How I plan a trip in 3 steps

Want to plan a trip that’s unique to you, but NOT get overwhelmed by the planning process? You all know I love to find hidden gems wherever I go and never take a cookie-cutter trip, but this calls for a different way of trip planning.

This is my EXACT process for how I plan for trips, whether they’re nearby or far away. Full disclosure, this doesn’t get into the details of booking flights and places to stay (I speak to some of that in this article about travel tips).

Ask yourself: What do you like to do when you travel?

Ever start googling your destination and then quickly get overwhelmed with all your options? Make sure this doesn’t happen by first establishing what’s most important to you when you travel. For me, it’s all about everything local: food & drinks, shopping, history, and outdoor adventure.

This way, when I start going down a rabbit hole or start feeling pressured to do something because it’s “the thing to do” in a certain area, I can revisit my priority list. If it doesn’t fall into one of these categories, I cut it.

Step One: Get inspiration

I usually have a pretty good visual in my mind about what I want my trip to look like. Whether it’s sipping on a beer by the water, or going on a hike with a view, I really want that vision to come to life. And the best way to get visual inspiration? INSTAGRAM!

Instagram can be used for much more than just scrolling through pretty pictures. It also has great search capabilities by locations. Click on the search bar at the bottom of your screen, then click into the search bar, and click on “places.” From here, type in the name of your destination city (e.g. New Smyrna Beach). Hit “search” and Instagram will give you the top posts for that location, as well as the most recent.

Here is where I’ll scroll through and see if anything catches my eye. If I see a photo of a beer by the water, I’ll click on it to see more about where I can find that. Or if I see a pretty view, I’ll read the caption to figure out what trail I can take to get there.

Finally, I save all of the Instagram images I find in an Instagram folder within the app. To do this, just click on the little bookmark icon on the bottom right of the image. Hold it in to bring up a list of all your folders and click the “+” sign to create a new one. I usually title it with the location I’m going to and then save all the fun things I find to do within that folder!

Now, keep reading for what to do with these fun things you find. I’ll get to that in a second.

Step Two: Find itineraries from real people

Sites like TripAdvisor are great for reading reviews, but it usually only gives you the common things to do in your destination. To find unique things to do and hidden gems (which I love!) Pinterest is your next step. Yes, PINTEREST!

You might not know it, but all the city guides I post to my blog, I also post to Pinterest. This helps other people who don’t necessarily follow me on social media find my stuff as they’re planning for a trip. And guess what…all other travel writers do this too!

Your first step is to not just think of Pinterest as inspiration, but as a search engine. It’s seriously like google on steroids because it’s visual! Use the search bar at the top the same as you would use Google. Just type in what you’re looking for, like “things to do in Chicago,” or “unique restaurants in Minneapolis,” or “best hikes in Denver.”

From these searches you’ll get a bunch of articles and guides served up to you from people just like me! Locals who know their city the best who can give you unique things to do, and travel writers who are experts at travel and what’s worth your time! Take time to read the guides and then save the pins to a folder if you need to reference them later.

Step Three: Map it out

Now, it’s time to bring it all together. Take all the fun spots you found on Instagram and Pinterest and create a Google Map with them. Here’s an example of one I created for the North Shore. When traveling somewhere new, I’ve found it’s best to have an idea of where each spot I want to visit is on a map. Then I can plan my days accordingly based on where things are located.

To create your own map, use a desktop or laptop computer. I haven’t been able to figure out how to actually create the map via the Google Maps app yet, so if you know how to do that let me know! You can however, view the maps you create through your app, you just can’t create them there. Weird, I know.

Anyway, while in Google Maps on your laptop, click on the menu bar, scroll down and click on “your places.” Then click “maps” and then “create map.” Then just search for your locations as you normally would and then save them to your map! I also like to color code them and add icons and notes.

Obviously, you could easily just do on or two of these steps as you plan for your next trip. I tend to do them all, but I promise if you at least create a map like this it will be your best friend on your next trip! Happy planning!