Travel Resource Roundup - Organized For Life

My grandma always said, “Travel is the best education,” and she put her money where her mouth was when I was 16 and needed money for a school trip to Mexico. It only cost her $200, and I raised another $200 by babysitting and such. It was an extremely budget trip — the first leg of the trip, just to get us to the border from Boise, Idaho, was 1000+ miles in a school bus — and a long time ago, but I never forgot it.

Lately my travels have been more or less limited to cities where the annual NAPO (National Association of Professional Organizers) conference is being held. In recent years that’s included San Diego, Baltimore, New Orleans and Scottsdale — but some day I will add the last few United States to my list (Maine and the deep south); possibly return to some places I’ve visited before (Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, France, Spain …does Heathrow airport count as visiting London? No, I didn’t think so.); and visit some new ones (Scotland? Costa Rica? Australia?).

Meanwhile, allow me to share some travel resources with you.

Before You Go:
Do You Have a Virtual Will? — Org4life blog article
Ten Tips for Healthy Travel — from tripit.com
17 Easy Steps for Planning Your Next Trip — from nomadicmatt.com

Travel Apps:
What did we ever do without smart phones? I love no longer having to pack a separate phone, camera, flashlight, MP3 player, etc. Here are some apps I actually use:
Evernote (for collecting travel info, ideas, and confirmation emails)
Dropbox (for automatically uploading smart phone photos to the cloud)
Audible (for listening to audiobooks)
Pandora (for listening to music)
Google Maps (I like to use Street View for virtually scoping out an area where I will be staying.)
TripIt is an app I have not used, but it seems very popular and I might try it next time.
There are any number of other apps that people use for, say, road trips. Apps for navigating, locating hotels and roadside attractions, monitoring gas usage, and star-gazing. But, well, when you start from Albuquerque most of your drive time is in the middle of nowhere, without a signal.

Packing:
How to Pack Like a Pro — Org4life blog article
Make Your Own Checklists! — Org4life blog article
Organized Packing for a Family – from noisecoveredindirt.com
Ultimate Travel Packing List — fun, interactive guide from budgetdirect.com.au, featuring Australian lingo

When You Get Home:
Getting Back on Track — Org4life blog article
There’s No Place Like Home — Org4life blog article

Awesome Armchair Travel:
Google’s World Wonders — virtual tours of 132 famous sites from cbsnews.com

Where have YOU been, and where are YOU going?

Travel safe!