This blog was a huge post on travel recommendations that Dave forced me to break up into smaller parts. If you are thinking of travel in Europe, you might be interested in the other posts as well.
I never wanted to be a travel agent, but between Dave and I, it is pretty clear who is the more obvious choice to plan activities, especially since Dave is trying to stay focused on work. Here is how I have approached planning our activities for this 9 month adventure.
What To Do
This is where I just do general web searches and see what others recommend and have done. I take it all with a grain of salt as people are rarely traveling for an extended time with four boys so their advice is not always relevant. I also get travel ebooks from the library when I can, though I'm often reading it quite on the fly. I like it for the general overview of the country/area more than any specifics about hotels or restaurants. Rick Steve has pretty solid advice, even if we can't follow it all with four boys in tow. I pretty much use Google reviews for all my restaurant picks and try to be aware of whether I'm too close to tourist areas. Prices are higher and quality typically suffers around tourists who are a captive audience and buy from nearby restaurants regardless of how good they are.
My best tip is to use Google maps to save all your ideas of where to go (click the Save icon as shown in the El Retiro park picture to the left). I use the stars for anywhere people recommend or I read about, and that way even when I'm searching where I am that day I might see what's nearby. If you use the "want to go" feature, you can add a label or information. Beware that you may experience what I call "Google Creepy" then. When you walk near a place labeled as you want to go there, your phone may vibrate suggesting you go there. I also use the heart symbol if I really want to differentiate someplace, like our current apartment. When I leave a city, I try to remove any stars we didn't visit so that if I am trying to look back and recommend that great restaurant in Porto to someone, I can easily figure out which one it is.
My last tip is to offline maps in Google Maps to minimize data usage. While the application often does this for the city you frequent (another case of what I'd call Google Creepy), you can do it manually to prepare for a journey to a new city. I do this for cities we are flying into or for road trips. From your Google Maps application, choose the circle in the upper right corner that represents your account and then choose Offline Maps from the drop-down menu. From there you can select your own map or choose their recommendations. You can also manage previously downloaded maps from here.
Okay, I do have one last tip. Dave and I share our locations with each other on Google Maps for times we separate and it helps to know how to meet up again. In the olden days you'd just say, when you're done, meet me at this lamppost and if I'm not there by x time, head home and we'll meet there. Well, now you can Google Creepy your loved one and see if they've hopped on their Uber yet, diverted to some store other than they said or are still at home and haven't left to meet you! You'll find location sharing in the same place as offline maps. It seems to me that this may drain your battery faster, but I haven't tested it yet.What are your favorite websites for travel planning? Feel free to leave your answers in the comments section!
No comments:
Post a Comment