Travel

Researching

Some people tell me they never travel because they get lost doing the research. Hopefully this site gives you a head-start, but here are some other tips.

Choosing A Destination

Start with the end in mind. If you want a beach vacation, don’t start researching Ireland. What do you desire in your next trip? Nature, luxury getaway, girls trip, romance, downtime? Decide this first then keep that goal in mind when you start to wander. Don’t forget to consider time of year. Yes, it’s easy to pick the Caribbean when it’s winter in New England, but realize that it does get cold in Bermuda and Hawaii has a very rainy season – so even though these places evoke tropical breezes, it depends when you go. Take a quick minute to research the climate or “travel season” of your potential destination. TIP: Don’t be afraid to travel to a destination just because it is “off” season. That usually means less than perfect weather, but it also means less crowds and cheaper prices. Researching will also help you decide how far in advance you need to plan. While most trips don’t require much, if you want to attend the Running of the Bulls in Spain or a trip to the Galapagos, you may need to plan this more than a year in advance to have the best experience.

Google is ready to serve you. If you have no idea where to go, try Googling “best girl’s getaway weekend in March” or something like that. Read articles from travel sites and magazines like Travel & Leisure, Lonely Planet or National Geographic. Sometimes I’ll add these brands directly to my Google search because they are reputable and reliable for good info.

You can also just go to Google maps, and start with where you are. Zoom way in. Now drag the map around, zooming in and out to see what’s around you that you might have overlooked.

Need inspiration? Click through my destination pages above. I also have a Journal of Possibilities page where I’m building outlines of future destinations I plan to travel to.

Travel Time

How much time do you have? You can’t go to Europe for a long weekend. Start by figuring out your window – I like to group travel into 3 buckets: long weekend, week long and 2+ weeks. If you only have a long weekend, you can consider destinations in driving distance or places that are accessible by direct flight from your local airport. For someone that lives in New York, you can go nearly anywhere in the world direct. I’m in Louisiana so most flights require a connection, which takes hours out of a vacation day. If you’ll be flying, figure at least 2 hours from the time your flight is scheduled to land before you will have your bags, arrive at your home base and have a minute to freshen up. Add an hour for international destinations to allow for customs. If you try to go too far, your long-weekend just turned into only a few hours of actual destination time.

Budget

This is the hardest part for me. But it is a good idea to have a general budget in mind. If you plan to fly to your destination, it’s a good idea to price out flights before you get too far. That also gives you schedules which helps you carve out how much actual time you will have in your destination. Maybe the bulk of your budget can be allocated for accommodations because you’re going to be hiking or attending free festivals. But if you are headed to Disney, a big piece of your budget will be park tickets and food. You can pick modest accommodations because you’ll be too exhausted to care where your head hits the pillow.

Home Base

Once I’ve narrowed down one or two possible destinations, I usually start looking at accommodations. How much time will you spend in your home base? I’m always tempted to go luxury and tend to pick places that end up being so much more than I needed. The purpose of travel is to explore and immerse, so all you really need is a safe, clean place to keep your suitcase, shower and sleep. EXCEPTION: There are exceptions to this general rule. First, there is beauty in booking a luxury hotel for a long weekend with the intention of staying in your room, ordering room service and having spa treatments. Another exception is a ski, beach or boat vacations where you might want a full kitchen, especially in remote destinations where restaurants and nightlife are limited.

Where To Start Your Research

Let’s assume you’ve got a destination in mind now. My first stop is TripAdvisor. I go to the location, click on “hotels” and sort by highest rated. If you are booking last minute, TripAdvisor has a booking tool built in so you can plug in your dates and not waste time looking at properties that are booked. Use the sort features – you can sort by best value, traveler rated, distance to a city center, etc. TIP: On the left side there are several filters you can apply. One of my favorite secrets is to click “specialty lodging” under “Property Types”. I’ve found some hidden gems by using this filter. It will sometimes include private rentals, Air B&B type properties or more mom-n-pop places. This tool helped me avoid almost booking a room in Europe that did not have a private bathroom!

Using TripAdvisor

• When researching a specific hotel, click “reviews”. Then sort by time of year, or solo travel, or families. Note the bars that quickly show the overall rating that previous travelers have given, from Excellent to Terrible.
• Ignore reviews that rant about bad experiences. They are usually one-off situations.
• Look at the real traveler photos. Hotel websites always make the property look better than it is, so viewing real traveler photos ensures you don’t have too high of an expectation
• Another hidden tool on TripAdvisor under the Review section is “Room Tips”. This can be very helpful. You thought you wanted a room with a view until you read that it came with significant city street noise. Now when you book, you can save money by not reserving that view.

Start Booking

The great thing about booking most things is that you can cancel. Other than plane tickets, there is no reason not to go ahead and secure a reservation for a room, a tour, a rental car or a restaurant in advance. It might help you feel like you’re making progress to get one thing crossed of the list. Not to mention that it is very frustrating if you do all your research, pick the ideal hotel and then find out two weeks later when you are ready to book everything that it is full.

I often use sites like TripAdvisor and Expedia to quickly research prices and availability for hotels. But then I usually go directly to the hotel website to actually book. It is extremely rare for the price to be higher when you book directly vs. using a booking site. Yes, I realize that Travelocity will never sponsor my website if I tell you not to use them, but in my experience you always do better booking with the property directly. Why? If you use a mass-booking site and then have issues with reservations or rates, you’ve got to deal with 1-800-whomever. The hotel can’t help you. Have a special request? Or want to negotiate for an upgrade when you check in? The hotel can’t adjust your rate if you book through a booking site. So while they would have upgraded you to the penthouse suite for an extra $50 a night, you are out of luck because your rate is already locked in through the booking agency. TIP: Ask for upgrades! If you don’t ask, you won’t receive. Also specify things like “prefer a room farther from elevator” or “prefer higher floors” in your reservation. You’ll usually get it.

Credit Card Points

This is a treasure that I learned to take advantage of years ago, and I’m still stunned at how many people don’t. The key here is to pick one credit card and stick to it. If travel is what you intend to use your points for, pick a credit card that has the best dollars to points conversion. TIP: I did extensive research on this a few years ago. My conclusion was that the Chase Sapphire Reserve had the best system to accumulate points for travel, and their points got you more per point if that makes sense. I had American Express for years but their points just don’t go as far. I do keep my American Express Platinum card because I get access to their airport lounges which are just phenomenal. More on that in Air Travel Tips. If you are using your credit card points, you will want to do your hotel booking through their site. It may limit your choices, and I always advise that you consider if you are going to get a good conversion on your points. For example, if the Marriott you are looking at is going to take 10,000 points but you can book it online for $120 a night, you may want to save the points for the airline tickets. Airlines are just ridiculously overpriced in almost every scenario, so I just feel like I get more when I cash in credit card points for plane tickets. This is especially true for international travel.