How to stay organized?

[BlackJack2]

When planning a trip, I collect a lot of travel / touring information from websites, (including Cruise Critic) and add it to a Word document. Organized by ports, I then download the document to my Kindle. A lot of these documents have been 25+ pages. Saves a lot of paper and weight in my travel bag!

I always carry paper copies of boarding passes, etc.

[babywewe]

Wow so many great ideas posted!

[NMLady]

I do as many of your other writers have suggested - I use a flexible binder and put all my information in it. I through out as I go along.

 

Having paper really helped us a couple of years ago. We went on a river cruise down the Rhine and stayed in Germany and Switzerland afterwards. We had made reservation at a B&B for the night before our departure out of Zurich. We got to the home, no one was there. We went to eat dinner, came back and still no one. i asked a couple who was pulling into the communal garage if they knew this couple because I had a reservation. They looked shocked and I asked if they were the owners. They said they were but had no reservations for tonight. I told them that I had the email confirmation. We whipped that piece of paper out of the paper and showed them their response to us confirming the night. Got the room for half price. Glad to have the paper rather than trying to find a computer to download it from.

 

That is why I prefer paper as well. In Toronto the hotel was going to charge us the rack rate but I had printout of the email they'd sent to confirm our discount rate.

On a cruise ship (not HAL) the front desk had no record that we were on the transfer bus to the airport, so I handed them the printout of the transfer page that had been with my e-docs.

There have been several occasions when I was glad to have a paper printout of confirmations.

[fleckle]

Except for a ticket that will be collected, we see no need to pack and carry around paper printouts of reservations when it is so easy to access them on a netbook, ipad, iphone, kindle or other device.

 

Besides, there is never any concern about losing or misplacing a document that way because you know you can always retrieve it if needed.

 

We like to keep backups of hotel, rental car and other reservations on a tiny flash drive that slips into any pocket or on a key ring, so much lighter and smaller than bulky pages of printouts and readily accessible to show anyone if needed.

[Wormy53]

OK - I'm a little OC, but I put some on my Kindle and then have a back-up when I think it might be helpful. Here is one of the kind of organizers that I found at Office Max that has been very helpful: ORGANIZER

 

I put everything in by order of occurrence: flight, hotel, cruise ship, every port with pertinent data, post-stay, then flight home. I even have a label that includes cruisecritic people meet & greets, etc. It has worked great. I also use those Princess plastic holders for my daily stuff - just take it out of the folder and go! :)

 

This was a fun post with lots of good info! Thanks OP!!!!

[magandab]

OK - I'm a little OC, but I put some on my Kindle and then have a back-up when I think it might be helpful. Here is one of the kind of organizers that I found at Office Max that has been very helpful: ORGANIZER

 

I put everything in by order of occurrence: flight, hotel, cruise ship, every port with pertinent data, post-stay, then flight home. I even have a label that includes cruisecritic people meet & greets, etc. It has worked great. I also use those Princess plastic holders for my daily stuff - just take it out of the folder and go! :)

 

This was a fun post with lots of good info! Thanks OP!!!!

 

Wormy, I love the look of this organizer but have one question. Does it open like a book, allowing you to flip through the pockets like pages?

[northernphoenix]

I use page protectors and you could put them into a duotang folder. I often use one sleeve for each main topic (flights/hotels, one for each port, etc). Hope this gives you some ideas.

Enjoy your cruise.

 

used this system on our Baltic cruise, and as each event was completed,I would eliminate the paperwork. Then on the return, filled the pages with momentos from the cruise,

Marilyn

[chipq]

I use thin sheet protectors in a flexible three ring binder and I slip two pages (back to back) in each one. I throw out pages along the way and usually go home with a binder full of empty sheet protectors.

 

I make a pdf of key documents and e-mail them to myself and to my Kindle account, then I download them onto my Kindle.

 

The email with the hard copy in a binder or folder is the way to go whether it is a cruise vacation or hoteling it, having the information at the fingertips also speeds up the check in process.

 

ChipQ http://luv2cruise.blogspot.com

[Valley Girl of VA]

Except for a ticket that will be collected, we see no need to pack and carry around paper printouts of reservations when it is so easy to access them on a netbook, ipad, iphone, kindle or other device.

 

Besides, there is never any concern about losing or misplacing a document that way because you know you can always retrieve it if needed.

 

We like to keep backups of hotel, rental car and other reservations on a tiny flash drive that slips into any pocket or on a key ring, so much lighter and smaller than bulky pages of printouts and readily accessible to show anyone if needed.

 

Perhaps if I had those devices, I would do as you are but I do not bring a computer, telephone, kindle or anything with me on vacation. If I need to email someone, I'll wait till I'm on shore and use an internet cafe. For us, have a small flexible binder that is not bulky works for us. Different strokes for different folks :)

[OVgirl]

used this system on our Baltic cruise, and as each event was completed,I would eliminate the paperwork. Then on the return, filled the pages with momentos from the cruise,

Marilyn

Did the same thing and put the daily programs into the sleeves.

[Olive1950]

I also use my container to organize and hold my receipts for purchases, both on the ship and when ashore.

 

Sure makes getting ready for Customs soooooooooooooo much easier.

[Wormy53]

Wormy, I love the look of this organizer but have one question. Does it open like a book, allowing you to flip through the pockets like pages?

 

No. The one I have opens from the top. It is a little check accordion file. It is 8 in wide, but only about 5 in height. I fold my papers letter-style. But it fits easily into a carry-on. Those tabs on the top help me find just what I need. ;)