Looking to find the best prices for your next vacation, but don’t want to spend the time searching yourself, or going to multiple travel agents? How would you like it if they came to you!
At Tripology, you enter in the details about the trip you want to take, and then up to 3 travel agents will come to you with their quotes. It’s nice and easy, and you know you’ll get the best price!
Want to go on vacation this summer, but don’t want to spend a lot of money to do so? Consider exchanging your home. What happens is you get to go on vacation where you want, and stay at someones home, and while you’re away, someone will stay at your home.
This way you don’t have to worry about paying for a hotel at all! You’ll be able to save your money for other things, such as souvenirs, or entrances to whatever it is you’re going to be doing.
It’s also a way to stay at a place where you’ll have a kitchen, so you don’t have to eat out for all of your meals. You’ll be able to stop at a supermarket, get the food you want, and eat in instead of having to spend your hard earned money on food for every meal. There’s still plenty of time to find something for this summer!
Pictures are a great way to remember your vacation for years after you have come back. While you’ll always have your memories, sometimes after a few years (or even a few months!) you might be fuzzy on a few of the details. Did you get to see x, y, and z? Or only visit x and y, and you saw z on another trip. Lots and lots of pictures are a great way to remember your vacation. You’ll get to show others all of the great things you saw while on your vacation.
You’ll also get to go back and “live” your vacation over again any time you want. I love being able to go through all of my pictures of past trips, remembering what we did that day, and all of the great things I saw, no matter where I was. It’s also fun being able to show people the cool things you saw, since some things are so beautiful that words just won’t do.
One thing I enjoy doing while on vacations is to make sure I get some perfect pictures so that I can blow them up and put them on my walls. Unfortunately, I haven’t had much of a chance to get the perfect picture, but I have been able to buy some really nice prints of different destinations that I have been to, so that I can remember my vacation while looking at a perfect photograph of the destination.
Because let’s face it…sometimes you just can’t get the perfect picture. There are people in the way, or the sun is too bright, etc…So while most of the time you can take the picture yourself, other times it makes more sense to buy a poster and hang them on your wall. Then anytime you walk into a room you can remember the trip!
When you go on vacation, you most likely will want to bring something back to help you remember the trip. It’s great to be able to look at something in your house, months after you’ve gone on a vacation and have memories come flooding back when you look at the item that you bought while away.
It doesn’t have to be expensive to get a souvenir that you will like, and that will help remind you of your trip. As a matter of fact, it’s most likely the lesser expensive items that you’ll use more often and will be more of a daily reminder of your trip.
The picture above is a great example. While I was in Walt Disney World in September of 2007, I bought a pack of 6-coasters at the gift shop in the Magic Kingdom. How much did it cost? $6.00. How often do I use them? Every single day. It’s great. Whenever I pick up my glass to get a sip of my drink while watching TV, I see one of the coasters, and it instantly reminds me of my Disney World vacation. I can remember picking them out, as well as how much fun I was having at the time, and for the rest of the trip.
Another great souvenir that I got was a spoon holder for while I’m cooking. It’s in the shape of Mickey ears, and cost a whole whopping $7.00. I use this a few times a week when I need to put the spoon down when I’m mixing things on the stove. It also reminds me of my trip, and didn’t cost much at all.
Don’t get me wrong, you can buy a lot of things that will remind you of your trip…I’m just suggesting that less expensive items that you will use often can really give you the most for your dollar, and help keep your vacation alive until your next trip!
Everyone loves a vacation. You get away from the world, and have time to relax, and recharge. The stress seems to melt away, and when you get back, you feel refreshed. Well, sometimes taking a real vacation is just impossible. Maybe you can’t get off work, or you just don’t have the money to pick up and go away for the week.
The truth is though, you can go on a vacation over the weekend, and still get the exact same benefits. You leave Saturday morning, and come back Sunday evening. You will only have to pay for a hotel for one night, and you’ll get 2 full days of vacationing.
No matter where you live, there has to be something that you would find enjoyable within a 2-5 hour drive. Maybe it’s a city you’ve never been to that you want to, or an amusement park that would be fun. It could be a beach, or even just a small bed and breakfast. It could even be outlets you’ve never been to before. Whatever you consider fun and relaxing, that’s what you should do.
I’ve found personally that it helps if it’s someplace I’ve either never been before, or haven’t been in a long time. Also, I like to pick 2-3 things to do. For example, living in NJ there are a million things I could do from Saturday morning until Sunday night. There’s always going out to Hershey Park, Philadelphia, Boston, and the Jersey Shore just to name a few!
It might sound right now like that’s a really quick trip, but when you come home, you’ll feel like you were away for a longer time, and you’ll feel recharged, renewed, and more relaxed like if you had been on vacation for a week. It doesn’t matter what you do while you’re away, as long as you have fun and relax. I’ve done this a bunch of times, and a few months later when I think back upon them, I almost always think they were for longer than just the weekend!
It’s a nice inexpensive way to get away, and have all the same benefits of a long vacation, without having to spend the time or money!
Many people know about the Entertainment Book, which can help you save money at restaurants as well as retail stores…and buy them for the area in which they live.
What you might not realize though, is if you’re going away that an Entertainment Book for the location you will be visiting can also help you save a lot of money on your trip!
It usually takes just one or two of the coupons that you have to use to more than pay for the book. Also, not only will you find discounts for the restaurants in the area you will be vacationing, but you will get discounts at stores, attractions, and will even find travel discounts in the book!
You’d be really surprised how much you can save with an Entertainment Book, even if you’re just using it for 1-week!
For the entire month of May, all Entertainment Books will only cost $9.99! Just using one coupon can make up the money you spent for the book, and you’ll already be saving.
When you travel, no matter where you go, there is almost one thing that always happens. You have to wait. You can be stuck in an airport waiting for them to call your flight, you can be on that 9 hour flight that doesn’t feel like it will ever end, you can even be sitting in a car driving to your destination. No matter how you travel though, there will always be time that you don’t have anything to do.
A lot of people like reading books, watching DVDs, or even listening to music while waiting. Have you considered listening to books or podcasts though?
These days almost everyone has an mp3 player. You can easily download some of your favorite podcasts, and listen to them on your trip. Sometimes you can even find a podcast about your destination, so you can listen while you’re on your way to your destination!
Even better, podcasts are free, so you can just download them and go! You can get great entertainment (and learn a lot as well) without having to spend any extra money. Sounds good to me!
Here is a perfect example. Here is a list of podcats by Frommers.com. You’re sure to learn something great from them! Just taking a quick glance, they have a podcast about taking better pictures, saving money in Washington D.C., standing up to the airlines, and a lot more. You can be sure that the next time I travel I will be downloading some of these podcasts and will be bringing them with me. What a fun way to pass the time!
One of the interesting things I heard at Arthur and Pauline Frommer’s seminar at the New York Times Travel Show was that you should stay away from hotels. Hotels are very expensive, and you’ll end up paying a lot of money for a tiny room.
It turns out hotel prices are up 15% this year, hidden charges are also way up, making a hotel not the best solution when traveling. The most obvious question is then - Where should we stay when going on vacation? They had a few good answers…
The suggest you look into renting apartments, or homes from people in the area. There are many companies that will help you find an apartment to rent for a week or more if you’re going away. You will stay in a lot nicer of a place, and you’ll get extras such as a kitchen so you won’t have to eat out for every meal. According to Pauline, in London you can stay at a local residents place for just a quarter of what you would pay to stay at a “fleabag” hotel!
There are also other options. You can stay at a hostel. Back in the day they were called youth hostels and only young people stayed at them, but now people of all ages can stay there, and pay a lot less than what you would at a hotel.
You should also consider university stays. Many colleges have college apartments that they will rent out for very little. Of course this is usually easier when schools are on break, but it is an option!
House swapping is also becoming more popular. If you live in an area where people might want to visit, consider switching houses for a week or more. You’ll both get to visit someplace new, and not have to worry about paying for a place to stay. You’ll also have a kitchen, and other amenities you might not get with a hotel room.
While in some cases you may prefer to stay in a hotel, these are all great options if you’re looking for something less expensive!
Here are a few links to help get you started:
Vacation Home Rentals
Home Exchange -Live like a local
Home Away
So you’re leaving for your vacation in less than a day. What are a few of the last minute things that you should do?
Well, here is what I always make sure I check/do right before going away. So far it has been helpful in making sure I’m ready for the trip.
The day/night before:
First off, make sure you have everything you need! If you don’t already have a list, quickly make a list of all of the things you need (or think you’ll need) on your trip, and then go through and make sure you have all of that in your suitcase, or ready to go in your suitcase right before you leave. While clothes are obvious, don’t forget things like the charger for your cell phone, or things to keep you occupied on the airplane, or even extra memory for your digital camera.
Speaking of flying, make sure you have a printout of all of your confirmations. This goes for your flight, hotels, car rentals, or anything else that you booked ahead of time. This way if there are any issues, you can always show them your confirmation.
If you bought any tickets to use on your trip, make sure you have those as well or you’ll be stuck paying once you get there! Also, if you have any guidebooks, directions to hotels/attractions, bring these as well.
If by now you haven’t gone to the post office yet to put a hold on your mail, this would be a good time to do so. Also put a hold on your newspaper if you get it delivered daily.
This is also a good time to go to weather.com or another weather website to check out the weather of your destination. If it’s raining, bring an umbrella. Maybe you’ll want to add another long sleeve shirt, or pack a pair of shorts that originally you weren’t going to bring.
The day of the trip:
Make sure you keep your license/passport in an easy accessible if you’re going to be flying since you’ll need it first thing when you get to the airport. This way you won’t have to go looking for it once you’re at the airport.
Turn the heat/Air conditioning (depending on the time of the year) so that they won’t go on as often, since you won’t be there to enjoy it.
Go to the airlines website to make sure that your flight is still on time! You don’t want to rush to the airport to find out that your flight is now delayed by 2 hours!
Make sure you pack those few last minute things that you needed to use that morning, but must bring…like your toothbrush, hairbrush, etc. Don’t forget them!
And finally, as you leave, make sure you lock all your doors, and that all the lights are turned off.
One of the best parts of the Travel Show that I attended last Saturday was getting to attend a seminar given by Arthur Frommer and his daughter Pauline Frommer. The title of their seminar was “The Top Travel Bargains for the Year Ahead”, and boy did they give some good suggestions! Plus, it’s Arthur Frommer! You can’t go to the travel section of any bookstore without seeing many of his books. Who wouldn’t love the chance to hear what he has to say?
I knew this was a seminar not to miss because last year I had gone to the same one (with very different bargains!) and it was a great hour. This year the suggestions were very different from last year’s, and I would love to share some of their suggestions. Maybe it will help you decide where to go on your next vacation!
Arthur and Pauline Frommer also had some other suggestions on how to make your next trip less expensive. Next week I’ll share some of those suggestions! Tomorrow I’ll share a few deals to show you how good some of these destinations can be!
Family Theme Park Vacations
Romantic Honeymoons
