Wanderlog

The app for the anxious, overthinking travel planner (because one more open tab was gonna take me out).

As much as I like to portray that I’m a free-spirited, go-with-the-wind type of person, I’m a planner at heart. Especially when I travel, I need a general outline of what I’m doing each day. Not having plans makes me anxious, real bad.

The only thing that makes me more anxious than not having plans for a trip is actually making the plans.

Think about it: I use one site to compare hotels, another for booking flights, a different one for activities, and yet another for event tickets. Then I’m stuck trying to keep all my confirmations in my email, and I hate a cluttered inbox. It’s all very anxiety-inducing, honestly, truly (shoutout to Joanne the Scammer).

That’s why I’m always looking for ways to bring everything together in one place so I don’t spiral. Enter Wanderlog: the ultimate app for the overwhelmed travel planner.

Me and Wanderlog? We go together real bad. What’d I just say? The overwhelmed travel planner? It’s me.

When I open my latest trip plan in Wanderlog, I’m greeted at the top with my flight and lodging info, plus any other reservations I’ve added, like rental cars, transit, or theme park tickets, and restaurant bookings.

One of the biggest stressors for me when planning a trip is making sure I have the right times, dates, and locations, especially when I’m in another country and dealing with time differences. That’s something I never have to worry about with Wanderlog.

The app pulls my reservation details directly from my confirmation emails, I just forward them to Wanderlog. It imports everything exactly as it appears in the email, minus my human error (and my stress). The app even groups similar reservations together—like all your flights in one section, and all your hotel bookings in another.

Planning, simplified.

What about when I’m actually there, though, Tay? I’m glad you asked. Wanderlog has a section for that too.

Under the premade “Places to Visit” section, I can add, obviously, the places I want to check out. Landmarks, restaurants, points of interest… it all goes there. And if I need inspiration, Wanderlog even recommends places to explore.

For people like me who get overwhelmed by too much information in one place, organization is key. That’s why I love that I can sort places I want to visit into custom lists. My go-to labels are “Shopping” and “Food,” of course. The lists can be expanded or hidden, which helps me stay focused on whatever I’m doing in the moment, no distractions.

While I’m usually good at picking things to do and places to eat, sometimes I forget why I picked them. So it’s really helpful that I can add notes to each place I’ve saved, like reminding myself to try a specific dish or check out a niche little shop tucked in a plaza.

Another thing that’s usually hard for me is figuring out the proximity of landmarks and how far things are from each other. Like, can I walk from the museum to the market? Sure, I could Google each location and try to piece together some dots on a map? I don’t know? That’s why I’m stressed, lol

That’s why I really appreciate that Wanderlog shows all my points of interest together on a map. It’s a small detail that makes a big difference. Especially when paired with my absolute favorite feature: the ability to create detailed itineraries.

Each day has its own tab, which helps keep things super clear. I can even add a subheading to each one—maybe that day’s focus is shopping, the next is for exploring, and the one after that is all about self-care. I can label each day however I want.

Or maybe I’m exploring the city by neighborhood and want to tackle a different one each day, I can change the subheadings to reflect that too. Again, anything that keeps my thoughts organized is a win in my book.

From there, I can add the locations I saved earlier straight into the itinerary for the day I want to visit. If I’m hitting multiple spots, I can simply drag and drop them into the order I want. And if I realize I’ve made a mistake or want to switch things around, I can easily rearrange entire days without having to remove and re-add each event manually.

Remember when I was talking about proximity and location? Wanderlog shows me the travel distance from one spot to the next, and I can set whether I’ll be walking, taking transit, or driving. The travel time updates accordingly. It even automatically adds travel time back to my hotel after my last event of the day.

I really try to use the time I spend outside my house valuably. Whether I’m home or traveling, it’s important to me to take the best route. I don’t want to go back and forward, just to go back where I came from.

Sure, I can look at a map and plan pretty well, but I love that I can double-check my work with Wanderlog’s “optimize route” feature. It makes sure I’m not going up to go down, just to go back up again.

I’m usually a solo traveler, but on the occasions when I’ve traveled with someone, Wanderlog’s ability to share and collaborate with tripmates would’ve definitely beat scrolling through our entire text thread trying to find the day’s plans.

Wanderlog gets a lot right, really, most things right, but if I had to name one thing that grinds my gears, it’s this: while I appreciate the built-in recommendations, I wish they were tailored to what I’ve already added to my list. Like, if everything in my list is restaurants and the list is literally called “Food,” please don’t recommend a shrine or a museum to add to that list. Please and thank you.

Still love you, Wanderlog. Just… read the room (or the list name).

That said, I subscribed to the Wanderlog Pro version for $39.99 a year to get rid of ads, and it was absolutely worth it. While I hate the subscription model (I just want to pay once and be done), the ads were a stain on an otherwise pristine app.

The $40 wasn’t even really about the ads (it was definitely about the ads), it was a thank-you to a great app for saving me hours of planning and even longer stressing about planning.

My peace of mind is well worth $40 a year.

You shouldn’t have to stress to have a good time. Wanderlog makes it easier and as enjoyable as trip planning can possibly be. If you’re the type who needs everything in one place, organized, and you’re three tabs away from crashing out, this one’s for you.

It’s organized. It’s mindful.
It’s giving “I already sent you the itinerary, check the app.”