Trip planner: a digital whiteboard for hassle free holiday preparation

The ideal holiday planner for trips with friends, family or on your own!

Organizing your holiday is all part of the fun! As you browse through guide books or websites, your mind starts to wander. You start daydreaming and imagining what it will be like. Whether you’re the type who never leaves anything to chance or, on the contrary, are partial to a bit of improvisation and venturing off the beaten track, traveling requires at least some basic planning. With Klaxoon’s easy-to-use digital whiteboard, you can pool all the necessary information and have it available instantly.

What is a digital whiteboard?

It’s an online collaborative whiteboard, featuring an unlimited workspace where you can share any type of media, i.e. text, drawings, images, videos, web links, etc. You will no longer waste time looking for all those loose scraps of paper, Post-it notes or notebooks. All your information is centralized and stored automatically! That is the Klaxoon Board application’s core feature. The whiteboard is available in a flash from your smartphone, desktop PC or tablet.

How to organize your holiday with a digital whiteboard.

• Use Klaxoon’s Board to note everything down and add as much text as you want, either directly with the whiteboard’s text tool, or in the colored ideas you can move and store as required. Visual management also involves drawings, images, videos, web links, etc. All these items can be added to populate the template. The Board can be shared and populated by different users. Ideal for those traveling in a group.
• The holiday organization board changes as your plans take shape. You can change it at any time, as many times as you want. All the changes are automatically added and saved. You will see it upgrade as you make entries and changes. Start it well in advance, to give yourself plenty of time and get a taste of your holidays! Are you planning several itineraries? You can prepare as many as you want on the Board.
• Need to hold a preparatory meeting with fellow travelers? Live, Board’s built-in video conferencing solution, is ideal to see and chat with your friends or family, while you go ahead with your holiday prep! For example, when planning holidays with friends, the board is the perfect tool because everyone can take part. It’s a must-have tool for visual cooperation!
• And you can customize it according to need! Your holidays will reflect your personality, and so will the Board. Adapt it, populate it, decorate it at will: it’s your very own playground!

8 useful tips for successful holiday planning with the Klaxoon template

Anticipating and centralizing information are the keys to successful organization! It works well for teamwork – in particular for project management -, so why not use the same method when planning your holidays? The purpose of a holiday is to enjoy it to the full, and every minute counts! Here are 8 useful tips when planning a trip.

• 1. Opt for the best means of transportation and book in advance! When booking a flight, train or boat fare, renting a car or a camper van, best not leave it to the last minute so as not to end up with inconvenient times and much higher prices. Use the template to store your scanned tickets or proof of reservation, useful contacts, or car pooling reference. This way, you have all your boarding dates and times to hand. You have no excuse for missing your flight, train, boat, car etc.!
• 2. Prepare your route carefully. Are you a keen road tripper? Or you don’t like staying in the same place and want to see as much as you can? To make sure you see everything there is to see, import a background map of your chosen destination on the Board, check the best route options then plot your route and display it on the Board. Having an idea of the area’s orientation and layout will help you find your way around. There you have it! Visual management can also be useful to avoid getting lost on holiday!
• 3. Book your accommodation ahead. You might consider a number of accommodation options for your holiday, such as off-site camping, holiday centers, rentals, B&B, hotels, and the list goes on! Whether you stay 10 nights in the same place or move on to somewhere new every other day, it is advisable to book your accommodation in advance to avoid nasty surprises! Especially when traveling as a group in peak season, and in favorite tourist destinations! The “Trip Planner” template features a dedicated area where you can pool all accommodation information for each day of your stay.
• 4. Keep your budget in check. Mind out, expenses can soar when you’re on holiday! You have lots of free time, you want to enjoy yourself: eating out, excursions, tourist site visits, etc. Temptation round every corner… Indulge yourself, but within reason. Planning your expenses and the total amount allocated to your trip on the Board will help you to keep within budget. This template will make sure you keep out of the red!
• 5. Prepare a list of good restaurants! If you plan to eat out, you might as well pick the best restaurants. Remember to make a list of your top restaurant picks, discovered by word of mouth, or by browsing well-known tourist guides and websites! Copy-paste the links to your Board to compare and pick your favorite eating places. A tip for those traveling with a group: use the Question feature and the “Poll” mode to allow everyone to have their say!
• 6. Write down your ideas for tourist visits and favorite activities. Whether you like lazying on a beach, visiting museums, historical monuments or tree climbing, check available activities based on your areas of interest! It’s good to know in advance the time it takes to reach that small creek, the family entrance fee for the theme park or opening hours of the castle you spotted, etc. The aim is to make the most of your holidays, without any last minute setbacks! Enter all the useful information in the template and link it to the pictures or web pages you have found online…The sky’s the limit!
• 7. Prepare a daily schedule. On holiday, every day counts, especially if you have a busy schedule! Use the “Trip Planner” template to fill in your daily schedule, compiling all the information mentioned above in the relevant column. Use the color code to highlight each day, both in the schedule and on the map with the route! When planning your holidays with others, it is easy to cooperate visually and everyone involved knows where to find the information.
• 8. Make a checklist of your luggage so you won’t forget anything. Packing a suitcase can be a real headache for some, and others will always forget something essential! Use the digital whiteboard and its unlimited space. The template is all yours, and it’s up to you to use it and add as many sections you want! For example, draw your virtual suitcase and think ahead about what you want to take with you, and make a checklist to make sure you don’t forget anything when you actually start packing!

Using the whiteboard while you’re away

You have centralized all your useful information, you have prepared your holidays together, you have planned things ahead, and the big day has finally arrived! The “Trip Planner” template is your best friend, available at all times from your smartphone, whether just for a quick check or to:

• Open your virtual transport ticket to show to the ticket inspector
• Find information, a document, a hotel address, whenever you need it
• Follow your route on the map
• Check your day’s schedule
• Enter your expenses to stay within budget
• Share your pictures with friends and relatives. The procedure is detailed in the template instructions. Sending a photo album directly from the Board with the Question tool is ever so easy.
• Add comments on your favorite restaurants, hotels and other highlights. The template can also be used as a holiday diary!

In a nutshell, Klaxoon’s whiteboard is ideal for teamwork, but it can also be used to organize your holidays as well as for other personal purposes! You can find other special templates for everyday use (for instance, “Moving out checklist”) in our template library, which is upgraded every week with new additions!

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