I may not plan like the norm, but I do plan in the way that works for me. I believe that you have to be true to your planner self or you will never find planner peace. What is my planner peace, you ask? I like to call it small but mighty.
I travel a lot, and when I say a lot I mean I am gone over 20 weeks out of the year. It’s not easy to lug around a big bulky planner and all the stuff that goes with it. Don’t get me wrong, I love big chunky planners but it’s just not easy to travel with them. So when I am traveling, I go small. I use a Field Notes brand pocketbook (a pretty turquoise one, shown above) a Traveler’s Company personal size planner (a black one, shown above), and a Freckled Fawn traveler’s notebook (white with black hearts, as shown above).
I use my Field Note pocketbook because it can literally fit anywhere. I always jot down interesting facts when I am traveling, like tidbits about the area that the Uber driver gives me, and great places to eat that are recommended by the hotel, or just something interesting I notice while exploring. I have this book filled with facts about a certain place ready to go. I use it as a reference when people ask my opinion on where they should go when visiting a town I have been to.
Even though these notebooks are small enough to take everywhere, I don’t always have the one I need on me at times. For example, because I travel so much I get a lot of direct messages from friends and family asking me for the must-see attractions, or where they should eat, or the best places for a good burger all over the United States. If I don’t have that particular notebook with me I don’t really have all the information at my fingertips to tell them where to go. I transfer the notes I collect in my notebook to my Instagram account. What the heck am I talking about? How does Instagram have relevance to the way I track all the places I have been? Let me clue you in on my system. I always look up the place on Instagram by going into the search engine and searching under “places,” I type in the name of the restaurant and posts are shown from anyone that has ever posted about it. I look for the best picture and “bookmark” it and it is saved to my “collections” area, where I have a particular folder for each location archived. When I bookmark someone’s post, I make sure they tagged the location of the place in their post. Under my name in my Instagram post, if you add the location to your post it will have the name of the location. If you click on that location it will open that address in “maps” on your phone. Voila! You now have directions to that fabulous restaurant or that great museum all on your phone.
I use my Traveler’s Company planner to write down what I did every day. Where I went, appointments, important dates, everything I want to remember on a day to day basis. This keeps me on track with work, as well as when I am ready to create my traveler’s notebooks album. It is small enough that it fits anywhere and goes everywhere with me!
I do all that work just so I can create a great traveler’s notebook to look back on. Its a true “in real time” album of my travels. I use one or more traveler’s notebook inserts in my traveler’s notebook cover. This method has helped me remember facts, journal better, become an expert traveler, and has granted me planner peace. I know what I have going on daily. I know what I have done days, weeks, and months ago, and I am more organized than ever.
The best part of finding your planner peace is not following the crowd as to what you should be doing, but following your heart as to what works best for you. I have never in my life been caught up with memory keeping until now. My travels are all completed in a traveler’s notebook album immediately after my trip because I journal while on the trip. I have all my details written down, I have all the dates correct, and print the pictures directly off my phone with my Canon Selphy printer. Find what works best for you and go with it. Blaze your own planner trail of happiness! If you would like to follow my travels to better understand how to categorize your places, look at my Instagram account to get a better idea of what I am talking about. Feel free to direct message me there with any questions you have about using Instagram to help save and categorize your travel places. You can find me on Instagram at @tinakeyner or follow my hashtags #tinaktravels.
Cheers to finding your own planner peace!
Tina
Thank you Tina! Very nice!
Thank you!
Love it!
Thank you!!
I never thought I was a ‘planner’ person – but after reading this I may give it a try.
Just try it out… worse case is you find out it doesn’t work for you. Best case Demario you find out it works for you! Good luck my dear!
I love that you made your system work for you!
Yes! I’m thankful I found a system!
Thank you for this post. I especially love, “The best part of finding your planner peace is not following the crowd as to what you should be doing, but following your heart as to what works best for you.” I have always used a planner, but never got much use out of it except to keep my appointments. My heart is in not many decorations in my planner, so now keeping track of where and I go and what I do will be where my heart is. I can see where my scrapbook journaling can also improve. I love telling stories with photos and journaling. Thanks for the ideas and I look forward to the Planner Meet-Up at the Chantilly, VA Expo.
Yes!! I’m so glad Ava!! It has to work for you for it to be successful . Good luck my dear friends finding your groove! So happy see you in Chantilly!!!
I love this idea…I have a desk size planner I carry in my car and I’d like to carry something smaller in my purse…thanks Tina for sharing!?
Try it out smaller might be the thing! Yay!!
thanks for sharing your ideas, I enjoyed your article, it was very interesting.
Thanks Karen!!