviews over what’s listed as the top ten things to do at your destination. These articles are a great place to start, but you’ll want to take them with a grain of salt.

Map Out Your Plans

Google Maps offers travelers a fun way to keep track of their preferred attractions and relevant travel addresses with a feature called “My Places.” You’ll need to log in to the platform with your Google account to get started. Add addresses for hotels, airports, and other relevant places that you’ll need to visit by typing the place’s name into the search bar and then saving the address to my places in a new list that’s specific to your travel plans. 

Once you’ve saved a specific spot by clicking the bookmark flag, you’ll see a new pin on the map. Add all of the attractions you’re hoping to visit while you’re there, and you’ll have a new visualization of all your travel plans. To access these lists in the future, simply click the menu option in the top corner, select your places, and then click on the specific list. If you have your phone in sync with your Google account, you should see your pins on every device. 

Choose Flexible Booking Options

With the ongoing effects of the Covid pandemic, flexible tickets and bookings are never a bad option. Anything that offers free cancellation or booking flexibility can give you peace of mind that allows trip planning and organization to become a more enjoyable experience. Read up on airline policies, cancellation fees, and the other related fine print on each booking platform, and you won’t have to worry about losing any money in the event that you get sick or need to cancel your plans unexpectedly.

Use an Organization App

A reliable organization app can be a valuable tool for putting all of your trip plans together in place. On many platforms, you can also store all of your essential documents, which can be handy in an emergency. You can also save webpage content that’s relevant to your trip, from tips and tricks for packing to lists of unmissable locations. By planning and organizing everything in advance, you’re setting yourself up for a more memorable experience.