It’s always exciting to see insanely cheap tickets online, but do you always know what to do before you get there? If you weren’t much of a planner before, it can be difficult to plan a fun and fulfilling vacation in a new place without falling into hours of research beforehand. I personally like using social media to help me research trips. Here are a few easy ways to fill your trip itinerary with travel inspiration from social media:

Use these tips when planning an upcoming trip:

Using Instagram’s Geo Tag Features & Hashtags

One of my favorite features on Instagram is the ability to search locations. With just a click of a button I can find photos by users near me or photos from a specific location and save the photos that I find interesting and want to add to my itinerary.

Want a tip on how to keep your safe collection super organized? Remember to save & title your collections! Titling your collections allows you to keep track of your upcoming trips and delete everything once you’re done going through it. This helps you see which locations are a lot closer together and which ones require you to take an extra trip.

Finding Full Itineraries on Pinterest

Do you still remember Pinterest? I hope so, I’m always on there! Pinterest is a gold mine of free information. With just a few keywords like: 72 hours in Chicago, Couples Chicago Itinerary, or Traveling to Chicago During Winter you can find literally thousands of itineraries that you can go through and pick the one you want or parts of the one you want.

My favorite part of Pinterest is how every piece of information will connect you to a blog with so much more information. Although I do love Instagram and Facebook, Pinterest is one of the few places that you can find an itinerary, budget planner and free downloadable PDF for your trip all in one spot.

Using Facebook Groups

If you aren’t any Facebook groups, I recommend you start looking for ones that you’d be interested in. Joining Facebook groups allows me to have access to information that may be helpful to my trip as well as the ability to ask questions to those who may be knowledgeable.

Facebook Travel Groups: Joining a group that matches your traveling style allows you to connect with peers as well as a get information that completely pertains to you. You can find groups like: car camping USA, solo female travelers, solo women campers, and other groups that pertain to women who usually travel alone.

Facebook Location Specific Groups: Joining location specific Facebook groups allows you to be updated with current events of the location you’re looking for. Even as a Chicago native I am in a ton of Chicago groups and constantly being updated by advance I would’ve otherwise missed.

Do you use social media for trip inspiration?

Which platform do you prefer to use when looking for a trip inspiration? Since I spend most of my time on Instagram, that’s one of the main sources of travel planning inspiration for me. As someone who always enjoys pretty pictures of pretty places, I would love to hear about the platforms that inspire you to travel more frequently. Remember to check out my other blog posts that include travel planning tips, digital nomad opportunities and free travel guides throughout the United States.

Travel Planning