"Just want to say, I'm very impressed w/ the way you have organized our trip"

Well, I have never created a Trip Portfolio, but once, on a trip to France, I asked DH and DS what the name of the hotel was that we were staying at, in case they got separated from me, and even though we'd stayed there for 5 nights, neither one could answer me, nor could they name the subway stop or street name it was on.

I make an itinerary, print 2 copies out for my trip. It's usually just 1 page double-sided (depending on how long the trip is). I keep one copy in my day bag and the spare one for my DH. So I can just whip out the page anytime, anywhere.

On it, I have:

1) day to day itinerary
2) attractions opening days and opening times
3) restaurant address and phone #s (and reservation time if I made a reservation)
4) hotel address and phone #s (I always include phone #s in case I'm lost and can't find it)
5) Flights, Buses and trains departure and arrival times

For confirmations/emails (from hotels, concert tickets etc), I print them out and place it in a paper folder. I don't carry the whole folder with me, but just take out individual page on the day I need it.

My husband has complete faith in my trip-planning; after all, I've been doing this forever. He doesn't even attempt to plan any trips! (But I'm more than happy to plan trips myself.)

I always have names of hotels and phone numbers and such. A list of places and sites that are important for me to see, days and open hours of museums, and that's it. I never do an itinerary.

I'm not a foodie so I never make reservations at restaurants and pretty much eat on the fly.

DH keeps asking me what we are going to do once we get there... ... ... he'll just have to wait and find out !

Um, I have NO itinerary, lol. So DH will find out what we are going to do when I find out - on the day it happens.

That is mainly why I Laughed Out Loud when he called me. My cover will be blown once we arrive! But that's just the type of girl I am.

phew...I'm impressed but I don't think it's for me to go quite so far.

I don't do an itinerary but just take info on places/activities that seem interesting, pick up more info when I'm there, and then make it up as I go.

Portfolio may be a bit grandiose a description for what I do, but I do make a "cheat sheet". Usually do it in Excel or Word, and include:
Traveler info Full name (as on passport), DOB, passport info (#, issue date and place, expiration) for each person traveling
Air itinerary - dates, airline, flight #, arrival and departure airports and times, e-ticket confirmation number, airline web url & phone in US and in destination countries; do similar for scheduled train travel (e.g. Eurostar)
Ground transport - e.g., if using a car service for airport transfer - company and agent name, url, phone, confirmation #, scheduled pick up time and location.
Lodging - usually an apartment but sometimes hotel. Name of property, full address, phone if known, apartment owner/agent name and contact #, url
Calendar - for some trips over a week or to multiple destinations create a simple calendar and for each day note location, major activity (e.g., flight, train, major day trip) When traveling with a niece this goes to the parents who like having the info
I print out a copy or two to take along and also send the file to an email I can retrieve on the road. I also carry hard copies of receipts for tickets (air, train) and other confirmations (email from car service, hotel/apartment confirmation, etc) and forward a copy to the account accessible from the road.

I am laughing right now! Our first trip to Paris as a couple I was uber-organized! I had a report folder with sheet protectors and in it, I had all the info you could imagine. Things printed off the internet, confirmations of all flights, hotels, rental car. Copies of our passports, credit cards, insurance cards. Mapquested directions to everywhere I thought we go. The only thing I was missing was my umbrella and I would have been the perfect tour guide.

Second trip - much thinner folder, no directions, just a basic outline. Still had confirmations, some printouts.

Last trip - nothing. Nada. Zilch. There were a few things I could have used so I think next time I need to compromise.

I've never really called it a "trip portfolio" but I do usually make one...usually a folder or file or something.

Depending on the trip, I include an itinerary, lodging e-mailed confirmations, or at least the conf# if I did it on the phone including the details on rate, type of room, etc., maps, Mapquests/directions and for roadtrips, the mileage anticipated for that day, guidebooks (if any), tickets (if they were purchsed ahead of time), ideas for stuff to do (if it is something flexible/optional), brochures for activities if I have them.

My family enjoys making fun of me for my trip planning, but my rebuttal is to ask how they would like it if, when they asked what we were going to do that day, or where we were going to stay, I just said, "I dunno" and gave them a blank stare. Vacations are too valuable to waste them planning "on the fly." Besides, the planning is almost as much fun as the trip itself, at least it is for me.

I have been glad that I lug around hotel confirmation letters. Once, when we arrived at our hotel in London they had no record of our reservation (booked through them!) I was able to whip out my confirmation and was able to secure two rooms for the price of one as their family rooms were all booked. Another hotel was going to overcharge us until I showed them the price they had confirmed.

We do everything musicfan does. We keep the air/hotel/car rental, etc. confirmations in chronological order, so they can be tossed once "used".

I am with sf and musicfan and am very organized...

Do you guys actually throw away confirmations (after they're used) as you go? I throw away photocopies of guidebooks, but NOT confirmations or emails that have info with my name, or part of CC# etc on them. They aren't anything too confidential I guess (I mean, no complete CC# or bank Acct # or SS#), but I always bring those home and shred them at home. These are the things I usually shred anyway, and I feel uneasy just tossing them out while on a trip.

I'm like crefloors. And I have all the emails stored in a folder on yahoo so I can access anything I need (hotel confirmations, etc) from an internet cafe.

I'm pretty organized as well. I don't have each day scheduled down to the minute but I'll organize several sites together and we'll pick the day we want to do them.

Also, we'll have a list of "things I have to do/see" so we get to our most important points leaving us to enjoy a day that may take us somewhere unexpectedly.

Do you create a Trip Portfolio? Is so, what important information do you like to include?


Nothing very complicated for recent trips, but I do research and collect information pre-trip, and keep that along with vital stuff like hotel name, flight times, etc in a folder on my computer.
Before the trip I print out any of that which I might need and tuck it into my travel journal.

For a long trip I took a couple years back, where I was visiting eight countries (NO NOT IN TWO WEEKS SO NO NEED TO CRITICIZE...THE TRIP WAS almost 10 weeks).. I had a binder with sections for each country, plus one for vital travel info, and one more with addresses/emails of people with whom I wanted to communicate while on the trip.
I included currency conversions, simple phrases in each language, notes on places I wanted to see, things I wanted to do....

I do the same as musicfan.

But, isn't the idea of organizing everything w/out DH is so you can lose him

My DH is also clueless when we travel as he leaves me in charge of everthing. If I'm really in a good mood when we get there, I give him a card from the hotel we're staying at, in case he does get lost!

Have a great trip stw. Maybe we can try for another Westchester CTG when you get back.

I have a 3 ring binder that I use for all of our trips. In it I'll put individual tabbed dividers w/pockets for each city that we stay.

Also included is our overall itinerary, car rental info, trip insurance info and copies of hotel confirmations, printed maps with parking info at the various sights or intermediate stops we will be making.

I also copy pages from guide books on the individual cities we will be visiting and all of this goes behind the corresponding tabbed dividers.

I just pull out the individual pages for that day's sightseeing, day trip, etc., and put it in my day bag.

As we progress thru our trip, I'll throw away the stuff I no longer need, but might keep some details I feel will help in preparing my trip report when we get home. I can also put receipts, etc., in the divider's pockets.

This goes with me in my carryon as well as another copy of just our itinerary, hotel & car info in each of our checked suitcases.

I forgot to add the trip insurance information!! Thanks for the reminder.

I have my information organized in a 3-ring pocket folder (card stock so not heavy) with plastic sleeves to hold everything in place. I have tabs labeled Hotel, Airlines, Train, Tickets (excursion),Sights, and Misc. The pockets are great for extra odds and ends.

I was in charge of organizing the trip and so I did!

Seriously, I think part of the reason why I did this (as opposed to how my husband places the same information in an accordian folder and calls it a day) is because we have never been to the places we are going to. The language was also a concern, so I wanted to make sure that I had the enough details.

The only thing missing is an itinerary. Although I have lots of knowledge of what we might want to do and see, I'm too moody of a traveler to outline each days' activities. Ask my husband, he'll tell ya.

I have a plastic folder. I keep our passports, EHIC, and permanent travel insurance documents in it. It also has the numbers to call if we lose our credit cards etc. All these details are also on the laptop, and in both phones.
I add ferry/flight details, car hire details and details of any hotels we may have booked before leaving (usually only the first night or two.) These get tossed as we've used them. There is nothing on them which is liable to be a problem regarding ID theft or anything like that.
An itinerary is something we never have, certainly we never have hotels booked for the entire trip, nor things planned per day.

I am boggled and impressed with the organization of everyone .. folders and files and plans ! I know I have gotten a little more , should I say anal? with the years but I still have never made a folder or book or anything ..
I feel like such a loser in the world of Trip Planners

When we moved to Buenos Aires, I came close though .. I had to have our papers ( passports, dog papers, driver confirmation etc) but they were all just in a big envelope in my purse. And my husband wore the money belt.
I was more concerned about the dog living through the flight than anything else, I guess.

When we travel for fun, I carry tickets and we each carry passports and in my purse is the hotel reservation confirmation... and in my purse is an agenda that has notes of where to eat/shop/ that I also use as my diary/journal.

I see I am a novice at Trip Organization and Pup and I will have to get on the ball here !!

I know I have gotten a little more , should I say anal

Nah, me???

Okay, Busted!

But you should see my husband's face light up, lol. He thinks he's in good hands.

I keep a folder for all hotels, etc that I have booked along with any printed information I have gathered . I also save it to a folder on my computer. I keep it on the outside pocket of one of the pieces of luggage or carry on. I do keep all of the bills from hotels until they are posted on my credit card/debit card bills.

I also send a copy of all my credit card info. Numbers on all the cards, limits, numbers of the cc offices and send it to my daughter in law in case something happens to my computer.

My itineraries are not hour by hour but just an overall day by day of where we are staying.

I do make note of possible day trips (like visiting Colmar from Staufen) or particular sights we might want to see but I never plan out our days in detail. We like to plan as we go according to the weather and how we feel on a particular day.

But I do book hotels ahead of time to be sure I get the places I want in my price range with the few amenities we require. We tend to stay put for several days at a time and do day trips to nearby towns/sights.

I bought an iTouch before my last trip. I entered addresses and opening times for restaurants and museums that I was interested in, addresses and phone numbers for places I was staying, and confirmation numbers for reservations. I also had a small folder in which I kept e-tickets for trains etc.

On this last trip I took three plastic file envelopes; one for Ireland, one for Spain and one for the UK. In each one I put all tickets, confirmations, etc. for that destination.

I also took a small notebook and a quart-size zip loc bag. I kept all of my receipts in the bag and used the notebook to keep track of ATM withdrawals and credit card purchases.

And I took the notebook I'd used to plan the trip. Unfortunately though, the one I'd started with had those d&^n perforated pages. Because they kept tearing and falling out, I'd switched notebooks partway through. And while we were on the trip I realized I'd forgotten to transfer some of the info. Really important stuff! I didn't have the name of the Marks and Spencer cookies someone had recommended!

<<I didn't have the name of the Marks and Spencer cookies someone had recommended!>>

CAPH, that's enough to ruin a trip!! Next time put all that really important stuff in a safe place!

we are a traveling family and dh has always made all the arrangements.

for the 1st time this past april i planned a trip from start to finish on my own with a ton of fodor friends.
it was daunting at first and i was quite nervous especially when it came to itinerary planning as i have no spacial skills - i cannot read a map to save my life and if there is a way to get lost from point a to point b, i will find it.
i have to say after reading a ton of trip reports, guide books and getting a lot of expert advice, i impressed myself with my trip planning capability.
i printed out pertinent parts of trip reports and advice and included it with the loosely planned itinerary for each day. i also included transportation options for the itinerary.

dd and i each carried our printout with

flight info
apartment address and emergency phone
daily itinerary with transportation info
points of interest with opening hours

this really worked out well for us as we were not over planned and could change out our days if needed. (we did end up having to do that one day but that is another story)

dh also had a copy of this. he was so impressed that he thinks i should plan our future trips. i think not!

I keep a folder with all the confirmations printed out. I also keep various notes and pages from guidebooks that I have cut out. Confirmations go on one side of the folder and misc stuff in the other. I don't do a real itinerary, but we do jot down one or two things for each day and then throw stuff in. Usually the itinerary is just vague enough, but takes into account what is closed on what days. When traveling with the whole family, we do better with more of an itinerary, but when DD and I go together we like a more general idea.

I make a huge file. I even make photocopies of guidebooks that I don't want to carry around.

I don't organize by topic but instead by time they will be used. Example: flights, ground transportaion, driving directions to #1 hotel (even if I'm taking a taxi, OCD, I know!), hotel #1 confirmation email, restaurants in the area and schedule. Then goes destination #2. Once I'm done with the destination I toss all the copies.

I scan and email this folder to an generic email address I can access from anywhwer.

I print out all the basics - airline flight confirmations, hotel confirmations, maps and directions, a basic itinerary (leave a copy at home as well in case someone needs to find us), travel insurance info, and a cheat sheet of attractions and restaurants. Then I bind it all together with one of those black binding combs so it stays all tidy.

"CAPH, that's enough to ruin a trip!!"

I know, Betty, I know! We had to wander around Marks and Spencer looking at all the cookies, trying to figure out which ones matched the description I sort of remembered!

At least we didn't taste test them all!

Nope I don't make a Trip Portfolio. I'm a very casual planner. I use a single clear plastic folder and put my plane and hotel information in that. I don't take guidebooks. I usually have a couple printed out list for restaurant recommendations. The rest I wait and plan after arrival and collect information once I'm there.