8 Reasons Why You Need a Planner on Vacation: Recommendations and Ideas for Planning on the Road

Summer is coming to a close. So, it seems a bit silly to be writing about planning while on vacation as most folks have already taken their summer trips for the 2021 travel season in the U.S. But, I feel like after a few years of dragging multiple planners around on trips with my family, I finally found a better way.

I think for those of us in the planner community, we love toting our planners around. They’re more than just tools to keep us organized, they’re beloved books that make us happy when we even look at them. But, they can be a bit cumbersome to pack.

This is particularly true if you are going to take art or journaling supplies on your trip. A few weeks ago, I posted this article on how to pack up your supplies for crafting and journaling on the go. If you have other nonessentials you’ll be taking on your trip, a bulky planner will only get in the way.

In this article, I list out the reasons why having a planner is so helpful while on vacation. I also give some recommendations for planners that are portable and easy to use while on vacation as well as some tips for how to leave our main planners at home.

8 Reasons Why You Need a Planner on Vacation

Plenty of folks may wonder why one might bring a planer while on vacation. I mean, the whole point of a vacation is to take a break from the daily grind, which often includes planning.

And while I don’t think it’s wise to do hourly planning or time-blocking for your days away, I do find that my vacations are more satisfying when we have a general plan for the days we are traveling.

Here are 8 reasons why bringing a planner on vacation is helpful:

1. Creates an itinerary. If you’ve ever worked with a travel agency, they often help you to plan out your time during your trip by crafting a travel itinerary. This is because they recognize that when we’re traveling, there’s a limited amount of time to see and do things, so planning them out ensures you can fit them in to your trip. Of course, you don’t have to come up with something as elaborate as what a travel agency might dole out. But, having a travel plan will help to make sure you’re getting most out of your time on the road.
2. Get out of a vacay rut. We often travel to the same places or have the same routines on a trip. A planner can provide space for brainstorming different things to do while traveling. Looking up your destination and checking for different experiences there can open up possibilities you may not know existed. A planner can help you fit those various experiences into the few days you are there.
3. Make sure everyone has a unique experience. Unless you’re traveling alone, you will likely have travel companions who have their idea of what the best things are to do while on a trip. Sitting down before the trip to jot down everyone’s bucket list for the trip will help ensure that everyone gets to do at least one thing that they want.
4. Plan for down time. My family went to Disney a few years ago and a seasoned Disney traveler gave me some sage advice- set aside one day to stay at the hotel and swim in the pool. Having this one day of relaxation made it possible for our family to keep up the hectic pace of the days we spent in the various theme parks. Your planner can help you figure out which might be a good day for a rest- be sure to check the weather and reserve that time for something you and those traveling with you will most benefit from the time off.
5. Plan out meals. Whether you are renting a condo with a kitchen or intend to eat out for every meal, a planner is helpful to figure out what you will be eating and when. Because our family has food intolerances, we try to limit eating out. On vacation we do a combination of prepping our meals and eating at trusted restaurants. My planner helps us to stagger the days we are making food so that I don’t get worn out by cooking on the trip.
6. Budget your money as well as your time. Your time on vacation isn’t the only thing you can track and budget with a planner- you can do the same with your money. Vacations are times that we are tempted to just whip out the credit card and rack up a bunch of debt. Your planner can help by providing a place to track your spending and by helping you decide where you will go that might be costly. Planning ahead can help you to identify places to visit while on your trip that are free or less expensive. You can also limit the number of outings meant for shopping.
7. Motivation to get going. Many times, unless my family and I have planned out our days, we don’t really have the drive to get out and about. We have hectic schedules throughout the year, so it’s tempting to just sleep in, watch TV, and generally lollygag. By the end of our trip we’ll wonder why we bothered to travel to a place just to do the kind of stuff we could easily do at home. However, when we plan our week, we will see what is on the schedule and be excited to get out of where we’re staying to do the fun things we’ve planned.
8. Record memories from your trip. The really nice thing about using a planner during your trip is that it can be come a neat way to keep track of what you’ve done and the memories you’ve created on your trip. If you use a paper planner of some sort, you can use it as a scrapbook and add tickets, pictures, and other memorabilia from your trip. This is why I recommend using a separate planner or notebook for just your trips so your travels will be documented all in one place.

Recommendations for Travel Planners

When it comes to travel, compact and simple is always best. This holds true for anything you pack, including a planner.

So, the main thing is to use something that is not big or bulky. Having a small, portable planner will make it more likely that you’ll use it while you’re traveling.

Here are some options for planning on the go:

Digital Planner. If you use a digital calendar, it may be easier to just use it for your travel planning. That said, be sure to use the app version on your phone so you don’t have to tote around a laptop or tablet. Also, make use of any notes or journaling features the calendar has so you can brainstorm ideas for places to visits or experiences you want to have.

Notebook. The simplest thing to carry, aside from your phone, is a notebook. It can be lined, graph, or dot grid. You don’t need to make it an elaborate bullet-journal spread. Just a place to write out the days you’ll be away with a little space to make plans for each day will keep you organized and motivated to make the most of your time as you travel. Another nice thing about using a notebook, is that it can double as a travel journal. Use the left side of the page for planning and the right side for memory keeping. Here is a neat, travel-themed journal that can work for both planning and travel journaling. (#Ad)

Slim, undated planner. There are lots of slim, undated planners out there. Some are specifically for traveler’s notebooks and have a two-page spread with days of the week on one side and an area for notes and brainstorming on the other. (#AD)

This year, I tried a new, undated planner that I’ve had my eye on for a while- a JM Planning Essentials Undated Weekly Planner.

Using a JM Planning Essentials Weekly Planner

I did a full review on the JM Planning Essentials (JMPE) line of planners and notebooks earlier this year here. In it, I gave the full specs and raved about the paper in these books. 100 gsm Mohawk paper is truly a luxury, and I’m amazed at how affordable these lovely little books are. The paper is so forgiving, I’m even using one for a mixed media journal.

During that review, I also pointed out that the Weekly Planner could be used for more than just everyday planning and noted that I planned to try it for travel planning. I’m so glad I did. This was the perfect little notebook for planning out our days. It also has three vertical sections that I used for:

A photo of the trip– the blank, top box was perfect for this. I printed out a photo using my Cannon Ivy portable photo printer and just trimmed it a bit to fit the box. (I totally love this little photo printer and cannot recommend it enough- see below (#AD)).

Brainstorming places we wanted to visit– I love the little check list box for this. It has just enough lines to plan one thing per day, and the places we didn’t visit this year are now recorded for next year’s trips.

Menu planning– the final box is just a lined notes section, which is perfect for listing out our menu and the days we have planned for each meal/restaurant.

Even though the notebooks are compact, the layout was so simple and neat that I found it easy to add a few decorations with the themes of the two trips we took: beach and mountains.

On the first spread, I messed with the dates a bit to fit the days of the week in the planner. But, the second trip we took, I decided to white out the days of the week since arrived at our destination on a Saturday and left on a Friday. The Pegz days of the weeks stamps with handwriting by Heather Kell were perfect for this! (#Ad)

Here are some before and after shots of this year’s plans-

It was such a compact planner, even when stored in the JMPE Organizer.

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The JMPE weekly also has undated monthly calendar spreads at the beginning of the planner. I wasn’t sure what I would use those for, but I have since decided I would print out some more photos and use that space exclusively for memory keeping. Once I do that, I’ll upload photos to my Instagram account- @planonthesunrise.

Note that the JM Planning Essentials shop is currently closed due to the effects of Hurricane Ida. The shop has amazing products, and the owner is an absolute gem .Please keep this shop on your list and be sure to support it when it opens back up!

I would love to hear how others are planning their trips or what you use to stay organized while your travel. Please leave a comment below!

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** Images in graphics found on Canva; image of travel journal found on Unsplash. Remaining images were taken by and belong to Vidalia Patterson.

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