Trip planning, made easier

Note: This post was not sponsored by anyone; any thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

Two-thousand years ago, Mary and Joseph arrived in Bethleham for a census and wound up without a room, with poor ol' Mary having to give birth in a barn. Imagine how much easier baby Jesus would have come into the world if he'd been born in a proper room instead of a barn. (In case you're wondering, yes I'm already starting to feel the holiday spirit!)

Now, imagine of the happy family had been able to book a room in a nice inn somewhere. Thanks to the internet, by far and large you're guaranteed of at least your transport to a destination and your accommodation while you're there.

Online planning tools have done a world of wonder for planning trips. Probably one of the most well-known sites is TripAdvisor, where people give reviews on a number of activities in different cities. I've used TripAdvisor several times, and I can safely say that well-received group recommendations have always resulted in enjoyable activities for me.

However, there's a huge chunk in travel planning that can be a big headache, and that's planning your itinerary. For this, my go-to website is Tripit.



I discovered the wonder that is TripIt a while ago, about May of last year when I was preparing to take my first 'freedom' trip - that is to say, a trip without parents, without schoolteachers, without any sort of supervision really, one where I was allowed to go as an independent adult. While researching for the trip and trying to plan what was going on, I realised I needed something to help me keep everything nice and tidy, and that's when I discovered TripIt.

I'm a huge fan of free-and-easy trips; I'm not keen on guided tours, because they always feel rushed and I don't feel like there's ever enough time to take in a place at your own leisure. With free-and-easy, I get to do the things I want to do and spend as much time as I want.

The great thing about sites like TripIt is that they allow you to enter detailed and well-organised information - there are categories for everything, from flights (and car journeys and rail journeys and boats) to places you want to visit, accommodation, and lots of other categories that keep everything well-organised, and on a nice time-schedule too because you can put in start and end times.

Any sort of plans or bookings, when sent to you via email, are easy to import - by forwarding to plans@tripit.com it imports automatically into your trip itinerary! I love how fuss-free this option is, and how everything is just kept so nice and tidy.



And if you're travelling with someone else, there's even options for you to share your itinerary with that person or make it public!

I love this site, it's so easy to keep your travel organised.

Will you be using TripIt in the near future?