Last week I already talked a little about how people tend to use social media to inspire them to travel. Inspiration is important because it is what motivates us and pushes us to take that journey. Once we’ve decided where to go, it even helps us to plan our trip. In this post I’m going to talk about a couple of different social media tools that can be used to inspire and motivate us to travel, and also a few tools that can be used to help plan your itinerary for your trips.
Pinterest:
Pinterest is the ultimate inspiration application; whether it is for travel, food, fashion or home projects, Pinterest has it all. Pinterest provides you with a pinned location you can save that when click on will take you to the full website. This is nice because I know for me, when I just have a list of saved links, I don’t tend to click on them as much because I forget what they are or why I’ve saved them. The picture on the “pin” shows you just what it is you have saved so that you are reminded. You can also create your own captions for pins to personalize your bookmarked links a little more. The social aspect of Pinterest allows you to see what your friends are saving and also share with them pins that you think will interest them. For travel purposes, I go on Pinterest to find inspiration, but also when I’m planning a trip. For example, I often pin lists of things to do in one particular city or country when I’m thinking about going there, but actually go back and read them more in depth once I’ve scheduled a trip. Also, there are these great pins that provide tips about the destination that you are traveling to, like whether or not tipping is expected in that culture, or the native language of the country (and a few basic phrases), whether or not vaccinations or visas are required for US travelers, and other useful facts. When I traveled to Costa Rica earlier this year, I found this especially helpful as a quick reference guide.
YouTube:
Many of the best travel bloggers also have a vlod (or video blog) component, which can be found on YouTube usually. Some travel bloggers only post videos. My absolute favorite travel bloggers to go to for inspiration are the VagaBrothers, Alex and Marko Ayling. Their YouTube channel was started in 2013, has approximately 215,000 subscribers and their videos have over 15 million views. They have hundreds of videos highlighting their trips, experiences and tips from travel all over the world. What I like best is that they tend to post a couple of different videos for each destination, creating a vlog series for each country or city that visit. This means that in about 20 minutes you can see a glimpse of their itinerary for each day. The brothers also give you some interesting historical facts and even provide some jokes to entice you just enough to want to see more. Photos are great, but for me seeing video is almost like actually being there and there is nothing that motivates me to want to travel more. If you are interested in travel, I encourage you to check them out here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCa1WbVCkTqd5ecG6G2adIow
TripIt:
Once you’ve decided on your destination and it’s time to plan your trip, applications like TripIt are super helpful. It allows you to keep your ideas and itinerary all in one place; this includes hotel reservations, flight itineraries, other transportation connections and local attractions you want to visit. The best part about TripIt is that the mobile application version allows you to easily access this information on the go, and also share this information with people that want to know your travel plans, such as travel companions, concerned parents or friends, and/or professional colleagues. There is a free version of TripIt, which allows you to do all of the things I’ve already mentioned, or a subscription service (called TripIt Pro) for $49/year that provides additional services such as tracking reward program points, real-time flight alerts, locating alternative flights and fare refund notifications.
Travel the World 