How do you keep up with your plans?

[glypnirsgirl Member Find all posts View Profile Close glypnirsgirl]

Hi - still trying to figure this all out.

I have all of my reservations bookes for the next 18 months. I have saved the confirmation notices as PDFs on my computer. I have printed them out and put them in my freezer - where we store all of our tickets and confirmations.

Now I am doing a lot of travel planning. Figuring out what to do at what location, and I have no idea how to keep up with my ideas.

How do you keep up with your plans?

elaine

[Pstreet1 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Pstreet1]

We get plastic folders and label each one for one trip. After that, everything for that trip goes in that folder. If we didn't, we'd never know which trips we had rental cars already done for, which prices had changed, etc.

[Glitter Brunello Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Glitter Brunello]

I would suggest electronic folders. I also calendar any tours and reservations, including cancellation deadlines, in my iCal,,,

[StressCadet Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close StressCadet]

We get plastic folders and label each one for one trip. After that, everything for that trip goes in that folder. If we didn't, we'd never know which trips we had rental cars already done for, which prices had changed, etc.

I would suggest electronic folders. I also calendar any tours and reservations, including cancellation deadlines, in my iCal,,,

Another vote for paper or plastic folders....I save everything electronically (email, etc) but I can't give up the paper.

What's an iCal....oh, it must must an i calendar..is that an Iphone thing? Don't you have a blackberry?

I'm too scared to become dependent-I already ignore my family as it is

[mpizza Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mpizza]

I've been keeping an excel spreadsheet since 1998 to track my timeshares, maintenance fee paid, where I deposited them, expiration dates and reservation numbers.

I keep separate folders for each trip on my computer with confirmations, interesting articles, and a sketchy itinerary. I print hard copies a month before my trip so I can button-up any loose-ends or correct mistakes (like reserving a car for the wrong dates ).

Maria

[mdurette Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mdurette]

I have a hanging file folder draw at my computer station/desk at home. I simply make an internal folder to put in the hanging folder for each trip. Label it with say "Florida - October" and then start to put everything in there as I go along.

What is typically in there before our trip:
II confirmations
Rental Car Reservation
Coupons for rental cars
Flight confirmations
Local attraction info
Restaurant.com certificates
theme park tickets
Coupons for local attractions.
(hint for savings: this doesn't work for large theme parks - but works for juse about anythine else). Example: We will be going to Santa's Village in New Hampshire at the end of the summer. I search the web for discount coupons, even passes for sale on ebay and buy them.

Before we leave - this folder simply moves from the draw to my computer case so we have it with us and doesn't get checked in at the airport.

[x3skier Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close x3skier]

There's an App for the iPod Touch / iPhone that is a super program for keeping all the info on my trips. They have a web site TripIt - Travel Itinerary ? Trip Planner that you use to set up the trip. When I get a confirmation from the airline, hotel, rent a car, whatever, I just forward it to tripit and it automatically adds it to the trip. It then shows up on my iPod Touch when I connect.

I also keep folders on my computer with that and other info that tripit doesn't automatically add although I also add it manually at the web site.

This way, I have three sources for the info, tripit web site, my computer and my iPod Touch. I believe tripit also works with other smart phones. Its all free, BTW, no subscription required although they do have add ons that cost to use.

I also print confirmations before I leave just in case the company doesn't believe something on my iPod. Never had to do that but one never knows.

Cheers

[akparsa Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close akparsa]

Evernote...

It is a computer / smart phone application tailor made for this kind of thing.

You can clip web sites to it, save photos to it, save PDFs to it, etc.

I have a folder in Evernote for each trip. I made a car rental reservation, then save the PDF to the appropriate Evernote file.

I print the relevant stuff before I leave town.

Evernote is accessible and syncs to your computer, your phone, and online, so if your phone or computer dies, you're not out anything. If you're on the road and your phone dies, you can go to any web-enabled computer, pull up your Evernote account and it is all saved there.

[helenbarnett1963 Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close helenbarnett1963]

another vote for the plastic folders!!
one for each trip,
plus one for the documents which go on every trip - passports, insurance docs, hotel loyalty cards etc
plus one for each place we visit regularly - currency, maps, coupons, info on attractions etc

i am a bit of an obsessive about lists (due to a lousy memory!), so for each trip I produce a "to do/to buy/to pack" list which goes in the trip folder and is added to and amended by the whole family in the weeks before the trip. Each list is personalised for a particular trip based on a series of "master lists" - ski vacation, summer/beach vacation, weekend city break, kids school trips etc. the master lists change over time...... baby wipes and strollers have been replaced by ipods and hair straighteners....and contain everything from "book flights" down to "pack marmite"

[10AC-TYM Member Find all posts View Profile Close 10AC-TYM]

I have a 24 month calendar with each trip colored using a different color for each week or hotel stay if needed between weeks. Each color change is marked for location. If the date is uncolored I can make appointments with the doctors. If it is white, I'm home...colored I'm gone. Some months we are only home 4 or 5 days.

Each trip has a large envelope with all paperwork for RCI, air, car, special coupons, hotel, things to see or do, etc. If it is a long trip I will have an envelope for each week labeled with what is inside. Be sure things are in the envelope in the order you need them and are unfolded so you can easily take out what you need. We got home yesterday from a 4 week European trip and I used three envelopes.

[glypnirsgirl Member Find all posts View Profile Close glypnirsgirl]

Great information --- and more questions

I am so happy. I use a Blackberry for my phone and email. But I have an Itouch that I use for music and reading. I haven't used any other applications other than Itunes and Kindle and Eucalyptus (another reading program). I love the idea of using the computer applications and being able to save them to my Itouch and Blackberry and computer.

At the same time, there are things that I just want paper for. I really like the idea of the colored calendar for the future. Right now I am still working full time (I am at home recovering for surgery for the next 4 weeks) so I keep the vacation dates on my office calendar. I really don't like my office having privy to all the personal details about our trip, so I don't use the office calendar except to know that I will be gone.

For the last 15 years, I have basically gone to Disney World or to visit family. We are now empty-nesters and we are branching out on where we are vacationing. The planning is a whole lot more extensive (but not as extensive as it was the first five trips to WDW when I had everything planned down practically to the minute) than it has been for a long time.

I am doing lots of research for what i would like to do for a 2 week, 2 island (Kauai and Maui) trip in April of next year. So far, I have read 4 guide books, so I am getting lots of ideas about what I want to do. How do I keep up with the ideas?

Thanks for your help. Off to look at the apps y'all have suggested.

elaine

[Luanne Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Luanne]

I do both file folders and electronic folders. They are organized by date and location.

[Tommyboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Tommyboy]

I have file folders which are started as soon as the reservation confirmation is received. Copies of everything goes in, including newspaper and magazine articles. I carry that along on the trip which has proven invaluable when checking in at airport/resort and car rental counters. It is amazing how useful the documents with names and dates can be when something goes wrong, and believe me, it will. I do like the idea of the plastic folders instead of the manilla file folders. Kind of hard to open in the wind!

[aliikai2 Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close aliikai2]

My Yahoo mail account

We only have 5 trips booked right now. I have been slow to book as Joyce has been battling some serious health issues.

I make a new folder for each trip, drop everything into the folder. Keep links to sites along with passwords in the draft file, also digital scans of passports, insurance policies.
I do print out the must have things, i.e., air tixs, check in confirmations, hotel near airport docs, etc.

The best part it is available to me anywhere that has internet access without carrying a ton of loose papers.

When I needed the Access America insurance policy I just went online and printed it in the lobby of the resort in Puerto Vallarta.

fwiw,

Greg

[susieq Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close susieq]

I'll vote with the plastic folder ~ only I'll take it a step further and buy a fabric covered expandable envelope ~ the kind with 10 - 12 separators inside. They usually all have separate tabs on top, and I'll label them - RESORT, CAR, DINING, ETC. Planning's half the fun!! We'll keep 1 of these for each vacation.