Your Travel is in Your Hands .. Literally

I would say that, if I had to choose one thing, and only one, that I could say it is my favorite thing in the whole world, well .. that would definitely be traveling. And if you’re reading this post it probably means we’re on the same wave.

There is something about traveling that just fills our lives and helps us find meaning to everything that surrounds us. The new faces, the languages and the landscapes you see somehow stick with us forever and we treasure them for life. Our most prized possessions become memories.

Picking the destination is usually the easiest part. The thrill you get when you click ‘book’ is the thrill that pervades through the entire holiday. The exact moment I click the button, my mind is full of names, places, museums, activities and advice I have heard, plus whatever.

Expectations start to rise and my Google search becomes something like "what to do in ..", "where to eat in ..",  "how to get to ..", etc. They say that the wait is itself the pleasure. To me that is certainly true when it comes down to traveling. All the schemes, the to do lists and the last bit of throwing everything into that backpack and running to the airport, has a taste of its own.

If you travel a lot, but really if you are just the kind of person who wants to make the most out of experiences, you know how planning is important. Well it surely depends on the kind of travel you are going to do. Whether it is a hit and run weekend in a European city or a one month escapade to find yourself in Asia, having in mind what you are going to do with the time on your hands matters.

It is often easy to find ourselves unprepared. We stop in the middle of the road to check if a certain place is open, to check an address. Time is wasted, mobile data and money go as well. It is pretty stressful to have to keep organizing your day on the go. Maybe you want to go to see Buckingham Palace but you soon realize that the zoo you want to check out afterward is too far away, and it will take too much time to get there. In the middle of it all, you also want to visit so many things on the road to your next destination.

Well trust me, when I say that I tried many ways to avoid all of this. Sometimes I went for the old school method of bringing a piece of paper with all the names of places I wanted to see. Or maybe I had them written down on my phone. But either way, I had to check times, roads, prices to stay within a budget; it was uncomfortable.

When I found the Travaa travel itinerary app I was relieved.

It is an app that you can simply download from Google Store or App Store. It doesn’t take up much space, it doesn’t consume a lot of battery (considering you would have opened at least Google and Maps to get your information) and it just fits every need you may have related to your plans. You just have to register and log in.

This app has a website that basically lets you create your entire experience and you can give it a check at any time having it on your phone.

You have a travel collection section where you can find all of your trips: the past ones, if you are on a good old memories lane or the current ones if you need to know where to go.

Photo: Travaa Website (previous version)

It is like having a well organized guide with you that is able to tell you your best options at any time, except that you are that guide. Thank your past self for doing a great organizing job. Or, if you want to avoid even the simple preparation of your travel, you can also take inspiration from other people trips going on "marketplace" many of the trips are offered for free by the Travaa guides who already created the perfect ones given the place and the amount of time on your hands. You can see the creator, the views that trip had, the amount of likes it got and add it to your collection or share it on other apps.

As you create your trip plan you simply choose the location, you can have a cover picture and personalize it as you want. It is surprisingly easy to understand and very intuitive. You will just set the dates, the currencies and if you want, give it a little description. Then, you can create.

It’ll show you a little map of the location and down you will have a calendar.

Photo: Travaa Website

Just by clicking on the calendar, a little side window will show up and you will be able to choose the place to visit or the activity. As you choose it’ll tell you a little description of the place, the time tables for the opening and closing hours, the address and phone number and a photo ( you can change that as well). You can drag on the calendar the amount of time that that place/activity will take and then go on to the next one.

You can also give to each activity a little mark to know if it is about a museum or a café, a place to have a beer, just in case you forgot or need a reminder of what you put in your list. The place will show on the map, so you have also an idea of the transport you’ll need to move around, and what’s best to go visit since you’re in that area.

But these are not all the features of this app. Indeed the side window offers you to check your budget in the chosen currency. You can simply indicate the amount of money you’re going to spend in every place, and have the counter telling you how much you’ve spent that far.

If you are uncertain about where to sleep, given the places you chose, this app also tells you the possible hotels/B&B/hostels in the area. And if you are indecisive on certain locations you can put them in the "maybe". So in case you have more time or change your mind you have the list of plans B too.

If you really want to spread the world with you travel ideas or just share your planning skills, you may as well publish the trip for others to add it to their collection, you will have a little preview to make sure everything looks right and it’ll be out there for the world to rejoice with it! All of that in just one app.

So no more thousands of travel apps, plans written in your notes, phones out of battery, wasted time spaces trying to figure out what to do. No more stopping in the middle of the road to check once again the address, or showing up to a place just to find out it’s closed.

In the palm of your hand you will have it all. A less stressful experience, a definitely richer one.

There you go, enjoy your trip!  

- Silvia Race