This year when planning my Summer vacations, I have been using a new tool from Microsoft Office 365 called the OneNote Travel Notebook. It’s a FREE vacation planning tool that was designed by Microsoft in partnership with Travel + Leisure magazine, where you can organize all of your thoughts, ideas, itinerary, packing list, To Do list, etc., and collaborate with other users to create the perfect vacation.
The best thing about the OneNote Travel Notebook is that it’s stored on a SkyDrive, and can be accessed anywhere, including your mobile device! I have an android phone, and downloaded the OneNote app to access my vacation planning notebook on the go.
Download the OneNote Travel Notebook for free.
HOW TO USE THE OneNote Travel Notebook:
Planning Your Trip:
- When you open the OneNote Travel Notebook, it has tabs at the top to help you get started, and you can add pages within the tabs to help keep everything organized. The template is already premade to help you get started on everything you need to plan your vacation. The tabs prompt you on all of your vacation planning needs, such as Top 10 places to travel, a research tab for hotels, a schedule tab to plan your trip itinerary, a reserve tab for booking flights as well as keeping track of confirmation numbers, a budget tab, packing list, reminder tab, a journal tab, photo tab and more.
- Share the Notebook with family and friends who are involved in the trip so they can add ideas, flight information, etc. You can even share with others who have traveled to that place so they can add ideas on where to go, what to see, best places to eat, and best hotels to stay in.
During Your Trip:
- Access all of your notes and itinerary schedule during your trip from your mobile device. No more carrying around multiple pieces of paper; using the SkyDrive, everything you need is on your mobile device.
- Add notes, photos and audio/video notes to the Journal section for referencing and sharing your trip with others when you return home. (This is especially helpful for bloggers that write about their travels when they return home!)
After Your Trip:
- All of your photos, notes, videos and audio notes are organized in one central location, which makes it easy to print a photo book about your trip, put together a slide show, print photos and other “after trip” tasks.
- Because everybody on the trip was also using the OneNote Travel Notebook during your trip, all of the photos, notes, etc. are in one central location. Print a photo book or create a slideshow about your trip to share with others. No more emailing everybody after the trip to remind them to email you their pictures!
My vacation planned using the OneNote Travel Notebook:
I am the Camp Director for a young women’s group in our area, and the OneNote Travel Notebook was perfect for planning this week-long trip.
On my Research tab, I created a Pinterest ideas board. Instead of having to continuously log in to my Pinterest account, I created a snip of the image from Pinterest, added it to my OneNote Travel Notebook, and linked to the correct URL from there. That way, all of my ideas were in one place, instead of having to look through many other ideas to get to the ones I need.
I was also able to create my To Do list, shopping list, menu plans, transportation schedule and divide responsibilities between all those that are in charge. It was convenient to be able to pull up the To Buy list on my mobile device while I was at the grocery store.
Another important tab I created was Meeting Notes. There is where I compiled a list of what to go over at the next meeting, make notes during the meeting (including audio and video notes), and a checklist of what To Do before the next meeting.
My favorite things about the OneNote Travel Notebook:
- There is no predetermined space for typing. Click anywhere in the notebook, and add a note, picture, audio clip or anything to that space
- It’s available anywhere using the SkyDrive. I love that I can create To Do lists, packing lists, research on hotels, and book flights on my home computer, then access it on my mobile device when I am at the grocery store picking up travel items.
- Collaborating with others is easy. I share it with everybody involved in the trip, and they can access it and add notes and other items to the Notebook.
- You can insert Microsoft Word, Excel and other files directly to the Notebook, and access them easily with one click. Instead of searching around on my computer for the files I need, it’s all in one convenient place that I can access from anywhere.
- There is no clicking on “save” to save all of your information. It is saved automatically using the SkyDrive, so if you forget to save it or your computer shuts down, your information isn’t lost.
- When you insert a photo or screenshot, you can create a link from that image to direct you where to find more information.
- You are not limited to the template given. You can create additional tabs and pages within the tabs to customize it according to your specific trip.
- Everything is all in one place, including photos and notes during your trip.
There are other OneNote Notebooks available for download as well, such as Wedding, DIY, Recipe and Student. You can check them all out HERE.
Read more about OneNote Notebooks. To see how OneNote works and how it can be used in conjunction with other Office applications, watch a short video.
This is a sponsored post from One2One Network and Microsoft Office 365. All opinions are my own.
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