Whether you’re a first-time traveler or a seasoned globetrotter, these 7 helpful travel-planning tips will help you prepare for your next adventure with ease. These are my tried and true, go-to things I do when planning all our travel, from a short road trip to a flight across the country. You can try them all or mix and match them to find the best and most helpful tools for you. Happy planning!
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Trip Planning Table of Contents
While I am only sharing 7 helpful travel-planning tips, this post is pretty large to navigate. So to make it easier for you, click any of these topics to be quickly taken to that section. At the bottom of each post is a link that will take you back to this table of contents. Enjoy!
- How to Find Your Dream Destination
- Using Instagram to Discover & Plan Your Next Travel Destination
- Plan & Organize Your Next Trip with Pinterest
- Utilizing the Expertise of Local Travel Bureaus
- Using Travel Blogs to Plan Your Next Adventure
- How to Use Local Knowledge to Make the Most of Your Trip
- Mapping Out Your Travel Itinerary with Google My Maps
1. Find Your Dream Destination
With so many amazing places out there, it’s easy to see how it can be challenging to find your dream destination. I have a simple solution for finding out the best place for using up your PTO: inspiration. Some find it everywhere, others may struggle, that’s why for my first helpful travel-planning tip I am sharing how I get inspired to find my dream destination(s).
Spark your wanderlust by flipping through travel publications, finding travel blogs that align with your interests, drooling over travel-themed food shows, browsing art and photo books, being visually stunned by destinations featured on tv shows + movies, and finally, simply talking with someone who has traveled to destinations that intrigue you. Continue reading this section to learn how I use these ideas to inspire our next dream destination!
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Travel + Lifestyle Publications
Whether you prefer flipping through glossy pages or scrolling through stunning photography online, the world of travel and regional destination publications is full of fantastic resources to help you plan your next adventure.
Coupled with inspiring itineraries, insider travel tips, mouth-watering food recommendations, and breathtaking photography, you’ll find great inspiration. My favorite is when a destination is featured as an alternative to a more popular spot. This is great if you’re looking for a less crowded option.
Here are a few of my favorite go-to magazines I love to reference:
I get many of these through my iPad, but I occasionally grab a printed copy if the topic is something I really want to keep for future reference on our coffee table.
- Travel & Leisure trip planning, travel guides, products, and inspiration
- Afar interesting travel stories, guides, inspiration, and more
- Lonely Planet story-worthy travel moments and destination ideas
- Here Magazine by the makers of Away luggage, city guides, and inspiration
- Sunset Magazine west-coast destinations, stories, and lifestyle content
- Midwest Living Midwest travel, stories, and lifestyle content
Find Travel Blogs That Align With Your Goals & Interests
Given that thousands of travel blogs cover every topic imaginable these days, there is certainly no shortage of options to choose from. Some focus on very specific niches, like “solo female travel”, while others cast a wider net. If you have a particular interest in mind, then it’s worthwhile to seek out blogs that speak to that interest. As a photographer and designer, for instance, I tend to gravitate toward blogs that showcase stunning visuals. I also look for insider tips on where to find the best photo opportunities in different locales. Whether it’s picturesque restaurants and shops or breathtaking landscapes and iconic landmarks, I often find them on travel blogs.
Not sure where to start? You can always start with a broad search term and then refine it when you have a better idea.
Let’s say you’re planning a trip to Big Sur and want the best resources on this stunning coastal destination. To begin with, you could conduct a general search for “Big Sur travel blogs” and see what results are returned. But to really hone in on what you want, try narrowing down your search with more specific terms. Looking for trip itineraries? Search for “Big Sur itineraries.” Only have a day to spare? Try searching for “One day in Big Sur itinerary.” Want to find the best photo ops? Look for “Big Sur photo ops”. Through experimentation with different search terms, you can locate the travel blogs that best align with your interests.
Places I use for travel search terms:
- Google: This is my search engine of choice, but there are several out there that will probably have similar results.
- Pinterest: When you think about it, Pinterest is just one big visual search engine. What’s great about Pinterest, too, is you’ll get a better idea of the visuals you’ll get on the blog. We’ll discuss Pinterest further below.
- Tiktok & Instagram: I like Tiktok for more locals and seasoned traveler perspectives and I gravitate towards Instagram to find beautiful visuals. Keep reading to see how I use Instagram to plan below.
Watch Travel Food Shows
When it comes to finding new travel destinations, one of my go-to sources of inspiration is food-themed travel shows. I’m not talking about your typical cooking shows, but rather programs that take you on a culinary journey through different cities and even countries. For me, food is one of the most enjoyable and authentic ways to experience a new place, so watching these shows is a fantastic way to discover a destination’s unique flavors and culture. With so many options to choose from, including some of the most popular shows hosted by the late Anthony Bourdain, there’s no shortage of mouth-watering content to inspire your next adventure.
A few shows I’ve enjoyed are:
- Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives: Discover the hole-in-the-walls, the local haunts, and hidden gems.
- F*ck That’s Delicious: Brash and unexpected, this show takes you to places you probably never thought of visiting before and they do some really random stuff, like fishing at Coney Island using Nathan’s Hot Dogs as bait.
- Eater’s Guide to the World: They have some unique episode titles like “Dining Alone in the Pacific Northwest”, or “The Ass Crack of Dawn in New York City”, that alone would make me watch.
- Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations: This show really took you places. From the catacombs in Paris to Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and beyond. He gets stuck in a warzone, meets all kinds of interesting people, and really shows off the world in a unique way.
Got any recommendations? Tell me below in the comments!
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Art & Photography Books
I enjoy collecting art books on various locations, some I’ve traveled to and some I dream of visiting in the future. On days when the urge to travel is strong, I find myself browsing the pages of these beautiful coffee table-style books. You can find books showcasing travel to many destinations, or something more specific like Chicago. Either way, these books are sure to fill you with inspiration for new-to-you places to discover. I’ve linked a few of my favorites above!
Talk To A Traveler
Undoubtedly, one of the best ways to acquire helpful ideas for travel planning is to tap into the experiences of people you know who love to explore the world. Sure, it may take a bit of effort on your part, but reaching out to a friend, family member, or co-worker who has a passion for travel can yield some amazing results.
Ask them about their most recent trip, or for their top recommendations on places to visit – I guarantee you’ll find them eager to share their stories and photos with you. Whether you prefer meeting up for coffee or dinner, having a phone call, or simply chatting over text or online, there are plenty of ways to connect and learn from the travelers in your life.
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TV, Movies, & Books
Movies, TV shows, and even books can provide some incredible travel inspiration. I often find myself captivated by the breathtaking visuals and stunning landscapes depicted in my favorite shows, and it’s not uncommon for me to start daydreaming about booking a trip to those destinations. And the same can happen with books – if the author does a good job describing a place, it can transport you there in your mind’s eye.
So, the next time you’re watching a show or reading a book, pay attention to the setting and see if it sparks your wanderlust. You never know – you might just discover your next dream destination!
Here are some recs that make me want to book a flight:
- TV Shows: Lost for Hawaii, White Lotus for Hawaii and Italy, Outlander for Scottish landscapes, Emily in Paris for France, Big Little Lies for Big Sur & Monterey, California, and Yellowstone for the famous National Park by the same name.
- Movies: Twilight for various Pacific Northwest destinations, Crazy Rich Asians for Singapore, La La Land takes you to Los Angeles, and Visit Astoria, Oregon when watching The Goonies.
- Books: The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler made me want to bundle up and explore Alaska. Dream On by Angie Hockman was so fun to read because it takes place in my hometown of Cleveland! The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren had me looking up flights to Hawaii. (I heard this is going to be a movie soon!)
Hope this section gave you some great ideas on how to find your dream destination! Have a favorite book, movie, tv show, or song that inspires you to travel? Tell me in the comments!
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2. Using Instagram to Discover & Plan Your Next Travel Destination
When it comes to helpful travel-planning tips, Instagram is one of my go-to resources. With its endless supply of stunning visuals and eye-catching content, it’s the perfect platform for discovering new destinations and travel inspiration. In addition to finding accounts for specific destinations, here are four tips on how I use Instagram for helpful travel planning.
I. Researching a Destination
There are three key ways I like to research a destination on Instagram. The first would be to visit the location’s Instagram account if one exists, the second would be to utilize hashtags to see user-generated content, and lastly utilize the geotags users add to their posts.
Find their account: Either try searching using Instagram’s search tool or visit the destination’s official website and use their Instagram link to access their page. See “View Tagged Photo” below for more on using an official account page. Pro tip: Oftentimes cities, states, and countries’ official tourism pages start with “visit _______”, “Destination ________”, or “Enjoy _______”. Fill in the blanks with your destination of choice.
Utilize hashtags: This is the most common way to search for photos on Instagram. You can start with something generic like “#joshuatreenps” to find Joshua Tree National Park photos. Scroll through the thumbnails that show up and click on images that visually appeal to you. From here, I like to see what other relevant hashtags they used, such as more specific attractions within the park like “#chollacactusgarden”, or other tags like “#joshuatreebloom” to see where people are finding bursts of floral blooms around the park.
Click that geotag: This can be found directly underneath the username on any given post if the user added it. I like to click these to get even more specific destination images to pop up. If you’re lucky, the user tagged the specific location over the broader location.
Unfortunately, not everyone uses Instagram the same way. Some people add lots of details, others like to keep it vague for various reasons. Either way, searching for inspiration on Instagram is sure to help you narrow down itinerary stops for your dream destination!
II. Find Destination Hashtags
Official tourism bureau accounts often have a dedicated hashtag for the destination, which can be found in their bio. Although this hashtag is usually very popular, you can still find more specific, niche hashtags related to the destination by looking at the other hashtags used in visually striking posts within the feed. Additionally, you may find unofficial accounts related to the destination you want to visit that will be great resources and may also have their own hashtags to use for features.
In the example, you can see Cleveland, Ohio’s tourism bureau and how they have a hashtag right in their bio. You’ll find images from locals and visitors alike tagging using this hashtag to feature their images from this destination.
III. View Tagged Photos
By looking at a brand or destination’s account, you can view their tagged photos, which is a different way to find user-generated content compared to hashtags and geotags. Those who are passionate about sharing content often tag the brand in their posts. Additionally, some brands or destinations may not share the best images on their own account, so checking the tagged photos can give you a better idea of what to expect visually. See the screengrab above to help identify the tagged photo icon.
IV. Use Bookmarks
If you don’t have a specific destination in mind or want to keep track of places you wish to visit, bookmarks are a great option. Every image or Reel on Instagram can be bookmarked privately, or in a shared bookmark with friends. You can choose to either bookmark everything into one folder or create sub-folders to keep your inspiration organized. This method is helpful for ongoing inspiration gathering or keeping track of your research. I’m sharing a snippet of my folders above.
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Follow me on Pinterest here
3. Plan & Organize Your Next Trip with Pinterest
Pinterest is a visual search engine and a great way to find a destination and plan your next trip, and just about anything else you may want to plan. Here are some ways I use Pinterest to plan future trips.
Curate
Be picky with what you pin and be sure to visit the pins you choose to pin on your board. It’s unfortunate, but many pins lead to broken links, spam, and in some cases something completely different from what you think you are pinning. Plus, it might not be as helpful an article as the Pin made it out to be.
Add Sections
Use Pinterest to create boards for various topics, but simplify overwhelming boards by using Sections to categorize pins. For example, if you have a board for visiting Big Sur, create Sections such as where to eat, best views, itineraries, and photo ops. This keeps your research and inspiration organized.
Use the To-Do Notes feature
You can add private “to-do notes” to your board. This is a space where you can create checklists for stops you want to make and include select Pins. This is a great way to get even more specific with your planning and call out Pins you don’t want to miss.
To-dos are your board’s workspace. You can use them to round up Pins you want to try, write a list, or jot down anything else you want to remember.
Bonus: Create a shared board between you and your travel partner(s). This will allow you all to pin inspiration in the same place, a helpful way to keep organized when planning.
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A few travel bureaus I’ve referenced recently. Click the logo to visit.
4. Utilizing the Expertise of Local Travel Bureaus
Just about every destination from big cities to small towns have a local travel bureau or official tourism board. I find these to be great resources when you are wanting to understand what is happening in the location of choice. Many travel bureaus will share local events and occasions that you may not have been aware of that could affect your travel. They can also recommend must-see destinations, help you create itineraries, send you travel brochures and booklets, and give you other insightful tips you might not find elsewhere. To find these, start searching for the destination you are visiting and look for “<destination> travel bureau”. Other search terms you can try would be to add “guide”, “destination”, “travel”, and other simple terms. Most often these should bring up that locations travel bureaus as top results.
Here are a few examples:
- My hometown of Cleveland has Destination Cleveland.
- I recently was looking into Denver travel and found Denver.org and Visit Estes Park, a nearby destination.
- A destination I frequent has Visit California, or to get more specific I can look at a city like Visit San Diego.
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5. Using Destination-Specific Travel Blogs to Plan Your Next Adventure
I touched on this topic for helping you find a destination, which is a great start. I’ve curated a handful of travel blogs that are destination-specific which I find to be super helpful for me when I want to visit those locations. This is where you’ll get great insight into that destination as it’s more of a locals perspective, and locals usually know where to find all the good stuff (and what to avoid!)
My blog, for example, while it covers several travel destinations you’ll notice my home base in Cleveland, Ohio. That means I’m sharing a lot more in-depth Cleveland content and my local perspective.
Use Pinterest, Google (or your search engine of choice) and look for your destination and add “from a locals point of view”, or “from a locals perspective”. In most cases, you’ll come across an article that gives you insight into the blog’s local focus. Additionally, you can search for your “destination” and “travel blog”
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6. How to Use Local Knowledge to Make the Most of Your Trip
Locals are going to be great resources to ask when you travel. I know it can be hard to be social these days or just talk to strangers, so here are a few easy ways to do this:
Talk to the concierge at the hotel: They are there to help and share knowledge. “Where is the best spot to grab dinner?” How do I get tickets to XYZ?”. They should be a wealth of local information.
Ask staff: Are you at a restaurant and want to do something fun in the area? At a bar and not sure what to do next? Ask the waiter or bartender what they would do.
Some great questions to ask a local:
“What would you do on a Friday night in _____?”
“Do you know any local makers/designers/photographers/jewelers, etc I should check out?”
“In your opinion, what tourist attraction is worth a visit?”
“Is this area safe at night? Is there anything I should be aware of?”
“Where would you say the best pizza is in town?”
Ask before you go: Utilize message boards, Facebook groups, or even reach out to a blogger or creator and ask for more info.
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7. Mapping Out Your Travel Itinerary with Google My Maps
Google My Maps is one of my favorite helpful ideas for my travel planning, especially for a new destination I am unfamiliar with. There are several great uses for this tool, I’ll share a few of my favorites below.
Find Your Hotel:
This works best if you know several of the destinations you want to visit on your trip already. Pin these destinations and look at where most of the pins on the map are. This will be the ideal place to look for a hotel as everything will be in close proximity.
Visualize Your Itinerary
You know where you’re going but want to see what that looks like. Enter your destinations, and color code, and create lists as you wish. Now you’ll have a great visual reference and may even find more things to do or realize something is way out of the way.
Brainstorm Future Trip Ideas
No travel plans? Got a wishlist full of destinations? Why not start planning? Create a guide where you can start mapping out ideas you’ve gathered from your travel inspiration. When the time comes, you’ll already know where you want to stay and have a great start on your travel planning.
Share Your Favorites
Ever have people asking you “Where was that one place you went to on your trip?”, instead of having to constantly remind everyone, you can create a My Map to share!
How to Use
Here is how I set up Google My Maps:
- Open Google My Maps and enter your destination and choose a base map (bottom of the sidebar on the left) that you’d like to see your map on.
- Create layers & color code them. You can have a layer of hikes you want to try, a layer for cute coffee shops, and a layer for must-visit locations, and assign each a color so they stand out on your map.
- Enter destinations you want to visit. From restaurants to hidden gems and everything in between. You can also add icons to these pins. In addition to pinning destinations, you can draw shapes and create lines to elaborate your map if you’d like. (I personally don’t use these features)
- List hotels you want to consider staying at so you can see them on the map in relation to everything else.
There are plenty of websites out there describing in detail how to use the features on Google My Maps if you are looking for more info. You’ll need to have a Google Account and it helps to have a desktop or laptop to set up your map, however, there is an app available.
Pro tip: download your Google Maps before traveling just in case you experience a lack of internet connection.
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My Last Idea for Helpful Travel Planning: Contingency Plans
Look, if you ask me, plans are made to be broken. It’s just how it goes sometimes but instead. of being upset, be prepared. This is why when planning I always add contingency plans.
Is it raining when you were expecting a day full of sunshine? No worries, you listed a few museums in the area you’d love to check out. Is that restaurant you were so excited to visit have a no-reservation policy and you find a 2+ hour wait when you get there and you’re absolutely starving? No stressing, you already found a few alternative ideas nearby just in case.
I often keep this list in my phone’s notes and include pertinent information like hours and days of operation, ticket or fees and how to get them, the address and phone number (you should be able to easily tap these and go directly to a map), and any other pertinent information I would need to know.
I’ve learned to do this from being a non-planner in my life and wasting so much time on trips just thinking “Now what do we do?!”
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I hope you enjoyed my travel-planning tips! Let me know in the comments if you found any of these helpful or have any questions. Happy planning!
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