Sure, you hop on Pinterest for quick recipe, birthday party planning, or even a quick gift idea for your mother-in-law. Pinterest is the land of inspiration and ideas and it’s easy to see why it’s such a popular tool, but did you know you should also be using Pinterest to travel?
Yes, that’s right, Pinterest is a travel planning tool!
Google can be really helpful, but what I love most about Pinterest is that it takes you right to real travelers…moms and dads who’ve actually shlepped through the places you’re considering and will let you know how clean the bathrooms are and if the tour is really “kid-friendly”
Using Pinterest is a huge help in getting you the real info you’re looking for when you plan a vacation, from fellow parents who have been there. So how do you use Pinterest as a trip planning tool? It’s easier than you think.
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Using Pinterest to Travel: Ideas for Trip Planning on Pinterest
Get Inspired With Trip Ideas
If you’re not sure where you even want to travel, Pinterest is the ultimate place for getting inspiration and that includes travel. You can search as broadly or specifically as you want but be sure to look for boards that focus on your specific interests. Also, remember to take advantage of the related pins (scrolls down to see them) if you want more ideas that are related to the pin you like.
Here are some of my favorite travel boards to check out.
Research Your Destination
Once you know where you’re headed, go ahead and search Pinterest for ideas. Try including keywords to help you find what you’re looking for. It’s also important to pay attention to the Pin source (which website the info comes from). I find that bloggers often have more honest and realistic pictures than some of the huge travel websites. Many companies can now run promoted pins that work like ads so just pay attention so you know where the info is coming from.
Keywords to Try
what to do in…
things for Kids in…
trip ideas…
itinerary for…
travel tips for…
Find Reviews for Your Hotel, Restaurants, and Attractions
One of the best things about Pinterest is that many of the pins are from smaller travel blogs who offer a much more intimate review with their own pictures and experiences rather than big travel websites that might come up in a Google search. If you’re headed to a popular destination, chances are that someone has been there and written a review. Local food bloggers might have a restaurant round-up for you to look through and local mom bloggers often have pins about favorite kid activities or parks.
Grab Travel Tips for Your Journey
In addition to lots of info about your destination, you can also grab tons of great travel tips, packing lists, and other ideas for your trip. If you’re road tripping, there are tons of ideas about snacks to pack in the car, games to play with kids, and even how to organize your vehicle. I use Pinterest for all kinds of advice from what to pack on the plane for babies to which type of stroller is easiest to travel with. Think about gathering some of these tips for your trip to help make sure you have everything you need and avoid any pitfalls.
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Save All Your Ideas in One Place
Pinterest is the perfect place to organize your trip so start saving all your ideas to one board. Pinterest has a new feature where you can even create sections within a board so you can sort all of your pins into categories. If you have the Pinterest app on your phone you can access everything as you travel. Plus, when you come back bragging about your awesome vacation, you can point all your friends to one place for resources about your trip.
Will Using Pinterest to Travel Really Help me Plan a Better Trip?
Yes, it absolutely will because you’re getting inside info from family travel bloggers who offer their own reviews, photos, and tips. Sure, you still need to use common sense and look for things like disclosures and sources to make sure the pin is legit, but often you’ll find some incredibly helpful info that doesn’t show up on the large travel sites or visitors’ center pages.
Give it a try as you plan your next vacation and report back! I want to hear how you’re using Pinterest to travel and I’d love to have you come back and leave a comment with what you found or how it worked.
Pin for later
Have you used Pinterest for travel planning? What do you love or hate about searching on Pinterest? Leave a comment with your best tip or biggest question!
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