Travel planning is fun and you can’t convince me otherwise. In fact, I love nothing more than organizing the perfect trip. That’s why when my mom agreed to fly out to Europe to visit me, I was more than happy to take charge and plan our one week trip to Italy. It was her first time in Europe, let alone Italy, so the planning was all on me. Using Bublup, I created folders for every aspect of our trip and organized the details all in one place. Read on to discover exactly how I did it so that you can get inspired to plan your own travels.
I’ve planned many trips using Bublup and have mastered the perfect organization system. I created a “Travel Plans” folder and then created subfolders for every year. Within the folders for each year, I created subfolders for the trip location. So in my 2022 folder, you can find the folder “Italy with Mom.” Within this folder, I needed several subfolders: Flights, Car Rental, Florence Accommodation, Tuscany Accommodation, Expenses, and Photos.
Flights
When I booked our flights from Amsterdam to Florence, the flights folder is where I saved our booking confirmation in addition to important airport information. Schipol Airport in Amsterdam has been a nightmare this summer, and passengers are required to arrive four hours before their flight and wait in long security lines that extend far beyond the airport entrance! Having our flight info in one spot meant we never had to scour our emails or camera rolls, giving us one less thing to stress over.
Car Rental
We needed a car to get from Florence to our Tuscan Airbnb, so I saved everything pertaining to our car rental in the car rental folder. Folders can contain various media types, so saving JPEG and PDF files alongside one another was not a problem. When we picked up the car, I used the in-app camera to take photos of any visible damage that the car already had. Documenting a rental vehicle’s condition at pick-up is extremely important, so do not forget!
Tip: Car rental prices are extra high this year. Finding a small, local company saved us a lot of money!
Accommodation
I created two accommodation folders because we booked stays in Florence and also out in the Tuscan countryside. We made three bookings in total and the booking reservations all lived here. Before we settled on a place, I also used these folders as a place to save links to other options we were considering. Again, this streamlined our details and I always knew where to find my reservation number when I went to the check-in desk.
Expenses
Unfortunately, travel costs money, but making a folder for all of the trip expenses really simplifies the whole who owes who what thing after the trip is over. It can be easy to lose track, especially when you book things like the flights or car rental months in advance. When you are actually on the trip, you can use the in-app camera to take photos of receipts or jot down who paid how much for what in a note.
Other Helpful Features
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention a few other app features that helped make trip planning for Italy a breeze. I used the notes feature as a space to brainstorm and ultimately flush out our final trip itinerary. I also used the checklist feature to make sure I had booked everything that needed reserving in advance. I must say, it is very satisfying to tick off a task once it is done!
Lastly, there is nothing better than sharing photos and reminiscing after you get home from a trip. After mom left, I had loads of photos to edit and send her, so I surprised her with a beautiful Bublup Roll. I created a folder for our trip photos and uploaded them all. Then I selected “Roll an Instant Web Page” in the menu and created an aesthetically pleasing website showing off our favorite shots. The best part? Mom can download them in their high-resolution straight from the Roll, and share the link with friends and family who ask about our trip. For more information on creating and customizing Rolls, check out the Bublup Rolls Master Class playlist on Bublup’s YouTube channel!
Our trip to Italy went off without a hitch, and that is in large part because of Bublup. Having everything super organized and accessible on my phone saved me a lot of time and prevented a lot of stress. I cannot recommend using this app to plan your trips enough!
