So you’ve picked the place, booked your flights and hotel, and you’re counting down the days until your vacation. Hooray! Now what? As dreamy as vacations are, they can be overwhelming and stressful to plan. I went on a 10-day California road trip last year and used a new strategy to plan our days that I can’t imagine not using going forward. It was the perfectly planned but not so planned trip! I’m sharing my step-by-step guide on how to plan the perfect vacation, especially if it’s somewhere new.

Step One: Do some research about the place you’re going to. Compile a list of things you want to see and do and restaurants you want to eat at. I love referencing YouTube for detailed itineraries, best restaurants, and “like a local” videos. I save places on Instagram, search hashtags of the city I’m visiting, and ask my friends and family. Do a deep dive and write down everything you might be interested in- you don’t have to do it all, but options are always good to have!

Step Two: Once you have your list, go to Google My Maps and create a new map. You’ll need a Google account to save this info. I’ll use my CA road trip as the example. I titled my map and started adding layers. I made one layer for our hotels and then one layer for each major city I stayed in: San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Barbara, and LA. If you’re going to one place, let’s say Colorado, your layers could be accommodations, restaurants, shops, and hikes. Get creative! Your layers could be his favorites and her favorites, for another example.

Step Three: Reference your master list and start saving places to each layer (in my case, each major city). When you enter an address and add it to your map you can color code, edit its title, and add a description. I added fifteen restaurants in San Francisco that I was interested in. I color coded them green, edited the description to say, “fancy, Italian food” or “casual, salad and sandwiches.” Next, I added sights I wanted to see and marked those purple. In the description, I put “entry fee $10” “3-mile hike” or “great view of the city from here.” Save an endless number of things you want to do! Try using a different color or icon for your top choices so those stand out.

When this step is done for each layer, you can zoom out and see all of your color-coded options that await you! You can filter by each layer, too. When you’re on vacation, you can reference this map to see how close restaurants and sights are to where you are at the time, and to your hotel. I love this method because it saves your notes. Doing the restaurant research ahead of time avoided the dreaded “where are we going to eat?” conversation. I knew I would like the place because I saved it, I could view the menu from my description box, and could see how close it was to where I was at the time. Fool-proof!

Using Google’s My Maps feature is an incredibly helpful tool to stay organized on vacation. It gives you the flexibility to plan your days without needing to stick to an overscheduled itinerary. An additional great feature is that you can download your map and use it offline, perfect for a drive down the PCH with no service. Another bonus? My map is saved so if I visit years from now my research and notes are saved, too. You make it as detailed as you want; get creative and adapt this method to your needs. I hope this helps!