Master the Art of Travel Itinerary Creation
6 resources that can help you get the most out of your travel planning
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So, you decided to free up some time to start planning your upcoming holiday. But, where do you start? How do you know which places to visit, how long to stay everywhere, how to get from point A to B, and which places to avoid?
These are difficult questions, and doing research into a new destination can be super overwhelming. Therefore, I (Mike) will explain my process on how to craft your itinerary for your upcoming trip.
In the blog, we’ll cover 6 resources that you can use to make sure you are prepared to make your next trip the best one.
1. Travel Blogs
One of the first things I do when looking for an itinerary is to Google ‘X day itinerary LOCATION’, where I’ll often change the days up a bit to get different versions or routes we can take.
For our upcoming trip to Canada for example, I would start searching on ‘14-day itinerary Canada’, or if you want to search more for a specific area ‘7-day itinerary British Columbia’.
Reading different blogs and other experiences always gives me a good starting point to decide on the trip's main highlights, how long each part will take, and things to avoid.
One example of such a blog that you can find, is our blog about Oman, where we explain the highlights of the 12-day trip to the Middle East.
2. Travel Books
I love to bring travel books, such as Lonely Planet books, to my destinations to find places to explore when I’m there.
Often, when Googling ‘best things to do in Vancouver’, you’re first met with 10 websites that want to show sponsored content, and then afterward most blogs tell the same story.
In my experience, travel books often have more in-depth options for activities, meal recommendations, and general tips about the place you’re visiting. (And let’s be honest, it’s also good to get off your phone as much as you can when you’re exploring a new destination)
One downside: you’ll have to bring the book in your (probably already full) suitcase and carry it with you. In the case of some books (such as the Lonely Planet for Japan), they can get pretty heavy and big quickly.
One big plus side of these books: they are a nice showcase on your bookshelf when you get home from holiday!
3. YouTube
YouTube is the platform I often use to get a better visual idea of the location I’ll be visiting. In most travel blogs, you’ll only see the pictures with the highest quality, the perfect composition, and edited colors. This might give you a warped view of how it actually looks.
YouTube vlogs can be the place where people often show much longer, visual content of your next destination. This will give you a better idea of the places you’re planning to visit.
One downside of YouTube: videos are often pretty long (15-45 minutes). So I often find myself skipping through multiple videos to get a better overview of different experiences.
4. AI
Ugh, another blog that mentions AI in 2024? How original.
Yes, I know, but hear me out.
If you are short on time (or short on motivation to figure it all out. I know, I’ve been there too), there is a solution: AI
Take the most known AI model: ChatGPT. ChatGPT will be able to give you a condensed view of all the information available on the web. That also means all travel blogs, recommendations & guides.
So, if we ask ChatGPT: “Can you give me a 14-day itinerary for Canada”, it will give you some great options within seconds. From there, you can be more specific to suit the itinerary to your needs: do you want more nature? Just ask it again. Do you want to have a more unique experience with local cultures? The answer is only one question away.
5. Local People, Friends & Family
Often, the best source of information is people already living there, or people that have been there in the past. However, it can be the case that you simply don’t know anybody who has been at your destination before.
Take for example Oman. I knew nobody who had traveled there before, so this option wasn’t available.
However, Hannah and I have family living there for our upcoming trip to Canada, so there are enough family members to ask. Additionally, Canada is a relatively popular destination for holidays, so we both know enough people who have been here in recent years who can give us some recommendations.
6. Social Media
The last option, and the option that I personally use the least is social media. Instagram can indeed be a great source of inspiration for new destinations, but when I want to search for specific information, Instagram doesn’t feel like the most obvious place.
I must note, that with the introduction of our Instagram account for Mapping Memories (you don’t follow us yet? No worries, here is the link 😉), and our growing community there, we can ask our followers for advice and recommendations.
How and where do you store all your information?
During your research, you’ll need a place to store all your information.
Everybody probably has their favorite way of storing and collecting their notes, and mine is Notion.
More specifically, for the past (& upcoming) trips, I have been using a template that I created myself to organize all the information so you can access it quickly before and during the trip.
Here is an overview of everything that this page contains:
Calendar view of all activities, flights, rental cars, accommodations, and more
General resources that are useful for research, and during the trip
Checklist for before and during the trip
Information about the flights
Information about possible activities
Information about a possible rental car
Information about accommodations
Other important documents.
Are you interested in using this Notion template? Let me know, and I’ll send it to you!
Closing thoughts
Are there any resources that you are using, that I haven’t mentioned? Let me know in the comments! This way we can learn from each other!
I hope I was able to give some advice on how to do the research for your upcoming travels. If you found anything in this week’s edition of Mapping Memories useful, consider giving it a like as a thank you, or share this post with somebody who is struggling with this!
Hannah and I truly appreciate the support that everybody shows us every week.
We hope you have a great weekend, and talk to you next week in a new edition of Mapping Memories!
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Last summer was the first time I used ChatGPT to create an itinerary for our Italy trip and I loved it! We also used it to get an idea for budgets and to decide what the best mode of transportation would be every part of our trip. One thing I also loved is that my IG reels algorithm learned that I was planning to travel to Italy so my feed was full of great insider tips 👀 Gotta admit that a few things were too hyped up, but I guess that's inevitable with super popular destinations 🤷🏽♀️
I didn't know about Notion. This seems like a legit resource to plan a trip. Thanks for sharing this list!