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Going on a trip doesn’t just happen spontaneously like when you suddenly want to go to the store. It requires planning, so that your trip can be a successful and unforgettable one. One helpful, albeit lesser known, tool for trip planning is Instagram. Below are seven reasons why you should use Instagram tools to help you with trip planning.

1. You Can Reach Out to Other Travelers

Instagram makes it easy for you to connect with other people who are also visiting the place you want to go. If you search for hashtags for, let’s say, Paris, and you see an interesting photo, you can leave a comment asking the user any questions you may have about Paris. Moreover, this person can share their experiences with you, so you know what to expect when you visit.

2. You Can Follow the Experts

In addition to finding fellow travelers who are already in the city you’re traveling to, you can also find travel experts, celebrity travelers, and tourism boards accounts to learn about any insider tips for your destination or any particular events that are taking place when you are visiting. Not only will these accounts offer you awesome travel tips, but you may also come across discount coupons on their pages. The advantage of Instagram is that every company uses it for marketing purposes nowadays – and it’s no longer just about selfies or what you ate for dinner.

3. Instagram is Inspirational

People love to post aesthetically pleasing photos on Instagram to please their Instagram followers and, possibly, get even more followers. Travel photos can be very inspirational and attract other people to visit those places themselves. There are many accounts that post photos for travel inspiration, and it’s an easy way to plan your next vacation.

4. You Can Save Images to Collections

Having a travel album is a great way to decide where you’re going during your next holiday, and with Instagram’s new Collections tool, you can easily save images to different folders, much in the same way that you would pin images on Pinterest to your various boards. It’s a very simple but powerful tool when it comes to trip planning. Did someone post a photo from a beautiful and colorful place? Save it to an “Inspiration” collection, and use that folder to help you decide where to travel to next.

5. Hashtags Help You Find Places to See or Dine

What’s better than receiving tips from people who have already experienced what you want to do? Hashtags are a great way to find people visiting your desired destination, and you can find out about things to do in the area, what to visit and where to eat. Are you planning a trip to Amsterdam? Simply search for #amsterdam, and you’ll be able to see the main leisure spots there, where you can go to have a good time, where you can have a nice drink, and so on. Nowadays, everyone is on Instagram, so it should not be difficult for you to come up with a whole itinerary using Instagram alone.

6. Geotags Broaden Your Itinerary

Instagram has a cool feature called “geotag,” which allows you to tag the location where you took your photo. Let’s say that you see a photo of a person standing in front of a unique and interesting graffiti wall, and the geotag on the image says that the photo was taken at Alec’s Monopoly. By clicking on the geotag, you will discover that this place is in Toronto, Canada. Once you’ve found that out, you may start a list of must-visit places for Toronto. Before you even realize it, you will have come up with an itinerary that has your own preferences and personal taste in mind.

7. Visual Memory

You can read countless articles about places to visit in Barcelona, but nothing compares to seeing an actual photo of these places. Not only will browsing through these photos make you more excited for your trip, but it will also be easier to find the place once you get there since you will already know what it looks like. Science has shown that we retain photos better than words, so seeing photos of awesome places on Instagram leaves a deeper mark in your memory than simply reading about them, which is another reason why Instagram can be such a useful travel planning tool.

Now that you’re more familiar with how you can use Instagram to plan your next trip, go give it a try! If you want to have an unforgettable holiday visiting gorgeous places, you need to use Instagram as a trip planning tool. Your adventure will be well-organized, and you’ll know what to do, where to eat, and what to expect.