How do I plan my trip?

All the ins and outs on planning your perfect trip on Polarsteps.

In this article:

• How do I plan my trip on Polarsteps?
• How can I make changes to my planned steps?
• Who can see my planned steps?
• How can I turn planned steps into past steps once I've visited my destination?

How do I plan my trip on Polarsteps?

We all love the excitement of a new trip coming up! You can now start planning your route with Polarsteps.

How do I plan steps in Polarsteps?

1. Open your current trip or create a new one. Creating a trip is simple, just tap the + sign in the top right corner of the app. More information about creating a trip? Click here.
2. Click the 'plan your first step' button in the trip you just created, to add a new step. If you are planning a step in a current trip that already has steps, then hit the + sign. You are now creating a planned step as part of the itinerary you are preparing for your travels.
3. Select the location on the map of where you're planning to go.
4. Congrats, your planned step now shows up in your trip!
5. Optional: Tap anywhere on the planned step to set your arrival date and the number of nights you are planning to stay.
6. Optional: Add notes to your planned step! But please know that these will not be saved forever. When you get to your planned destination, your planned step and notes will disappear and turn into a step suggestion.

Now you're all set! You can plan as many steps as you like until you have created your perfect itinerary.

How can I make changes to my planned steps?

We know that plans change all the time so no worries, you can change your itinerary in a heartbeat.

How can I make changes to my itinerary?

There are two easy ways to change the dates and order of the places you want to visit.

1. Drag and drop your planned step to a different part of your route.
2. Tap the step and change the dates in your planned step

Note: We do give you a heads-up if your travel plan is too ambitious for the total number of nights you will be traveling and help you by removing the dates/nights you indicated originally in order to make your plans fit.

Can I add photos and notes in my planned step?

At this moment, you can change the arrival date, the number of nights you are planning to stay at the selected location, and your planning notes. It is not possible to add photos. Once you've visited your planned step, it will disappear and you will see a new step suggestion that allows you to add stories, your favorite photos, and all your activities. Be aware that planning notes also disappear at that point.

Can I change the name of my planned step?

For now, it is not possible to change the name of your planned step. Once you've visited your planned destination, you can turn your planned step into a past step the way you are used to. Here, you can change the step name, add your favorite memories and leave your top spots!

Who can see my planned steps?

That's up to you! When you create a new trip that has its privacy set to 'public' or 'my followers', you can select the option 'show planned steps'.

If you do this, your followers can see your route and planned steps for your upcoming trip. Like to keep your plans for yourself while you are still making up your mind on your route? Leave the default settings of your newly created trip as they are.

Only you and any Travel buddies will be able to see your planning notes.

More information about who can see your trips and the different privacy levels? We've created a simple explanation about that here.

Side note: we do not yet support for your followers to leave comments on your planned steps.

How can I turn planned steps into past steps when I've visited my destination?

Have you visited the destination from your travel plan? We will automatically turn your planned step into a suggested step, easy-peasy! You can then add your photos, text, and favorite spots before you publish your step to turn your visit into a beautiful memory.

Did you change your plan last-minute? No worries, that happens. We will not turn your planned step into a suggested step if you ended up not visiting the destination, if you've visited the destination on a different day or if you visited the places in a different order than you thought you would. We leave it up to you whether you want to delete your planned step. There are two simple ways to do so if you wish:

1. Long tap your planned step and hit the trash bin icon
2. Tap, hold and drag your planned step up to delete it

Note: if you do not delete a planned step that you didn't visit, this might cause your travel tracker not to turn the next planned steps automatically into suggested steps. If this happens you can, of course, add a new step yourself to upload your photos, stories, and top spots! Need a brief refresher on how to do that? You can read all about that here.