Let’s say you’re planning a trip. You are flying to your location, staying in a hotel, renting a car, taking day trips to a few locations, and seeing some sights and shows. If you like to be organized and prepared, odds are you’ve got multiple documents/websites saved. A packing list, a map, an itinerary, and all your important reservation information. Well say goodbye to having that information spread out over multiple documents. Knapsack brings it all together for you in one convenient package. Read the full review and enter for your chance to win a copy of Knapsack!

Knapsack’s interface feels fairly “Finder-esque” if I may make up a word. It fits in nicely with the look and feel of Mac OS X Leopard. To me, that’s important. I prefer it when applications behave and feel like what I’m already used to. Knapsack’s main window features a toolbar on top, a sidebar that organizes your trips on the left, a list of your trips on the bottom, and (the biggest panel of them all) a map that plots all your travels.

Knapsack MapKnapsack's Map View

Creating a new trip is as easy as clicking the “Add Trip” button on the toolbar. Then, the planning begins. You can name your trip, specify the dates of your trip, and specify the locations your travels will take you. You can then add in activities to each of the days, being as general or specific as you want. For example, if your going to New York and want to see a Broadway show but don’t know which one or when, just add it to the list of activities you want to do on your trip. On the other hand, if you planned ahead and made dinner reservations for a fancy restaurant you can enter the exact date and time that you’ll be doing that and even add a note to the activity if there’s some important information, like an address or even directions, that you want to include. Your trip can be loosely planned or planned out to the minute - it’s completely up to you! And all your activities can be rearranged with drag and drop ease. Of course, to continue your travel planning, you can create a checklist of things to pack, things to do before you go, even things to do while you’re there (this is of course similar to the activities mentioned above, but would be more useful for things you need to do rather than activities you have planned).

Knapsack's Printed ItineraryKnapsack's Printed Itinerary

Here’s a quick outline of how I used Knapsack for my recent trip to Las Vegas. I created a new trip, named it, put in the dates, and added the location. I then went through and put all my flights and hotel information into my itinerary. I now had my departure times, flight numbers, hotel information, and confirmation numbers all in one place. I’d never been to Vegas before and I know there is a lot to do there, so I wanted to be able to make the best use of my time there. I went online and found shows, restaurants, and sights that I wanted to see. I entered a tentative schedule for each day laying out what I hoped to see and do that day. Some of my activities, like my Cirque Du Soleil show, I had planned to the minute. Others were simply things I hoped to get done that day. I then created a checklist of things to pack and things I needed to do before I went (print tickets, pay bills, etc). I now had everything in one convenient place and my trip was planned. There was just one problem - I wasn’t bringing my computer. This was easily solved, however, as Knapsack has a handy “Print” button that prints out everything I just entered into a handy travel guide for me to take with me and check off as I go. Check out the screenshot below to see an overview of what this planning process looks like.

Knapsack's Planning WindowKnapsack's Planning Window

Well, the trip was great. So great, in fact, that upon my return, I rated the trip as 5 stars using Knapsack’s iTunes-esque (another made up word…) rating system. I then dropped it into a folder I created on Knapsack’s sidebar entitled “Favorite Trips.” Now, I can go to that folder anytime to see what I did, even plan a similar trip.

I’ve really had nothing but praise for Knapsack at this point, and that’s because I think it is a great and useful product for anyone that likes to be organized when they travel (like me!). However, Knapsack is a 1.0 product and I think there are a number of things to improve on as well. The biggest thing I think that Knapsack lacks is a decent map. Right now, the map is somewhat ugly and gets very pixelated when you zoom in and offers no detail what-so-ever. I’d love to see some sort of Google Maps integration allowing hybrid views, better zooming, and even turn by turn directions. I also think it’d be great if it integrated with iCal (putting your trips into your calendars) and even iPhoto (having some way to associate photos in iPhoto to specific trips/locations). I could continue talking about the program and the features I like and those I think it needs, but both myself and the developers of Knapsack would love to hear what you think. That’s why they’ve graciously offered a license for us to give away to one lucky reader who comments on this post with a suggestion for the program! So go download the free 30 day trial right now, try it out, and comment back here for your chance to win!

Knapsack is available for $39.95 from TinyPlanet Software.


The Breakdown:
Pro’s: Great management software for trips, useful itinerary window, checklist for packing, ease of use
Con’s: Lacks a decent map, feels like it should have more features and integration with programs like iCal and even iPhoto
The Verdict: Definitely worth the price for those who travel at least semi-regularly and like to stay organized. As the developers add features and continue to improve upon this program, it will only get more and more useful!

Update: The winner of the giveaway has been announced. Congratulations to Jacqui Pittenger! Look for an email from us to claim your free copy of Knapsack.