|
Meredith’s
Newsletter
Vol. 4 — 02.25.2025
Welcome back! I’m trying out a new layout/style for this one to hopefully add some pizazz to your reading experience. I coded this myself, so I’m both very proud and also sure it’s very wonky. If you like/can see the font changes I’ve made LMK, since they might look cool only to me and non-existent to every other person. We love continuously improving 💪. I’m also now open for name recommendations if anyone has something fun!
Today’s topic: travel planning! I’m going to Japan in October and I’ve been passing the time by researching and planning a ton (if you’d like to see the hotel I booked for one night between Tokyo and Kyoto… check it out 👀. As a non-committal person who has trouble sticking with the plan-as-written, I’ve developed a couple of tactics that make it really easy for me to go into a trip with a well-researched itinerary while not locking myself into a plan that ends up being not-feasible on the day-of. These are also both things that I have for free on my phone at all times, because I never end up using those fancy paid travel apps or fancy trip-planning notebooks like I think I will.
Hopefully you find something here helpful! Or if you have any questions, want to talk about any of your recent or upcoming trips, or have any of your own, reply and let’s talk about it!!
The Google Map 📍
If I had a single tip I was going to give anyone about traveling it would be this one: create a custom list in Google Maps (sorry Apple Maps users, you’ll have to go download this one if you haven’t already). Name it after the trip you’ll be taking, and set a custom location marker too. Now, any time you hear about a cool place you may want to visit on your trip (whether it’s on social media, from friends and coworkers, or any other time in your research), save it to the map. You can add notes to every entry as well if you want to give future-you some more context as to why you saved it.
My Google Map of Japan is RIDDLED with markers
The goal here is to have a full list of pre-vetted places all set for you before you arrive in unfamiliar territory. No longer will you find yourself wandering around thinking “I just want a quick bite to eat, but I don’t know what’s good around here,” or “I have some time to kill before dinner, but I don’t know what there is to do nearby.” No more wasting time standing around on your phone trying to search for something to eat or drink or do—now you can just enjoy the spoils of your previous research and crowdsourced recommendations! It’s also a great resource for all of those times that you see something interesting and then can’t remember what or where it was later.
Here’s my current map I’ve started to put together for my trip to Milwaukee in May (also please throw any Milwaukee recommendations my way)! You’ll see I have the list name, a little emoji marker, and a bunch of pins on the map.
Now when I’m anywhere in Milwaukee and I’m not sure what to do next, I can just look at my location and see what’s nearby that I previously vetted! The system makes it easy to find food, activities, and other things to do on-the-fly, helps cut down on forgetting or missing cool things I wanted to see but might have forgotten about, all in an app I’m using throughtout the trip anyways.
BONUS TIP 1:
I have an additional list in my map called “Been”. It’s literally a running list of places I’ve been before. Ever. I love having a clear map of all the places I’ve been to look back on later, plus it’s helpful when you end up in a restaurant or park or other detour that you want to show off or recommend to someone later.
BONUS TIP 2:
You can use labels in Google Maps to search and display specific locations by name. I always save wherever I’m staying with the “Hotel” label, so that I can easily pull up the address and directions to the place I’m staying without searching for the name of it each time.
Modular Planning 🧩
I have this magical combination of traits when traveling (and while sitting at home, let’s be honest here) that means I cannot stick to strict agenda, but I also will get intense FOMO if I just wing it and try to tackle the entire day without a plan. After 26 years of life I finally stumbled upon the solution to this which I’ve decided (as of this newsletter) to call “Modular Day Planning”. Here’s how it works.
Ahead of a big trip, usually alongside my Google Map, I’ll start a note in my phone that’s easy to access and add to. This note usually starts with a list of foods, activities, and sights I want to experience (again to combat any FOMO), but underneath that I’ll breakdown each of the days I’m in that place like this, using my November trip to Austin, TX as an example:
Day A:
Breakfast: Brunch @ Snooze
Morning: Explore Downtown Area
Lunch: Taco & Margarita nearby
Afternoon: Shop along Congress St.
Dinner: Space Cowboy
Day B:
Breakfast: Tacos @ Veracruz
Morning: Swim @ Barton Springs Pool
Lunch: Terry Black’s BBQ
Afternoon: Cat Café & Walk to Hotel
Dinner: Bar Snacks near Hotel
Morning C:
Breakfast: Voodoo Doughnuts
Morning: Visit Botanical Garden
Morning D:
Breakfast: Coffee & Pastries @ Atlas
Morning: Walk along Lady Bird Lake
Afternoon C:
Lunch: Colaches & Beer @ Batch
Afternoon: Shop around The Crescent
Dinner: Moonshine Grill
Afternoon D:
Lunch: Try Whataburger
Afternoon: Craft Beer Tour
Dinner: Find food trucks
You can personally break this down however you find you usually appraoch your days, but when I travel I tend to fall into a pattern of Breakfast, Mid-Morning Activity, Lunch or Coffee Break, Afternoon Activity, Hotel Break, Dinner/Drinks & Dessert. Knowing where I usually need to take breaks (or when others do, because maintaining a friendship while travelling DEPENDS on keeping everyone well-fed, energized, and hydrated) makes it easy to plan around my needs while leaving larger time chunks flexible for activities like shopping, museums, leisure, outdoor time, or neighborhood exploration.
The magic to planning like this is that you now have a non-binding itinerary, that you can rearrange at your discretion while on your trip, which cuts out the paralysis and stress of overplanning ahead of time. Not in the mood to hit the shopping district today? Time to sub in the “hang by the pool” itinerary. Bad weather for a hike? Now you can switch in your marathon museum plan instead! You can even split out mornings and afternoons to mix and match.
I could go on FOREVER talking about lazy/yet-still-organized-travel beyond what’s here, but I’ll save your inboxes this time! I did cut a section on hotel booking which I find a lot of people tend to get tripped up or overwhelmed by, so if you DO want my hot tip for finding good hotels at the lowest possible price say the word. Let me know what trips you have coming up in 2025 (and beyond), and if you have any recommendations for places I SHOULD visit! I’m clearly very excited to see some new places (though the plane part gets more concerning by the day)…
 AND LIVE!
Happy Traveling!
Your friend, Meredith
|
