How to Create an Itinerary - Part 1

My road trip on Vancover Island using Google maps.

A great way to plan a road trip is to use Google Maps. It has a feature called "My Maps" where you can mark multiple locations and type in comments such as a description, phone number, address, website url, etc. You essentially create a mini-guidebook for your trip!

In the map above for my Vancouver Island road trip, I had chosen icons to reflect what each location was for. The bed icons were B&B's we booked. The hiking, boat and some others were day-time activities planned. We didn't do all of them and I had put in too many on purpose so that we had choices depending on our mood or the weather which leads me to the following advice...

• Plan too many activities! You're not bound to do all of them but a vacation is more enjoyable when you're flexible.


• Find things to do indoors and outdoors - If it starts raining in July, you'll have something touristy to do indoors and not feel like your vacation was spoiled by rain.


• Google "[city/place] tourism" - you'll get plenty of websites that give you things to do at your destination.

Back to Google Maps. You'll need a Google account to use "My Maps" but if you already have a gmail account, that will work. Here is how you use it:

1. Create and name your new map.



2. Add locations. You can do that in two ways.





1. Search for the location. For example, I search for "YVR", Vancouver's airport code. When it's found, you can click on "Save to My Maps".
   
   



2. Drop one where ever you'd like. To do this, first make sure your map is showing where you want to mark. Then click on the upside-down drop located on the top left hand corner of the map which looks like this: Then with your mouse, click where you want to mark. A bubble pops up for you to fill in the place name and any details you want, which leads me to the next step....



3. Put in details of each location. I usually like to put in the phone number, address, place description, admission charge, days/hours of operation, etc



4. Repeat steps 1-3 for more locations.
   

Unfortunately, Google has not made "My Maps" to be printer friendly and you can only access your points and info online. In "How to Create an Itinerary - Part 2", I'll detail out how to use Google Earth as the printing solution.

Jenny's Tip: I like to use the online version of MyMaps for storing for short weekend day trips. You know, you're bored on Saturday afternoon, you want to go out, but can't think of a nice place off the top of your head. I love hiking, so I found many local conservations and regional parks and put them in. Now I just pull it up quickly and pick a place to go to!

Why not plot out your favorite places to eat, drink, and whatever else you like to do in multiple locations ;).