Next month for Fall Break I’ll be visiting New York City for the second time and I love to be prepared for special trips. If you are planning a trip soon or are looking for ideas on how to be ready for that special journey, I have some great suggestions that would make the experience an unforgettable one. Something I don’t like to do when I am visiting a new city is to get lost in the tourist traps that are all over the place. We all want to go to the iconic places and take “the photo,” but we also should get out of the touristy area if we want to have the real experience. And for that to happen we need to have a plan.
I like to use three apps on my phone to plan the trip: Instagram, Pinterest and Google Maps:
- I love to use Pinterest for ideas. If you Google what to do in, let’s say, New York City, the classic things are going to pop up. But if you search “Fun things to do in NYC” on Pinterest, chances are you are going to have many other original options for where to go or what to eat. Once I have a list of the things that look interesting to me, I go to Instagram. If you are on a budget, make sure to search for “best cheap restaurants” or “free places to visit.” You’ll find excellent ideas.
- I like to search on Instagram for restaurants and places before I visit, because I can get ideas for cool photos! I love to take pictures and I am always looking for an original angle or a new idea to … you know… not have the cliché photo that everyone who goes to the Statue of Liberty has.
- Once you have an idea of where you want to eat and where you want to go, Google Maps is great because you can mark/pin the places and then download the map on your phone so there’s no need to spend your data on searching. You can mark the places you want to go, where is your hotel and where to eat in case you are in a specific area. This way, you won’t end up in an undesirable restaurant because you are hungry and don’t know where to go. You can always take a look at your map and see what is close by that you previously marked as a great place to go.
I also like to write down the itinerary, by day, and the weather, in my phone or on a notebook. This way, you can leave the things to do indoors for the day that it is going to rain and leave the Central Park visit for sunny weather.
And voilà! You’ve a super cool trip planned.