5 Proven Ways to Simplify and Organize Your Travel Research

Updated: 04/08/2024
Janice

When it comes to tidying my travel research, I bear-hug embrace the ways of the famous Japanese organizer, Marie Kondo. Like Marie, I make a point to save only the things that bring me joy—or at least the anticipation of it, while on a trip.

Although part of me wants to save everything I find—from every cultural to culinary highlight—I moderate. Keeping things focused, I keep items I love and know my family will like, which helps me create a valuable trip resource.

And, just like neat compartments in a post-Kondo sock drawer, I organize these saved items using an easy system that allows me to find and access them later.

At-a-Glance: 5 Strategies to Streamline & Organize Travel Research

Planning a trip can be exciting, but it can also be overwhelming. With so many destinations, hotels, and activities to research, I know first-hand that it is easy to get lost in a sea of information. That is why it is helpful to have a strategy to organize and simplify your travel research. Here are five proven ways to do just that.

Use a travel research checklist. Guide your planning for a stress-free vacation and remember every detail with a comprehensive list like this one.
Know the best travel planning resources. Get the essential planning information you need faster and better with these top sources.
Have a system to store your research. Know where to save your travel research so you can find, access, and share it easily when needed.
Get out the door with more checklists. Use universal and destination packing lists and close-the-house checklists to get out the door more smoothly and with everything you need.
Stay organized during the trip. Stay on track during your trip using itineraries, online files, and apps—ensuring easy access to essential information.

Why Staying Organized Makes for Better Travel

When it comes to travel research, being organized helps. Without a structured approach, it is easy to get overwhelmed and spend hours searching for new information or finding old sources.

Organizing and simplifying your travel research helps you save time and have the necessary information at your fingertips when needed. In addition, easy access to your saved travel research gives you more options and on-the-go flexibility.

For example, before a trip to southern France, I read about Lourmarin, a Provencal town with one of the best Saturday markets in the region. I saved the destination to my curated Google Maps list and recorded tips about visiting the Saturday market, like where to park, open hours, and places to eat, in an online doc.

Even though I knew a visit to Lourmarin was not a sure thing, as we were traveling with a big multi-family group and staying over an hour away, I hoped for the best.

Saturday at the Lourmarin market.

Fromage!

Pretty soaps and perfect gifts.

Something for everyone - a new French dress and headband.

Even the salads are gorgeous in Lourmarin.

So, when our schedules opened, I suggested the activity, and the group agreed to go. I found and shared my saved information. And we all spent a lovely Saturday in the market town. Of the many ways to enjoy Provence, browsing pretty market stalls in a picturesque town, followed by a leisurely alfresco lunch at a charming cafe, is a very, very good one.

Use This 49-Item Travel Research Checklist

One of the first steps in organizing your travel planning is to borrow a travel research checklist or create your own. This checklist will help you stay on track throughout your trip-planning process.

A good checklist will detail the key elements you need to research, like flights, accommodations, transportation, and activities. If you feel overwhelmed, break each category into smaller tasks and set deadlines for each. If you are going on a group trip, assign responsibility to whoever oversees that task. Doing this will help you stay focused and ensure no details slip through the cracks.

Use a checklist like the one I provide in this article, and shown below. Once you have your checklist in place, it is time to start researching.

Know the Best Travel Planning Resources

Countless travel planning tools, from flight comparisons to hotel reviews, will help simplify your research and provide valuable insights. However, as a shortcut, I share my favorites with links and why to use them for each of these four categories.

Where to Go
How to Get There
Where to Stay
What to Do

Many of the sources I share are free or low-cost, simple to use, and quickly provide the essential information you need to plan your best trip. Marie would approve.

Where to Go: 8+ Resources for Travel Planning

Use these 8+ resources to get ideas on where you want to go next. Or use them to shape your itinerary within a region.

YouTube & Social Media

Travel-related videos and social media are great planning resources. Following travel accounts can inspire you, offer travel hacks, and provide recommendations. Engage with account content and ask questions from creators to get personalized advice.

Plus, take advantage of resourceful groups and forums on Facebook and Reddit. Join private travel groups or hop on destination-specific threads. Scan past posts where travelers asked and got answers for the very same questions you have. Get feedback on possible itineraries to get ideas to shape your trip.

Travel Bloggers

Reading travel blogs can be a great way to gather insider tips and recommendations. Experienced and knowledgeable travel experts with distinct points of view will provide valuable insights and advice. Follow or subscribe to the newsletters of bloggers you like best.

love to travel?

Friends & Family

It is likely that your family or friends, or friends of friends, have been to the place you plan to travel. Bring up your planned trip in casual conversations or cast a net digitally on social media to ask for recommendations.

Google Explore

Use the open-ended Explore search engine on Google Flights to see all the destinations you can fly to or fly and drive from your home city with airfare price tags attached for specific or flexible dates. I have planned many trips based on where I could get the most affordable tickets using Google Explore. Learn how to best use it in “Travel Better: How to Best Use Google Flights Explore.”

Guidebooks

Once you have a general idea of the destination or region you want to visit, read a guidebook to get an in-depth and independent view of how to craft your itinerary. Also, get information on destination highlights, history and culture, and ideas for where to eat, sleep, and shop. Get an idea for which guidebooks fit your needs best in this article sharing the pros and cons of the top 15 guidebooks series.

Borrow an Itinerary

Need the ultimate shortcut for trip ideas? Look at a tour company website that fits your travel style and see where they go and how they organize their trip itineraries. A few of my favorite companies include Intrepid Travel (for international adventure travel), Macs Adventures (for European hiking and biking trips), and Austin Adventures (for US national park visits).

For example, if you are unsure how to visit the highlights in Costa Rica, jump on the Intrepid website and look at their Costa Rica trips. Do you need ideas for hikes and walks in Switzerland? Macs Adventure trips show great ideas. Or—if you are confused about how many of the five Utah national parks to visit on one trip—you will see that Austin Adventures has figured it out.

Plus, when you are on these sites, you can decide to fully outsource your planning and book a trip directly with the tour company. Get more ideas for the best places to find inspiring trip itinerary ideas here.

How to Get There & Get Around: 7 Resources for Travel Planning

If you have not already read a guidebook for your destination, now is the time to do it. The best guidebooks provide comprehensive logistics information about getting to and from and traveling around a destination. In addition, here are the shortcuts I recommend looking at to get the transportation information and bookings you need.

Airfare

My first stop is always Google Flights. I use it for its Explore functionality, where I can price flights and track fares. Then, I buy my tickets directly from the airline. I do this to minimize the potential hassle of dealing with a reseller if my flight is delayed, canceled, or needs rebooking. If this happens, I prefer dealing directly with the better-resourced airline. See more airfare tips here.

Also, I recommend signing up for the free flight deal emails from Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights). Or—buying its annual membership to get access to exclusive fare deals.

Train

Consider the benefits of train travel wherever you plan to explore. It is the ultimate slow travel experience. I share why I love to travel by train and provide resources for where to plan train trips and buy train tickets here.

Driving

Sometimes the best way to get there, or get around, is by car. Get my tips for road trips and rental cars, including one of my favorite sources to save on car rentals—Autoslash. Learn about rental car insurance in “Rental Car Insurance: When You Need It & When You Don’t.”

Where to Stay: 5 Resources & Tips for Travel Planning

When our family travels, I put a lot of care and attention into picking the places we stay—from the location to the layout. I do this because I have found vacation lodging has an outsize positive or negative impact on our overall trip experience. For example, it is difficult to have a bad trip when this is the kind of place you stay in Positano, Italy.

Get my tips for finding the best places for your trip here. See my best resources where you can filter your accommodation searches based on preferences, such as price range, location, and amenities below.

Google Hotels

In addition to providing an easy-to-use navigable map to search for top lodging, Google Hotels features three little-known helpful buttons that could save you loads of time when you plan your next trip. These buttons will help you decide where to stay, when to visit, and what you will pay for your lodging. Learn more about Google Hotels in “Google for Travel: Plan Better with These 8 Tools.”

Booking.com

This accommodation booking platform is my preferred lodging site, particularly in Europe, where its presence is extensive. You will appreciate its flexible cancellation and payment options, user reviews, discounts, and easy-to-use interface for hotels and rentals.

VRBO & Airbnb

Explore more of the rental market using sites like VRBO and Airbnb. Find rental properties that offer more space vs. hotels and household amenities like kitchens and laundry, which are helpful for longer-term travel.

Tripadvisor

Use this site to see which hotels and specialty properties rank the highest for your destination. Read the detailed guest reviews.

5 Essential Accommodation Search Tips When Travel Planning

Set a budget. Doing this will help narrow your options and save you from wasting time on properties outside your price range.
Read property reviews. See what previous guests have to say about your prospective lodging to learn about its quality and suitability for your needs.
Check out manager reviews. When considering renting, click on the owner or manager profile to check out their other properties. Confirm all the rentals they manage have consistently solid reviews. If they do not, consider this a red flag, increasing the likelihood of potential issues with your booking.
Dive into negative reviews. Did a guest have an issue? See how management responded. Is the response prompt, considerate, and respectful? Or combative and blaming? Since you never know when an unexpected issue may occur with a booking, you will want reassurance that management has a proven ability to deal effectively with problems. Or better yet, can avoid them from happening altogether.
Note the fees. Before you book a rental, get a clear idea of the additional cleaning and booking fees not included in the base rate. These fees can add an extra $100+ or more per night. This extra cost may make staying at a fee-free hotel more enticing.

What to Do: 12 Activity Resources for Travel Planning

Now that you have planned the when, where, and how to get there, it is time for one of the best parts of travel research—figuring out what to do once you arrive. Here are the top resources to help you decide.

Google Things to Do & TripAdvisor

Search these sites to get ideas for top activities for your destination. Use Google Things to Do to search by interest or by neighborhood. Learn why to use it and where to find it in “Google for Travel: Plan Better with These 8 Tools”. Use Tripadvisor to scan ranked lists for activities and tours.

Local Tourism Sites

Most destinations have official tourism websites that provide comprehensive information about attractions, events, and local services. These websites often have downloadable maps, suggested itineraries, and excellent recommendations for activities. Search “[Your destination] visitors bureau” to find one.

Google Maps

This powerful tool offers more than directions. Use it to search, collect, and store valuable information about attractions, restaurants, and transportation options. I am a big fan of using their custom lists and maps and recommend them frequently for travel planning. Learn more about using Google Maps for travel planning in “Why You Will Love Google Maps for Trip Planning.”

AllTrails

When you want to hike or bike on a trip—use the AllTrails website or app to discover and save the best trails. Then, use it again to get the most up-to-date route info, including trail difficulty ratings, what to expect, user reviews, and access points for the trails you decide to tackle.

I highly recommend signing up for AllTrails+ to download offline trail maps. You can use these in-app maps to GPS-locate your progress as you hike or bike. Doing this will help you stay on the right trail, avoid unnecessary detours, and be a deterrent against getting lost.

Viator, Get Your Guide & Airbnb Experiences

Search Viator, Get Your Guide, & Airbnb Experiences booking platforms to find and pre-purchase highly rated guided activities.

Pinterest, Travel Blogs & Internet Searches

Jump on Pinterest to search “things to do in [your destination]” and see hundreds of pinned articles suggesting top activities, dining, and cultural experiences. Or open your favorite browser and search the same thing to find more travel articles and blogs covering your destination in depth. Click on results that catch your eye.

AI for Travel

Use ChatGPT or any rapidly emerging AI travel-related technologies to tell you the best things to do in your destination. If you are a time-crunched travel planner, you may love the simplicity of using AI to speed up this step. Find the latest tools by searching “AI travel” on your preferred internet browser.

Employ a System to Store Your Travel Research

Now you have collected all your trip information, save it in a way that makes sense for how you want to use it and retrieve it later. I prefer to use a suite of Google tools to do this. I detail how I use Google Docs, Chrome, and Calendar to save notes and website URLs into folders and create events in “Google for Travel: Plan Better with These 8 Tools.”

While researching your trip, consider keeping a travel journal in a Google Doc to document your progress. In your journal, record details like top lodging contenders, must-see attractions, local customs, and transportation options.

Or consider using note-taking apps like Evernote or Google Keep. These apps allow you to create digital notebooks and tag your notes for easy retrieval. Organize your docs or notes by categories, such as accommodations, attractions, and transportation. Doing this will ensure you can find the information you need quickly.

In addition, I recommend using Google Maps custom lists and maps to save and access travel information. Learn how to best use it in “Why You Will Love Google Maps for Trip Planning.”

Streamline Packing & Prep For Your Next Trip with These Checklists

Before any trip, most travelers must contend with packing and an endless stream of tasks before getting out the door. Streamline and minimize this prep using checklists.

Use a universal packing list like this one. Or search for a destination-specific packing list to get tips for things to bring depending on the season. Then, to make sure you remember to do things like hold the mail and book the pet sitter, use a pre-trip task checklist like this, which will help remind you what needs to get done before you roll away with your suitcase.

Maximize your packing skill with these 25 expert packing tips.

Stay Organized During Your Trip with These 4 Tips

Once you have completed your travel research, booked your trip, and arrived at your destination, it is helpful to stay organized. Here are a few tips to help keep everything in order.

1. Use a Travel Itinerary

Create a travel itinerary for your day-by-day details to keep you organized. In it, map out your transportation bookings, lodging details, activity options, and reservations. When applicable, note opening hours, travel times between activities, and meals included. Or borrow one of my customizable formats—free and downloadable in this article.

2. Store Important Documents Online

Take photos or make digital copies of essential documents in case of loss or theft. Create a digital folder on your computer or cloud storage to store important documents such as passport copies, itineraries, credit card copies, trip insurance, and visa information. Label each file clearly for easy access. Or, if you plan to use a smartphone on your trip, store essential docs in a digital wallet.

In addition to storing important documents online, send copies of these same docs to trusted friends or family members. That way, if you forget your passwords or no longer have access to your digital devices due to theft or accident, you have an alternative way to retrieve them in an emergency.

3. Make Use of Travel Apps

Before your trip, download and update all travel-related apps you plan to use. If you are unsure which ones you may want, look at this list of the 15 apps I use for nearly every trip. Use these apps to get last-minute notifications of travel booking changes, buy or cancel services, and communicate with service providers. Be sure to create an account and log in before you leave for your trip.

4. Keep a Travel Journal

Document your trip experiences by jotting down recommendations and recording unexpected discoveries. Savor the process by sitting down to write your thoughts in a special notebook while you travel. Or go quick and digital and type or voice-dictate notes to a Google Doc or note app like Evernote. You never know how or when you might want to share or remember your experience. Your notes can be a resource for others and a treasured keepsake.

Takeaways

Following the five proven strategies above, you will simplify your travel research and stay organized, making your trip-planning process enjoyable and minimizing stress. Plus, by using checklists, top resources, defined systems, and travel tools like itineraries, apps, and cloud-based documents, you guarantee a better experience at every stage of your trip for yourself and your travel companions.