Have you ever tried a recipe you found on Pinterest, or maybe a craft or a costume, only to have it turn out looking nothing like the photo in the pin? We’ve all had those moments.

But when it comes to travel, Pinterest pins speak the truth. What you see in an image is what you’ll see when you arrive. It’s one of the hottest platforms for travel. Why? There are a lot more travel pins than can be found on most tourism sites and travel blogs. Travel planning companies, travel media outlets, hotels, and businesses are promoting themselves on the platform by sharing images of their products or images from blog articles with useful information, such as “Top 10 Things to Do in Southwest Michigan.”  Here are some of the reasons Pinterest is a valuable resource for RVers.

Collect inspiration.

Pinterest is an image-first, visual tool. A single photo or simple photo collage gets the point across easily: That’s a pretty place. That activity looks fun. That would be something my family would like or enjoy. There’s no super sleuthing necessary. One example is the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. What do you need to see when you get there? Pinterest can help! Simply use the powerful search function within Pinterest. You’ll find dozens of pins with images of the area and tips on what to see. If you’re browsing websites, and you have the Pinterest plugin on your desktop, you can easily save any image from any website by mousing over the image, clicking on the red Pinterest pin, and saving it on one of your boards. You’re not limited to finding inspiration for where to travel. You can also find budget-friendly tips, campsite recipes, RV maintenance advice, and RV decorating tips. Most pins are connected to how-to articles and other bits of resourceful information.

 

Organize your ideas.

Gone are the days of lugging around a tower of travel books or a collage of clipped out photos from travel magazines. With Pinterest, it’s all digital, and it’s always accessible from the convenience of your phone or desktop.  This saves you valuable space as well as the hassle of trying to find “that one thing.” Pinterest “remembers” things for you. Within your account (an account is required but it’s free!), you can organize your pins by how you label your boards. If you’ll be traveling all over the state of Michigan, make a board for Northern Michigan and another for the Upper Peninsula. That way, when you find a destination you want to make sure to see or an activity you’re interested in doing once you arrive, you’ll be able to find what you’re looking for quickly and easily. You can also follow other boards, such as MARVAC’s Michigan Vacation Destinations board, and feed pins and ideas to your account. Many local chambers, businesses, and travel companies have Pinterest accounts, so just follow them and you’ll see any new pins from these sources. Simply repin what you’re most interested in to your own board, and you have a visual list of things to do and places to visit!

 

Have fun. 

Pinterest is a fun, easy tool that is worth incorporating into your trip planning as well as once you reach your destination. Make some pins of your own to share on Pinterest so that others can learn from you!