There are a couple of tools that are helpful for me:
GOOGLE SHEETS
One thing that people always notice is the awesome shops and restaurants that we find to visit. This is where social media plays a large role. If I'm scrolling through my Instagram feed and see a place that looks fun & interesting, or a restaurant that has amazing-looking food, I add it to my "All the Places to Visit" spreadsheet. I keep the notes in a Google Sheet, so I can access it on my phone or my computer, and it is a shared file, so my husband can add notes if he hears of a great record shop.
I usually add the location and business name when I first discover the place, and then, when I have more time, I research the place. I read reviews, I visit their website and social media feeds, and I look at the geotags in Instagram.
- Are the people who are posting pics way younger than me? (i.e. would I feel old?)
- How are the people dressed? (i.e. will I have the right clothes packed?)
- Are there any children in any of the photos? (i.e. would our son be welcome there?)
| State/ Prov | City | Visited | Business | Type | Address | Hours | Notes | |
| AB | Calgary | yes | Analog Coffee | coffee | 740 17th Ave SW | 6:30 - 12:00 | @analogcoffeeyyc | super awesome vibe! Amazing almond crescents |
| AB | Calgary | Pie Cloud | bakery | 314 10 Street NW | Tu-Sa 9:00-8:00 Su 9:00-2:00, M-closed | @pie_cloud | marshmallow mermaid pie |
I also add notes once we've visited a place. There have been places that weren't great, and there are places where we'd return.
For example, last spring we were in Calgary and had a chance to visit a few of the places on my list. We loved Analog Coffee: it was a great atmosphere, they had delicious food, and my husband really enjoyed his pour-over coffee. We will definite go back next time we're in Calgary.
You never know when you'll hear about a great place, so having a place to keep track is key. Even though we don't have any definite plans to visit Houston anytime soon, I have notes on two coffee shops and a taco place that look good. When we get around to visiting Houston, I will just filter my list and confirm that the places are still in the same location and still look like they're worth visiting.
I also add our hotels to the spreadsheet so that we can remember the places we've stayed and what we liked/didn't like about each place.
- How was the wifi? i.e. is it possible to watch Netflix? :)
- Was there a good variety at breakfast?
- What was the parking situation like?
GOOGLE MAPS
The other tool that I use is Google Maps. For our most recent trip to the Los Angeles area, I had many places to visit on my spreadsheet. I Google-mapped some of them and added them to my saved places so I could see where there were a few stars close together. If places were nearby, I considered if we would want to visit several places in an area. While I am a coffee addict, I wouldn't visit more than one coffee shop each day.
I also use the search nearby feature of Google Maps. I knew that we would be visiting a shop for me, so I searched nearby for a record store to satisfy my husband's belief that he needs to add more vinyl to his collection.
I knew that we wanted to end up at Venice beach later in the afternoon, so I found a video game store which was also not too far from one of the ice cream places I'd noted in my spreadsheet. This kept my retro-gamer son happy.
In the end, since it was a Friday afternoon, traffic was a bit of an issue, so we opted to skip the ice cream shop. As much as I love to plan and organize for our vacations, I also like to be able to go with the flow each day. The world didn't end because we didn't get ice cream.
We visited only a handful of the places that are mapped above - several are restaurants, and you can eat only so much in one day - so I'll save the others for another trip. And maybe by the next time we're ready to return to Los Angeles, they won't be on my "must visit" list, and inevitably, more places will have been added.
As much as I joke about being a travel planner, I don't think that this is something I could do for other people. I know the kinds of places that we like to visit. I know what kinds of things we want to see and do on each trip. I can look at a few photos of a place and know if my family would be comfortable there - that's a very personal thing and not something that someone else can decide.
I hope that my organizational and planning tools give you some ideas for planning your next vacation!
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