Creating the Perfect Travel Itinerary

Two weeks. 11 days, if I'm being completely accurate. That's how long I have until I take my first vacation in almost a year. (Yes, I know I went home for Christmas, but that doesn't really count in my opinion.) I've purchased outfits, made lists of items I still need to get, requested the time off work, and scheduled the appropriate manicure/pedicure/haircut appointments so I look my absolute best before jetting off to Myrtle Beach.

Now the question is, what to do when I get there. While I am super uppity about planning my flight itinerary, hotel accommodations and car rental, the rest of the trip is usually left up in the air--or left up to someone else. The great part about vacation is that you are not required to have every moment of your day planned out. You can get up at any hour and decide right on the spot what to do that day. And that's basically what I intend to do on my trip. However, there are many people who have to follow a schedule, who like to have activities planned for each day, and like following a regiment so that they can get the most out of their destination.

For those over-planners, or even those laid-back travelers, there are tools that can help you create the perfect itinerary for your personality. Obviously, you could go the traditional route and pick up a printed travel guidebook from the store and flip through the pages to select attractions that appeal to you. However, in our tech-savvy, digital world, physical books pale in comparison to the mobile applications and websites out there. In an article from USA Today, there are two new tools to help plan a digital itinerary that you can take with you on your phone or tablet:

• SpotWorld is a free iPhone app that creates itineraries for 32 cities based on travel-guide content and social-media recommendations. Travelers can customize from existing itineraries or ask Facebook friends for tips.
• Plnnr.com acts as a virtual travel planner where users can automatically create an hour-by-hour schedule based on a series of questions about the trip, like dates, length of stay, theme, intensity and luxury level.

These are just two options, and unfortunately they are a little limiting. For me, neither one is helpful because they do not feature Myrtle Beach. So, I have to rely on other sources to plan my trip. Luckily, as a freelance travel writer, I do a lot of research on various places around the world.

If you would like another technology-based suggestion, try TripIt. I talked about this free application in a previous blog post (See: Travel and Technology), but just to refresh your memory, it will take all your travel information and build an itinerary around it. You can forward all your confirmation emails for flights, hotels, etc, and it will keep it all in one place. You can add maps, pictures, recommendations and more as you continue to plan. It's a pretty helpful tool, since it will work with whatever city you plan to visit.

If you prefer doing your own research, I recommend visiting the website for the city's tourism and convention bureau. This will feature all the major attractions, restaurants, activities and events in your destination, as well as articles about unique spots, hidden gems and must-sees. Most of the time, you can talk to a representative who can help you set up a travel itinerary. If a tourism office seems too promotional and focused on marketing, then check out any of the travel-booking websites like TripAdvisor, Expedia, Travelocity, etc. All of them have suggested itineraries on their sites, as well as recommendations from other travelers.

If you are one of those people who does not need to plan every second months in advance, but choose to figure it out when you arrive, just ask the concierge at your hotel. They can recommend a variety of sites to see or events to attend. After all, they live there, they probably know better than a website or a guidebook. I find asking locals or friends who know the area for their suggestions, because they will more than likely give you a tip you would not find anywhere else.

Since I'll be going to Myrtle Beach with a friend who has been there before, I'm relying on him to offer ideas for how to fill the days. Though I'm not sure he will be able to pull me away from my schedule of lounging on the beach, swimming in the pool, walking along the coast, shopping and catching up on my reading. Yeah, that sounds like the perfect travel itinerary to me.

Travel and Technology

A couple months ago, I was on an anti-technology kick, pushing for people to take relaxing vacations where they left all forms of electronic communication behind. While that is still a great idea, and I encourage at least one trip like that a year, I cannot deny the facts: travel and technology--in this day and age--are practically synonymous. If the numerous travel websites like Expedia, Travelocity, Hotwire and Kayak are not evidence enough, check out all the latest travel apps that are available for smart phones. Technology is making travel easier, less stressful and more accessible, and people are loving every micro-second of it.

While technology can be a distraction on vacations, it can certainly help people get there and get around. I'm not sure where any of us would be without the trusty aid of GPS--what street are we on again?--or quick access to airline reservations--can we switch our flight to tomorrow? But there are so many more websites and apps launching nowadays that it's difficult to know everything that's out there.

On my long commute to work this morning, I was reading the feature story in the RedEye, which talked about all the ways that smart phones can ease the stress of travel. There are a number of different applications you can download related to the many facets of travel, some I had heard of, and others were completely foreign to me. As an avid traveler and someone who looks for anyway to simplify vacations, I felt a lot of these would be extremely convenient to have on a trip. I already have the app for Yelp.com downloaded on my phone, which is extremely helpful when hunger strikes as you are wandering around an unfamiliar city. All you have to do is open the app, select what you want to find (cheap eats, hot dogs, fancy restaurant) and your current location and results instantly pop up, showing hundreds of options located just a few feet away. Google Goggles is a useful app when traveling in a country you are very unfamiliar with. The program can translate a menu into English or can tell you the history of a monument in a flash, all you have to do is snap a picture of the item and the app does the rest. The Currency app is convenient when you are unsure about conversion rates--how much would this Fendi purse cost me in dollars? The app displays the current currency rates and even updates automatically with fresh information, since currency exchange can switch on a daily and hourly basis. Similar to Yelp, Happy Hour is an app that can show you all the great drink deals in the area you are visiting; so if it's five o'clock and you're out and about, this app can show you where to find a cheap watering hole close by.

As far as websites go, there is something out there for every possible travel need from tracking flights and navigating airports to managing travel itineraries and selecting optimal seating on planes.That's right, there is a website completely dedicated to finding the best seat on an aircraft. SeatGuru.com shows the layout for over 100 airlines and their featured planes, color-coding the best and worst places to sit. Reviewers back up these claims with comments about whether the seat is located near the bathrooms or if there is a cup holder. (Yeah, it's that specific.) You can also use the site to check for in-flight amenities. The only problem is that you cannot actually reserve your desired seat through the website, but at least you will know which one to select when choosing seat assignments online.

Some other interesting websites that caught my attention: TripIt.com, a website that inputs all your travel information into an online itinerary and sends you check-in reminders and even alerts you to flight delays and gate changes (you can also add restaurants and activities to the itinerary, but this needs to be done manually); Zicasso.com, a simple way to get travel ideas from a number of different sources all at once, all it takes is filling out a short questionnaire about the trip you want to take and voila, price quotes and suggested itineraries are at your fingertips within a couple days (and you don't have to commit to any of the travel companies that submitted suggestions); Livemocha.com is a site that helps you learn, or freshen up on, a language through flash cards, videos and live conversations with native speakers (but make sure you have a webcam, headphones and a microphone so you can fully learn any of the 35 languages featured).

Just as there is an unlimited amount of places to see in the world, there seems to be an endless array of technical options to get you there. So take advantage of these conveniences, utilize their benefits and make booking your next trip simple and worry-free. But be sure to toss that phone or computer aside momentarily and take in the wonderful environment that surrounds you.