Evernote is not specifically an App for travelers, but I can’t think of another App that is any more useful for travelers!  If you have not yet been introduced to Evernote, I’ll consider it my pleasure!  Just go to Evernote.com on your computer and sign up for an account, then download the App for an Android device, or an iPhone or iPad – you will be so glad you did!  Then you can start using Evernote to keep track of anything and everything!  You can type notes into it, you can take pictures with it, scan documents and business cards, clip web pages, even record sound notes.  I’ve been using Evernote for a year or so and I’m trying to train myself to use it more because it remembers everything so I don’t have to.  Keep your medical records, keep receipts, todo lists, book recommendations, recipes, and all of those ideas that flit in and out of your head.  The only hard part is remembering to use it!

Whenever I hear myself say, “I want to remember this, where shall I put it?”  The answer is … Evernote.  In this article I want you to consider keeping all your travel ideas in Evernote. 

Remembering Map Locations

Let’s say you’re having coffee with a friend who just returned from a fabulous trip to the New England area.  They’re telling you of a place called Sabaday Falls that they just loved.  You get out your smartphone and look it up on Google Maps, and then your friend starts telling you about another spot.  How to keep this map location in a master list of all travel ideas?  Once you find a location on Google Maps, just tap on the Info Card for the place – right below the search box – the Search Results if you will.  This should take you to a screen that includes the icon for Share.

Sharing Map location on my Android Phone	When I click on Share on my Android phone, I get an option to share directly to Evernote.  Then I can add a written note and the Tag for travel ideas.
Sharing Map location on my iPad	Even though Evernote is installed on my iPad, I don’t get a direct option.  No problem, just choose Mail and use the email address for your Evernote account.

 

Storing Handwritten Notes

The next time you talk to a friend about travel recommendations, they write you a note on a napkin about a wonderful RV park where they stayed.  Evernote will remember this for you by taking a picture of the napkin!  Then, before you save it, add a note about who you got it from and tag it with travel ideas and maybe RV and also Florida.  Here’s how:

With your smartphone or tablet, open the Evernote App and tap the icon of the camera.  You are now looking thru the lens to take a picture .. using the Evernote app … to snap the picture, tap the round green button, then tap the checkmark to finish.  Notice that Evernote has automatically titled the note with the word ‘snapshot’ and the location where you were when you snapped it.  You can change that title to something like “Chris’ RV park recommendation” and then find the link to “Add Tag” and choose tags for travel ideas, RV, Florida.  If these tags don’t exist, just type them to create new tags.

The Power of Search and Tags

Once you have notes stored in Evernote, you can find them by searching for anything in the note.  A search for Travel would pull up both of these notes because we tagged them with “Travel Ideas.”  Searching for “Sarah” would pull up the note on Sabbaday Falls because we added that the recommendation came from Sarah and Rob. And, a search for “Lauderdale” will even pull up the picture of the handwritten note on the napkin! 

I’m hoping that this article sparked some ideas for you.  To learn more about Evernote, read thru the Official Evernote Getting Started Guide.  They even have a page dedicated to promoting Evernote for Traveling.