If you have planned a road trip before, you know there is a lot to keep track of. Instead of struggling to organize all the information, you can use this trip planning spreadsheet to stay organized. The spreadsheet includes sections for driving, accommodations, activities, and more. Using a spreadsheet, you can keep track of your spending and easily share it with your friends and family. The spreadsheet is in Google Sheets, which means it can be edited by multiple people or shared as view-only. In the following sections, we will discuss how to use the spreadsheet to get the most out of your trip.
Get a copy of the template here to follow along. The link will ask you to make your own copy, which will be yours to keep.
💡 Pro Tip: Use the TripTally add-on to automatically calculate driving distances and times for each leg of your trip. Just enter your starting point and destination, and TripTally pulls the data directly from Google Maps into your spreadsheet. → Get TripTally
Sections
- Dashboard
- Shows a summary of your trip, including spending and distance driven
- Driving
- Lists the distance, time, and estimated fuel expenses of your driving
- Tip: Use the
TripTally add-on to pull distances and drive times directly from Google Maps—no manual lookups needed.
- Accommodations
- Summarizes your motels, campsites, etc., along with the number of nights
- Activities
- Lists each significant activity during your trip
- Food
- Lists your food purchases
- Other expenses
- Summarizes anything else you bought for your trip
Calculating Your Driving Segments
The most time-consuming part of planning a road trip is figuring out how far apart your stops are and how long each drive will take. Instead of switching back and forth between Google Maps and your spreadsheet, you can calculate everything in one place.
TripTally connects your Google Sheet directly to Google Maps. Enter your origin and destination addresses, click a button, and get the distance (in miles or kilometers) and estimated drive time instantly.
Here’s how it works with this template:
1. Open the Driving tab and enter your starting location and first destination
2. Select both cells and run TripTally from the Side Panel menu
3. TripTally fills in the distance and drive time automatically
4. Repeat for each leg of your trip
No more manual lookups. Your gas cost estimates update automatically based on the actual distances.
Video Tutorial
