If you are anything like me, then you love to research the sh*t out of the internet for trips. Over the years I’ve refined how I go about researching. I’ve become more efficient with how I look up information and learned what sites I can rely on for accurate information. But for years I was limited to adding must see’s to either a spreadsheet, word document or just plain, ol’ writing it down. Not a great way to stay organized and sift through a deluge of information for quick reference.
Enter Pinterest
Using Pinterest to plan my trips was a natural fit for how I plan. Pinterest not only helped me cut down on my ‘tab hoarding’ problem, it has also become a wonderful resource for me. My trip planning experience with Pinterest started out as a way for me to quickly scan relevant searches for amazing photos. I would ID images that struck me and look up more information about that location. Recently it’s morphed into my repository of destination specific information and locations. I love Pinterest because it is all based on images so scanning for something is super easy. You know what you want when you see it!
For those of you not familiar with Pinterest, it is a social media site that allows you to create boards, much like a cork board, where you can ‘pin’ images on topics that interest you and write comments about them for reference. You can pin images on Pinterest, or you can pin images from around the web. I find it most helpful if you organize boards by topics that make sense to yourself.
For more info on Pinterest, check out Pinterest Basics
To give you a better idea of what I mean I’ll break down how I recently started planning our trip to Dominica (NOT to be confused with the Dominican Republic) using Pinterest.
Step 1: Create a Board
I created a board called “Trip Planning // Dominica“- I may end up breaking my board down more granularly (places to go, places to eat, beautiful photo ops etc), but for now I just want to see everything about Dominica in one place, this method helps me see all my options at a glance and prioritize from there.
Step 2: Search for Images
I then did a Pinterest search for Dominica and browsed through all the beautiful pictures while daydreaming about the trip.
Step 3: Populate the Board
I began populating my board by re-pinning images from Pinterest and around the web for further exploration. When I do web searches I’ll go to local sites run by tourism boards and also check out TripAdvisor first before moving on to the wonderful world of Google searches. Once I pin an image I have the option to write a comment about it and select which board I would like it to live.
While looking at a specific pin you find intriguing make sure you scroll to look at related pins, I usually find great things there.
Step4: Follow Boards
I start to follow boards of places I want to go (in this case Dominica). Or follow boards for trip inspirations. I never know where I’ll find my next trip idea!
Step 5: Refine the Board
I am now refining my board by adding and subtracting pins so that I have the most relevant information for my trip available by the swipe of my finger (yay mobile apps!) while we are in Dominica.
See – Pinterest is super easy to use and keeps every thing tidy.
Things to keep in mind
Your pin also links back to the place you pinned it from. So, if I pinned an image from a blog that had some awesome Dominica info I would have quick access back to that blog through my pin board. Pins are the equivalent to browser bookmarks, but much less cluttered and way more beautifully presented. I highly suggest crediting the original source in your comments. I try to track down the main source of a pin just so the right person is credited. I also never want to give the impression that someone else’s work is mine.
A recent feature that Pinterest added about 3 months ago are boards integrated with a map called Place Pins. Unfortunately, for my Dominica board the map doesn’t quite work because you can’t zoom in enough, but I have used the map feature on some of my other boards like my United States // California board.
Read more about Pinterest Place Pins.
I’m excited to continue to refine my trip planning skills and see how my use of Pinterest evolves.
Have you ever used Pinterest to plan a trip? Sound off in the comments to let me know how, I am curious to hear what other ways people are using it.
And – Don’t forget to follow me on Pinterest!
Hi! I’m Daina. I am an Underwater and Drone Photographer and Videography. I use visuals of the ocean as a spark to ignite the soul to create a connection with our natural environments. 
Pinterest is one of the best planning tools I have used. So many resources from so many sources! It shows you things you didn’t even know you needed to organize your trip. I am an organization NERD so it fits perfectly with my ideas :) Great post!!
Hey Siggi! Yes, Pinterest is so great for planning for the reasons you listed! Thanks for the comment!
I’m a big fan of using Pinterest to plan trips. I also pin IG images to my trip Pinterest board so I can visit restaurants/beautiful places from the pics. :)
Oh, that’s a great idea about pinning Instagram images! Thanks for the tip, Stephanie!