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Did you know that you can very easily create your own travel itinerary using the internet and the wonderful tools available to you, via the internet? Sometimes we use the internet and world wide web so much that we forget what an advantage it is, compared to decades before us.
And, once you have used the internet to put together that itinerary, the itinerary will help you keep track of the hotels, restaurants, and the places you want to visit. The guide will also give you a clear picture of your travel directions.
Reviews and Recommendations
Before hitting the road, take the time to read the online reviews of your potential travel destinations. Another popular strategy is to talk to friends and family members who have visited those areas. A couple of places to start, for reviews, would be reviews.com, and tripadvisor.com. Take heed, while there may be useful reviews at reviews.com, the last update was a while ago. Of course, there are other sites, as well, and those family members and friends of yours may have their favorite sites, so be sure to ask!
Building the Itinerary (Including Deciding on the Destination!)
Continuing on the topic of building that itinerary, according to Wired Magazine, if you want to build a comprehensive travel itinerary, you need to use an effective strategy.
To build your travel itinerary online, use Google (or Bing) to find interesting sites. If you are the type who likes to relax, maybe you are looking for peaceful beaches or even a place to rent your own boat, a place away from other people.
Maybe you like to see the sites and want to spend some time on Wikipedia looking up historical sites and tours of famous places.
Travel guide websites may lead you to real life people and agencies like Tour Operators. These types of people and agencies would definitely know the places to see.
As an example, with the help of Google and searching for “glacier lagoons,” a beautiful place like Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon, in Iceland could be found. Not only are you able to find these wonderful locations with the use of the internet, but actually spend time researching them and learn about the location before you vacation there.
By understanding what you are looking for, you can help to narrow down the actual destination. That is definitely a first step in the process of planning your itinerary.
Sites like Lonely Planet seem to be built just for those of us building our itinerary online!
This part of the itinerary building is the most difficult (finding the destination). Once you have chosen your destination, the next step is to map your itinerary, and it gets a bit easier because it is like following a checklist.
Filling in the Details
Websites such as Google Maps and MapQuest are very helpful in getting your directions figured out. Not only do these sites help you map out the places on your list, but help you to identify the best way to approach it and what destination to visit first. Just don’t forget to get the details of any tours, landmarks, etc. so that you ensure that you are still arriving on time, even if you do have the order of things (based on your mapping) figured out properly.
A really helpful tool to use, to mark down those details from the landmarks and historical tour places is the online (free) Google Calendar. There are so many fun and easy things you can do with Google Calendar.
If you add an event to your personal (private) Google calendar, but you also have a shared travel calendar, you can simply “copy” it to that shared calendar, and now everyone (who is sharing the calendar) has access to the event information. This is a quick and easy way for everyone to be “in the know” and work together on their trip itinerary.
According to a travel article published by MapHappy.org in 2014, one of the biggest benefits of using Google Calendar while traveling is its instant ability to update your event times with corresponding time zones. Google Calendar also allows you to attach pictures and other associated itineraries.
Pulling It All Together
When you have finished all of these steps, including the details, you need to bring everything together to come up with a single comprehensive travel itinerary.
One site, recommended in the Wired article, which can help you bring everything together is TripIT. This free app allows you to pull it all together. It also has an option to be usable on your smart device even when the internet is not available.
Last Thoughts
Don’t forget the fun apps like Audible (from Amazon) to listen to books on the trip, as well as your favorite music. There are certainly several options for the music, and likely you already have that covered on your smart device!
We are influencers and brand affiliates. This post contains affiliate links, most which go to Amazon and are Geo-Affiliate links to nearest Amazon store.
Deborah wears many hats, from professional sound engineer, to marrying a professional sound engineer and recording a Jazz album that put her and kept her on the RN Jazz charts in Los Angeles, for a year. From that experience, she learned how to make it work with social media marketing. She traded in her position as Chief Technology Officer in the financial industry to help small businesses to realize their success online.