Road trips are awesome, but when it comes to planning them..? Technology has made major improvements over the last 10 years, but it’s still hard – and it may feel worse because we use so many different apps.
And since we keep track of everything in scattered apps/places, it’s hard to keep track of it all and make decisions (or maybe remember what you decided) because it is so fragmented and disorganized by nature.
That’s why we built a better way to do it – with Fabulist. Imagine using just 1 app that captures everything you need and is self-organized by design. With group chat, notes, to-dos, reminders, and events and one-click access to Google Maps or Waze.
Here’s how you can use Fabulist to make it super simple and fun to plan your next road trip.
Create a group, invite your friends, and start planning
Create a group in Fabulist and invite your friends. Now you can collaborate together and stay on the same page with ease, in one place.
Kick off the discussion and get things rolling with group chat. The first thing you should focus on is finding the dates for your trip. Everyone has different schedules and preferences – so discuss and lock in your time frame and throw out some ideas on where you might want to go.
You can do some research in advance (check search engines for blogs, Eater, etc to search reviews) and send links/ideas to the group. Or for hotels, maybe you decide to wing it or use Hotels.com to get a last-minute place to stay and decide on the road.
Finalize your destination & route
Once you hone in when and where you want to go, you can use Google Maps to add multiple stops to a map and get an idea of travel times between them. This will help you get a clear idea of places where you’ll need to stop for the night.
As things shape you, you can create Events to capture the plan – places you’re staying, drive times, etc. It won’t be 100% finalized, but Fabulist is designed to evolve with you – you can start with a placeholder and fill in the details as things shape up.
For your actual driving, we recommend using Waze over Google Maps for the fastest route – Waze seems to avoid traffic much more reliably, and it’s much easier to find gas stations, fast food, or coffee along your route.
Make a planning list
You’ll most likely end the first phase of your planning by having only a stop or two as your main focus, with other details needing to be rounded out later. You’ll have multiple options of return paths and cities to stop in, so it’s natural to have open action items that you need to finalize before your trip happens.
To make this easy: create a list and capture these to-do’s. You can assign them to different folks and set reminders so you don’t forget, and chat about it to collaborate as a group to make decisions.
As you wrap things up, check them off the list and update your itinerary with the details. Fabulist makes it easy to track things like hotel check-in times, check-out times, addresses, confirmation codes, etc.
Make a packing list
If you’re heading out on a longer trip, you’ll want to ensure you brought everything you need so you can have peace of mind when on the road. Create a list and start jotting things down – with Fabulist, everyone within the group can view the list, and you can assign things to others – and even send reminders to ensure you don’t forget!
Having a single list will ensure you have everything you need for where you’re going and what you’re doing.
Find places to stop along the way
Roadside attractions, restaurants, and coffee shops are a vital aspect of your trip. Instead of everyone doing research on their own and forgetting the names of places they find, you can do it together in Fabulist.
You can send links to places in the chat that way you have a single spot to reference them when you’re ready to check things out. We recommend having a variety of options at the ready, so you don’t need to waste precious time researching while you’re on the trip.
Allow for spontaneity
Even though it’s important to have a plan put together, part of the fun of a road trip is being spontaneous, so keep flexibility in mind. You may have a few ideas on what you might want to do in various areas, but your mood/weather/other things may influence what you’ll actually do when you get there, so let yourself go with the flow.
Start the trip & have fun!
With everything organized nicely in Fabulist, you can pack the car with your packing list, and head on your way with the itinerary you’ve put together.
If you encounter areas without cell service during your trip, no worries – Fabulist has offline mode so you can still access everything in the app without a connection.
Have fun