Great comment; thanks. Living in The Middle of Nowhere, iPhones are not available, and my company provides BlackBerries to some employees (me included). I love my iPod Touch, but finding hotspots is a PITA at times, and I end up waiting until I’m back at the hotel…. and then use my netbook, if I’ve brought it along. But I wish I had an iPhone!!!

kc

I use the calendar function for setting up itineraries (plus reminders). I use the Notes function for making notes to myself. Camera is good for snapping pictures of your hotel sign (& street)

I use Tripit, FlightTrack Pro and TripDesk to organize my travel. I just e-mail the flight, hotel, rental info to Tripit and it organizes it into my iPhone (works for iTouch too).

I also use CutePDF to make pdf copies of all important info and then upload it to my iPhone using AirShare. I also store credit card and passport info in AirShare. It has a separate passcode so you can secure your information.

In addition I download guidebooks using Kindle for IPhone.

Other apps:
Off Maps (downloaded ahead of time) for off-line maps
Transit Maps (downloaded ahead of time) for transit maps
Flight Sites for all airline info (including online check-in)
Hotel Pal
Airport Maps
Gate Guru
Skype
Compass
Weather Channel
Sleep Machine
Wi-Fi Finder (works offline if you download the sites ahead of time)
Shape Travelista (hotel workouts)

I also have lots of books and games stored on the iPhone.

I also like texting because it is significantly less expensive overseas than making a phone call. I’ll save Skype for when I get connected to wi-fi.

It is not as tactile as your solution (and I like tactile) But it all fits in my pocket.

Thanks, Scott.

kc

This takes things to a different level and I’d NEVER live it down.

I like to take a moleskine and handwrite ideas, tips and recommendations people have given me, plus info on our hotels and flights, all in the back of the book. It’s not this thorough, but it’s enough to meet my needs. Then I use the front of the book to keep a journal on the trip. I include what we saw, what and where we ate, wines we liked, interesting things we observed (like the military band at the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace played the Disney tune “Under the Sea.”)

Then I’ve got a travel journal along with my own notes on good things to do and places to visit, plus the tips and recommendations I got from others.

It’s a bit more tactile than yours, though less thorough, but I like how it all feels.

Have a great time in Italy! Buon viaggio.