In exactly one month I will be off on a 4 week trip around South-East Asia with my partner. We’ll be covering 3 countries (Cambodia, Laos & Vietnam) and stopping in at least 8 different places which means a whole lot of hotels, transport, tours & activities to be organised.

My first big overseas trip was about 7 years ago, a 3 month stint in South America, and back then most of my travel planning was done by consulting my trusty Lonely Planet guide. Things have certainly changed over the past few years and while I’m still not ready to ditch the Lonely Planet guide, most of my planning for this trip has been through social networks.

The online travel community are a passionate, well-informed, helpful bunch who are more than happy to share their experiences with fellow travellers. It is for this exact reason that social media is crucial for the travel industry, travelling is all about the things you see and the experiences you have and I for one am much more likely to follow the recommendations of the people I trust in my social networks vs. the marketing spiel from a brochure.

So here are a few of the social tools that have been invaluable to me while planning my next trip:

Thorntree forum – You’ll find a wealth of travel advice and the chance to talk to people who have may have just come back from the destination you are planning on visiting. Reading through the FAQ thread for your destination will give you almost all the information you need, or at least point you in the right direction.

TripAdvisor – User generated ratings and reviews from fellow travellers on everything from hotels to where to eat and what to do.

Blogs – There are plethora of travel blogs out there, all offering buckets of information and a unique perspective.

Apps – I’ve downloaded quite a few travel apps to my iPhone recently and have been pleasantly surprised by how easy they are to use. As an added bonus there a quite a lot of free apps, or cut-down versions of paid apps so you can try before you buy.

Twitter – Lots of travellers flock to twitter, providing updates from their adventures around the world. A couple of my favourites are @travelfish (South East Asia specific) and @NatGeoTraveler (great for inspirational images).

Social media is crucial to travel in so many ways; it lets us connect instantly and easily share our experiences with other travellers, stay in touch with friends and family back home, and for me personally it has been an indispensable part of the trip planning process.

Do you use social media when you’re planning a holiday?