Planning a trip with friends: how to agree who sorts out what

A chat is not a plan

A group chat is great for deciding where to go. It is worse at keeping track of what was agreed: who buys the tickets, who pays the deposit, who brings the first-aid kit. After a few days nobody remembers what was decided, and important messages get lost among the memes. That’s why it pays to move decisions from the chat to a shared task list.

Where to start

1. Agree on dates and a budget — they narrow down every other decision.
2. Choose one person to book accommodation and transport, so you don’t pay twice.
3. Split the remaining tasks — everyone takes something on.
4. Write down a plan for each day — what you want to see and when.

A task list for the trip

• Agree on dates and a budget per person
• Book accommodation and pay the deposit (with a date)
• Buy tickets or agree who is driving
• Check travel insurance / EHIC
• Make a packing list
• Pack a first-aid kit
• Plan routes for each day
• Book a table for a group dinner
• Settle shared expenses after the trip

How to plan a trip in Add My Task

1. Create a board, e.g. “Alps 2026”, and invite your friends by email.
2. Add tasks and assign them to people. Everyone sees what they need to sort out, and finished things go to the Done column.
3. Give bookings and activities dates — the accommodation as a multi-day task, a mountain hike with a start time. In the board calendar you will see the whole trip day by day.
4. Add a location to tasks — the mountain hut, the trail, the restaurant. The task map shows all the points, and route planning puts them in order for a given day and opens navigation in Google Maps or saves a GPX file.

After you’re back

Keep a “Settle expenses” task on the board — it is the one that most often drags on for weeks. Once everything is sorted, you can move the board to the archive. Next year it will come in handy as a ready-made list for the next trip.