- Tools for Planning Long Trips: Where to Begin
- Tools to Create Maps & Itineraries
- An Easier Way to Create Maps & Itineraries
- An Even Easier Way to Create Maps & Itineraries
- Tools and Tips on Bookings
- Tools and Tips for Air Travel
- What travel programs should you join?
- Tools to record your trip steps
- Tools to Reflect on Your Trips
- What to do with Fido
- AN EVEN EASIER WAY TO CREATE MAPS & ITINERARIES – TAKE 2
There are several useful tools for recording your trip steps as you’re traveling. Each one is suited to the type of trip you’re taking. The first one I’ll talk about it suited to longer trips that have multiple transportation points. The second one is custom for motorcycle rides. And the last one is perfect for hiking or biking.
Application for Longer Trips to Record Your Steps
While you’re traveling, it’s easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of sightseeing that you forget to log places you’ve stopped. This is where Polarsteps comes in. Polarsteps is a tool to help you record your trip steps without you having to remember to do something manually. This application is available both on the web and on your mobile devices. It will automatically log a stop (step) if you are traveling and you stop.
Lots of times, I’ve found myself taking pictures of food at a restaurant and then going back later to try and figure out which restaurant we were at and what dish I had in order to post it on Google, for example.
Polarsteps helps with this problem because you can take pictures and then associate them with a stop (step) Polarsteps created in order to develop a story while you’re relaxing later that evening. It helps you log information about each place you were during the day so that later, you don’t forget to include something interesting or important. You can add notes associated with the photos tied to steps in the app too. It allows you to journal as you go.
Polarsteps also creates a map of your tracks, where you went throughout your entire vacation. You can view my Polarsteps vacation to Scotland and as you scroll through the photos, you can see where on the map they were taken.
One issue I’ve had with Polarsteps is that its notifications to start a trip get buried in the myriad notifications I get while traveling. So I need to set a reminder to start my trip in Polarsteps in order to start recording steps.
Polarsteps is one of the tracking tools we use, and it’s especially useful to record international trips and trips that have multiple modes or points of transportation. But there are other tools, specific to the type of travel you’re doing that are also quite helpful.
Motorcycle Trip Step Recording
One such tool for motorcycle travel is REVER. REVER’s app has rides and routes you might want to take. It lets you create new rides and routes. Once you’ve decided on a ride you’re taking, and you’re ready to go, you can track and record your progress.
Hiking/Biking Trail Step Recording
If you’re going hiking, an app that is essential is Alltrails. This app let’s you record your steps or follow someone else’s to the same destination. You can follow a route without having cell or wifi service. We would recommend going Pro with this app too. It will save you a lot of time and potentially help save your life if you get really lost. Alltrails has deals on its pro membership a few times per year. Sign up for the free version, and they’ll notify you when there’s a deal. Don’t miss it!
Old School Method of Recording Trips Steps
Beyond online and app-based tools, you can also use old-fashioned methods to track your stops: mail yourself a postcard from each location you stop at. My husband did this on his ride from Northern California to Deadhorse, Alaska. It provides hard copies of momentous occasions along your route and you don’t need service, especially if you buy stamps before you go.