Trip Planning in the Bullet Journal: Top 3 Collections for Travel Planning

Trip planning can be overwhelming, time-consuming, and down-right frustrating if you just wing it. I know I ALWAYS forget something if I don’t do a packing list. But trip planning is far more than just making sure you got everything in your bag.

Here’s where the bullet journal (bujo) comes in handy. Sure, you can take the advice from that local concierge. By all means do, but only you know what your interests are.

Do. Your. Research.

Trust me on this! It’s THE best thing you can do when you’re planning for a trip. You can miss out on a lot of things when you don’t know much about the place you’re visiting.

With that in mind, here’s a list of collections to include in your bujo when you’re planning for a trip!

1. Lists

Listception LOL! I just made that up. I’m a big list maker. You really can’t go wrong with making a list of things you want to remember. That’s why this is at the top of my list.

Packing List

I know, I already mentioned it, but this is so important that it HAS to be mentioned. I once forgot my glasses and had to wear my contacts ALL. THE. TIME.

Places to Stay

You can add a pro/con list, price per night (or total price if you prefer), amenities, and if it includes free wifi access. You can’t go wrong with this one!

Dining Options

In every family you’ll find a picky eater. That’s why it’s good to do some research on dining options. Some restaurants even have their menu online. This is also great for family members with allergies or food sensitivities. You can never go wrong with doing a little research on this. Plus, it can save you time while on your trip!

Activities

This is a section where you add info from your research. If you go to TripAdvisor and search for the city you’ll be visiting, you’ll find things to do as well. You can also do a quick Google search about the cities or countries you’ll be visiting. I mean, Google knows EVERYTHING. And of course, make sure to check out local blogs from the place you’re visiting. They will have first-hand information about the place. You can never go wrong with a local blog!

 

 

Places to Go

Here’s where you pour out all the information you got from your research. Of course you can make a Pinterest board about it, and please do! But what if there’s no WiFi access where you’re going? There’s no beating good ol’ pen and paper!

Pictures to Take

You’ll find this one extra helpful. You think you’d remember to take a picture of the streets you walked through. Right…? You might get caught in the experience and forget to take the picture. Worry not. Bujo to the rescue!! Tweak it to include a picture with your passport if you’re traveling overseas, and the stamps of the places you’ve visited. You can also include hiking photos if that’s your jam, and customize it to meet your trip’s theme.

2. Trackers

Savings Tracker

You can be creative in any of your collections, but this is where I like to get super creative. I just don’t like filling boxes, so I chose a compass as my savings tracker. Each space represents a certain amount of money and you color it when you have saved up. You can choose any amount, but I chose $50. This can be a great help if you’re saving for a big trip.

Travel Tracker

This one I enjoyed very much doing it! You can draw a map in your bujo and color in the places you’ve visited. Since my current goal is to visit all 78 municipalities of Puerto Rico I drew a map of Puerto Rico. This is actually one of my favorite collections to date!

In this map, I separated each region of the island by colors. If you are doing a map of a continent, you can choose a color for each country. Also, if you’re doing a world map, you can choose a color for each continent. The possibilities are endless!

3. Journaling Pages

If you’re like me, you probably see your bujo as a good memory-keeping tool as well. I imagine my children or grandchildren reading my journals after I’m gone and reminiscing on memories from their childhood. That’s why I also include actual journaling in my bujo.

You know, since it’s YOU’RE bujo, it need not be just an organizational tool. That’s one of the things I love about the Bullet Journal. It’s so customizable!!!

You can pre-make your journaling pages to save time (especially if you’re traveling with people who don’t do journals), OR you can simply do your journaling as you go if that’s your jam. By journaling as you go, you may be less restricted as you can include memorabilia from your trip. It really just depends on what’s best for YOU.

So there you have it! These are the collections I use when planning for my trips but for now I’m just doing local trips, which means they are pretty basic. When doing international travel, there are other collections you may want to include. You may want to include a page with emergency information and add the number and address of your embassy. You can never be too safe when you’re traveling to a foreign country, especially if you’re traveling with children! They are counting on you to look out for their safety.

Now tell me! Do you include travel in your bujo, or do you have a separate journal for your travels? What collections to do you include? Please tell me all about it in the comments section below. I’d love to hear all about it!

 

Until next time!

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