Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - How do you organize your travel notes?

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Jeff! Laughed for the first time today when reading your post. Thanks for the humor on a very painful day.

For ten bucks you can buy some decent software online that helps you organize everything -- hotels, train times, itinerary, notes, etc. -- into a handy spreadsheet. And now for the life of me I can't remember what it's called. Anyone? This software even lets you know how much money you will be spending each day. Very handy.

Lots of good suggestions here! Here's mine ... before I go, I usually read several guidebooks for each destination (each has its own strengths and weaknesses) and do research on the web. I take one guidebook plus my own personal notes. I usually mark up a map with all the places I would like to see, all the interesting walking tours, etc., so I can organize my time. But I don't have things planned to the last minute because I want and need flexibility once I get to my destination. I also type notes from reading the guidebooks directly into a Word file or spreadsheet, e.g., a spreadsheet can show all the attractions in a city, and what their hours are day-to-day, so I can plan my time and take advantage of "late" nights (i.e., the one night during the week when the museum is open late) and avoid going to a museum I really want to see on the day they are closed.

Gather, copy, copy print, and buy information and pile it on the living room floor. Go through it one snowy Sunday afternoon and throw away all of the "doubles" (should fill a large garbage bag!). Sort it into areas and start to cross reference. Make an itinerary and cut/paste/type it onto one sheet for each day with an "options" section at the bottom. Then put it into file folders designated by the area and day. Firm reservations for specific days (hotels, dinner, etc) are put in a plastic holder and also put in the file. Take out each file folder as you arrive in the area, review it (although you should know it by heart by now) and then either pitch it or re-file for your journal. My friends make fun of my planning constantly but we can to places and know things that are not in any guide book! They might mock but whenever we travel with them they always want to do my "tour".

JWagner - I think the software might be this: EuroData. I ordered it in 2000 from www.eurodata.com for $16.95; haven't tried it out yet, but plan to for very next trip. I usually pack my Eyewitness Guide (if available)for reference in the hotel, and just carry around a 1-pg Excel spread by day of the walking route/sights, and pertinent info. ie. Metro stop, open/close hrs, etc. I just bought a couple of those see-through plastic file cabinets on wheels- I'm going to stick a label on each drawer (Paris, Italy, Travel Tips, etc) and sort out all my notes, brochures, newsclips, etc. There's too much to put in binders, and maybe this will be faster / easier to put away.

I usually take one of the guidebooks and to the pages where there are relevant additional notes (like a restaurant nearby) I attach post-it notes. For the confirmations and reservations I put those in 8-1/2 X 11 plastic envelopes (one for each country) and I make copies that are reduced to 1/2 the size so they take up very little room, but I still have the pertinent information. Marilyn

We went on a 3-1/2 week driving trip through Europe last month and we would have been lost without our “Travel Book” that we put together. I used a lot of the techniques listed above, but specifically did this: 1. Prepared an in depth itinerary which included ALL information I thought we might POSSIBLY need, including confirmation numbers, phone and fax numbers, who I talked to when making a reservation, the dates I confirmed reservations, etc. I placed the itinerary at the very front of our “Travel Book”. 2. Prepared a tabbed section in our “Travel Book” for each city we would be visiting. Within each section, I had placed all the information I had gathered over the months of planning the trip, culled down as much as possible (i.e., cut-and-pasted, shrunk, double-sided pages). At the front of each section, I had also placed the driving instructions on how to reach our destination. I placed a plastic “sleeve” at the end of each section to hold any brochures, ticket stubs, small papers, etc. we might gather during the trip. 3. Prepared another tabbed section called “Transportation”. This was necessary because on our 3-1/2 week trip we traveled by airplane, ferry, train and automobile. Behind this section I kept all reservation information, timetables, confirmations, etc. 4. Placed a few blank sheets of paper in the “Travel Book” for notes I might take along the way. 5. Put a sturdy cover on it and spiral bound everything together. Just to make it “festive” I printed out from the internet a color picture of each of our destinations and cut and pasted them into a “collage-type” picture for the cover. I cannot tell you have invaluable our “Travel Book” became. It was thick because we went to a lot of places and I carried lots of notes on such things as hours of operation, entrance fees, etc. Each day that we changed locations, I would turn the page to the tabbed section for our new destination. Everything was right there – directions, hotel information, sites to see, places to eat, etc. And now that we have been home just about a month today, I look at that Travel Book as one of our greatest souvenirs! Oh, and by the way, we STILL carried our Fodors and Frommers travel books with us just in case! It didn’t seem like too much of a hassle to have them available. We just threw them in the back seat of the car and used them as needed – no need to lug them anywhere except from the airport to the car!

Haven't seen this one yet. I photocopy or scan pages from several different guidebooks and create my own guidebook. I arrange it by travel date in a soft cover folder. I can throw away the pages of the places visited everyday and replace them with momentos, recipts. It all goes in a large ziplock bag. The page of the day goes in my pocket- with photcopy map of area on back.

Laura, Wonderful organization and suggestions. Thanks. How long ahead did you start planning this? Jo

Jo: I started gathering information in February (when we made airline reservations) up until the day we left on our trip in mid-July. I did not actually assemble our "Travel Book" until all hotel reservations were made. After assembling it, I "tweeked" it a few times after we made changes in our itinerary. I forgot to add in my last post that some of the most valuable information I had in our "Travel Book" were tips and suggestions I printed off this website.

I "cut and paste" info from this site and others into a blank Word document; then edit that even farther close to the trip, reduce print size, and copy it double sided to cut down on the paper. I copy pages from guidebooks; I just cannot bring myself to rip them out as some suggest. I put it all in as small a binder as I can, with 3M "sticky" notes as divider tabs. I still end up with one or two full guidebooks, plus my binder. As I read guides and info, I mark my map book pages with sticky notes so I can see quickly where a certain site is (helps with near-sighted eyes). My companions laughed at the time I spent in preparing for our trip (which was a large part of my enjoyment in the trip), but I notice they were quick with questions!

topping for more recent ideas. I would love to hear how people have used their Palms to consolidate all their travel information. Particularly would like to know about Palm software that works wonderfully for travel trips.

Mind boggling thread! I just buy my ticket and get on the plane!! OK I admit, I make hotel reservations over the internet or by fax and *maybe* have one guidebook if I'm visiting a city for the 1st time. I stick the little bit of necessary paperwork in a thin plastic folder in the top pocket of my suitcase. Off I go :-0

Here's what I do for all trips and works great (Going to Italy in 6 weeks and using this 'system') get a 1" or 1 1/2" 3-ring binder with view-through cover, a box of plastic sheet protectors, a set of dividers with tabs and pockets and a pack of 4 x 6 index cards. In the front cover of the binder (in the view-through slot) slip in a full size map of your destination. Then put the dividers in the binder with tabs labeled 'maps', 'hotels / restaurants', 'transportation / sightseeing', 'Misc, etc. (Whatever headings you want). Then put about 10 sheet protectors in each section. As you print off information, slide the page into the sheet protector - this is great when you want to pull out the page to make notes and don't want to have to open the rings of the binder. Make sure you get the dividers with pockets - so handy for holding notes and little slips of paper. You'll find that your 'travel book' will fill up fast and be so organized. I also include a section for 'emails' because there are so many when you're planning a trip. Once you have everything planned and organized, get out your 4 x 6 cards and put a date for each day of your trip on each one (10 day trip = 10 cards, etc.) On one side list all the things you want to do on that day, include phone numbers for reservations and also addresses. You can take these cards with you each day because the binder will be too bulky to carry everywhere - leave that in your room. On the BACK of each daily card, write down the things you actually DID do and notes about each visit or stop you made. You'll be glad you did because after a while some things get to be a blur. When you get home, put the cards in the inside pocket of the binder, insert photo-holder pages for the great pics you took, put it on the coffee table and show EVERYONE who comes to visit!!! Comes in handy if you want to make a return trip or if a friend is going to the same place and wants help with planning!!!! Have a great time! =)

oldie but goodie.

wow.... i just found this old thread and got some great tips from it. I LOVE this website...

Here's some things I do:

1. I have a travel file cabinet, where I file newspaper/magazine/website printouts for places I've been or places I hope to go some day.

2. I print out all my edited/typed information, confirmation slips, flight info, etc. and slide then into clear page protectors. I then put the page protectors in one of those 9x12 portfolio envelopes to take with me.

3. I usually only take a guide book if I really need it--for example, Rick Steves often has descriptions of great walks that I like to review the night before we may take one.

4. I keep a journal when I travel, and make a scrapbook as soon as I get home. It's surprising how many things you forget if you don't write them down... restaurant names,etc.

dina4 - thanks for finding it - I really needed this thread. What kind of a search did you do to locate it? :-/

I go on short trips to see if I can come up with effective ways to use notes and havn't found one yet. This will help immensely. >:D<

I buy a second hand copy of a book I already have and tear those pages out on the area I will visit and discard on the trip and I can refer to at my home copy later. Restaurants I list on paper when I read of one that appeals to me or might paste it in a note book if it's too lenghty.