I know there have been tons of travel/vacation threads but this isn't for one particular destination or for one particular event (honeymoon, bachelor party, spring break, etc.)

Basically I'm curious how people decide where to take vacations. When do you decide it? I'm kind of jealous of the people that decide last minute and just go somewhere on a whim. We take one long vacation around our anniversary every year and I plan the hell out of it months in advance, mostly because we don't take many vacations and partly because I get bored at work.

Do you read any good travel blogs for ideas? Where do you find recommendations for places of interest when you decide on a destination? I usually find one thing I'll enjoy (historical place or sporting event) and try to find something my wife will really enjoy and then just fill in with other stuff. I'll check TWW for suggestions and read through Tripadvisor for hotel/restaurant recommendations.

tl;dr - what's your process of planning a vacation?

5/21/2012 8:52:15 AM

Checking groupon and livingsocial for that area for things to do. Local calendars, etc. Think we might be going to San Francisco, then down to Monterey for their wine festival.

5/21/2012 9:12:00 AM

We usually look at when we'll be able to travel, then consider places that are good at that time of year. We have a list of some things we want to do, and my goal is to keep seeing places we've both never been before as long as that's feasible, rather than repeating destinations.

Our last vacation we knew we wanted somewhere in driving distance from either of us (then Pensacola and Raleigh) that neither of us had been to before. We were kind of drawing blanks until I saw a Living Social deal for a B&B in New Orleans and thought that would be fun. We really want to do a cruise to Alaska, but it'll probably be a few years before that happens.

After we pick a location I usually just google "things to do in __" and it seems to have worked fine thus far.

5/21/2012 9:30:44 AM

Back when I used to get over a month of vacation time every year, I just kind of chose things on a whim. Now that I don't get nearly that much I actually have to think about it which sucks lol. Plus now that we're back near family it seems like they're always wanting to drain some of our vacation time which is really annoying. I've kind of gotten to the point where I tell them, "I just don't have the vacation days to do that," when really it's just I don't want to deal with family drama for a week when I could be doing something relaxing.

As far as choosing locations, usually it's just, "Where haven't I been that I want to see?", check out how much plane tickets are, and then plan from there. I actually think my next vacation will be NYC since it's been over six years since I've been there and I used to go every year.

5/21/2012 9:34:07 AM

Yeah, we haven't really had the money to fly to vacations and don't want to take up half the vacation driving so we mostly find stuff to do around NC.

We'll finally have a lot of debts paid off this time next year so it opens up a lot of options that we hadn't considered before.

5/21/2012 9:50:45 AM

1) Spin a globe
2) Put finger on globe to stop it
3) Buy ticket
.
.
.
.
4) vacation?

5/21/2012 9:56:46 AM

This year we vacation in Siberia! Yay!

5/21/2012 10:01:23 AM

week of fishing in march during the shad run

week of fishing in the fall, depending on when the outages are at work

take off some fridays here and there and go fishing

5/21/2012 10:18:07 AM

Not quite at the unlimited ducats stage of my life so most of my traveling is trips, jaunts and excursions...I save the 'vacation' label for the big trips with clear agendas. I go to NY, DC, and Vegas maybe a dozen times a year combined, mainly for long weekends of tomfoolery and bullshittery. My folks have a beach house in SC that I visit maybe once or twice a season, preferably when they're not around. I've never taken a real weeklong vacation on my own dollar, save for an ill fated cruise several years back when roughly 2/3 of us got salmonella from what we think was undercooked eggs. Hopefully in the next few years I'll have the capital and right someone to take some more extended international journeys, but for now, weekends are plenty. A week is a long time to be away.

5/21/2012 10:31:16 AM

If I'm just going somewhere for a long weekend I usually pick beach/mountains and book place a few weeks in advance. If I'm flying I usually try to book ~ two months out so I don't have to shell out a fortune on flight. If I'm going solo I visit friends or family since they always make the trip fun regardless of location. I love Vegas a ton, so I try to go there once a year. I also recently visited DC and NYC just because the gf wanted to and I hadn't been since I was a kid. I'm partial to cruises since you get to visit several places plus it's pretty cost effective. My friends have recently visited a few places abroad so I may try to check out those places based on their reviews.

[Edited on May 21, 2012 at 10:54 AM. Reason : ]

5/21/2012 10:53:15 AM

Feels like you're riding my coattails

5/21/2012 10:57:19 AM

Okay then, aside from finding stuff near you and standard vacation spots like Vegas/DC/NYC, how do you decide on vacations like:

Quote :

"I save the 'vacation' label for the big trips with clear agendas."

There's nothing for us that really just stands out as "we've always wanted to do this" except a trip to England

5/21/2012 11:10:50 AM

I kind of label mine within timeframes, based on my expected means and traveling partners. At 27, I still prefer the group trips, going with either several other couples or just a big entourage of 8+. This really doesn't lend itself to anything too extravagant as you have to cater to everyone's financial and cultural tastes, so it usually ends up being simple and affordable like the aforementioned, or either something like Myrtle or Key West. Fun, sure, but not the kind of trips you really dream about. Moving ahead, looking 5+ years down the road when my trips will veer more towards the couples side of things, and I have several 'big ticket' vacations for sometime down the road:

*French Wine Country
*Skiing in the Alps
*Mediterranean Cruise
*Great White fishing off the Cape of Good Hope
*Thailand
*Underwater hotel and scuba diving off Great Barrier Reef
*Surfing in Hawaii

These are all probably 5 figures expenditures, so they go on a wish list as something to do when its just me and one companion. For now, the more limited range of group trips will suffice.

5/21/2012 11:21:50 AM

Yeah, that all makes sense. I'm just thinking it would be cool to plan trips of a similar theme - something like see as many national heritage sites as possible, best beaches in the world, or the world's most famous soccer stadiums (doubt many people would care about that) instead of just randomly picking cool foreign destinations.

Traveling is going to be awesome no matter what, I just have a lot of time on my hands and a tendency to research/plan a ridiculous amount.

5/21/2012 11:35:12 AM

Quote :

"Feels like you're riding my coattails"

Haha. Great minds...

5/21/2012 2:37:00 PM

1. Pick somewhere you want to go.
2. Read a little on Wikitravel/buy a Lonely Planet guidebook
3. Book flight and hostel/hotel for the first night.
4. Do whatever you feel like doing.

I didn't even book a hotel for the first night on my last trip to Jamaica. Just showed up asked the taxi driver to drive us to one I found in Lonely Planet (called first to make sure they had rooms). Some places frown on this, apparently, because customs wanted to know where I had reservations.

5/21/2012 2:51:52 PM

I don't have the opportunity to travel much between school and other commitments, so at the moment I've been limited to visiting friends and family. I also turn races into excuses to visit places I haven't been before...
I've got trips scheduled to Bryson City, Rochester NY, Boulder CO, and the Outer Banks this year. I'll be staying
a few days in Morgantown and Pittsburgh along the way.

Also, one thing not negotiable is the location must be cycling oriented. I don't care if it's mountain biking,
triathlon, commuters, roadies, or fixies, I want to be able to see it on the back of a bike.

5/21/2012 2:52:46 PM

I too use tripadvisor often. Has led to some great finds.

5/21/2012 4:47:31 PM

For out of state/out of country travel, I have a check-list of places I want to go. I usually choose which place according to the budget of which friend is going with me...

The first list consists of all of the places mentioned in the Kokomo...

5/21/2012 5:03:08 PM

I usually try to find places I can drive to.
Then, I use sites like tripadvisor.com to look up hotel ratings and reviews.

5/21/2012 5:04:55 PM

I go to cities and when I get to the city I go to the top restaurants or bars from yelp/foodtv and talk to the bartender/patrons about the best things to do in the city. They obviously know more about it than some book or message board and are usually young hip people. From there I meet friends and talk to more and more people and truly experience the city.

5/21/2012 7:17:49 PM

i go where i have friends i can stay with. this helps with the price of the trip immensely. i realize not everyone has friends they can crash with all over the world but i am taking advantage of it for as long as i can

i will also take trips specifically because there is something really cool to do there.

if i want to go somewhere where i dont have a local connection, i try to get a group together that will travel well together so we can split out lodging & car rental costs. not to mention food (grocery shopping on vacation ftmfw)

5/21/2012 8:54:37 PM

Quote :

"i go where i have friends i can stay with."

this.

Is my usual go to for planning a trip. Then if not, I'll figure something out to do but generally I have a lot of friends all over and in interesting places enough that I can do dope shit for not a ton of money. This year it means a trip to the Bay area/Napa this weekend, Europe later this summer, and a TBD trip to Kenya and maybe South Africa.

But there are a couple places I do want to go that I don't have friends, so maybe I'll plan something involving hotels and shit soon.

5/21/2012 9:19:40 PM

^ wanna get a group rate going?

5/21/2012 9:43:33 PM

Quote :

"(grocery shopping on vacation ftmfw)"

no dice. You are missing out on the dining which is one of the main perks of travel.

Quote :

" i try to get a group together that will travel well together so we can split out lodging & car rental costs."

Never heard of hostels? lodging basically becomes free and they organize groups to go to all of the local attractions. You don't even have to go places because hostels are usually right in the thick of things.

5/21/2012 10:01:52 PM

why are you on my nuts about my travel preferences?

ever heard of opinions?

5/21/2012 10:11:15 PM

Just saying. With all the sacrifices you are making to save money, you might as well stay home and watch a movie about the places you are going.

5/21/2012 10:13:52 PM

Eh if you've been traveling for weeks eating out gets old. Plus it can be interesting to see what supermarkets are like during international travel.

5/21/2012 10:20:37 PM

I'm only cooking on my trip if I have a decent kitchen. Not gonna deal with some horseshit Marriott "kitchenette" where I can't even keep my au jus at a low simmer.

5/21/2012 10:24:59 PM

Who said anything about cooking I usually pick up stuff like yogurt, salad, fruit, etc.

5/21/2012 10:28:01 PM

you're right. i should have stayed home & watched a movie about traveling to chile, renting a house on a mountain with lakeviews & cooking all my meals with 11 friends on the grill while we swam in our pool & drank cases of wine. it would have been stupid to rent a boat & go waterskiing too.

i really should have spent my money on dining out. guess i missed out!

fwiw, i eat at restaurants for about 60-70% of my meals due to my job. i don't give a fuck about dining out, i have been there & done that. i'd rather cook sweet meals & enjoy the company of my friends

5/21/2012 10:30:21 PM

That makes sense. I really wasn't thinking about undeveloped places. That is ideal for a lot of places in Latin America with the sanitation situation.

[Edited on May 21, 2012 at 11:09 PM. Reason : just like slave, i originally imagined you in a Marriott Paris kitchenette cooking. ]

5/21/2012 10:59:12 PM

^ lol ok fair enough, that is a stupid image & i agree

while traveling in europe grocery stores & markets are money for water, breakfast & snacks though, trust.

chile isn't really 'underdeveloped' per say but they aren't known for their food. it's pretty plain actually. we went to a peruvian restaurant while i was there which was great but otherwise it was lunch at the w & shit like that. nothing crazy exotic or local.

except the wine, i used my savings to bring a case of wine back with me

5/21/2012 11:15:28 PM

We usually pick a place we both want to go, alternating between city, beach, and mountain destinations. We also alternate between just us, and doing a group thing with friends. We try to find a good mix of things that are specific to our interests, and some more touristy stuff to mix in too.

A little googling, wikipediaing, tdubbing, and checking out online visitors guides is often sufficient to find enough to do, with a few tips added in from friends and family. More often than not we go to places within reasonable driving distance.

When we do city trips it is more likely to be just us, and to be jam packed with activities. When it's beach or mountains it's more likely to be more relaxed and to sometimes include friends too.

5/21/2012 11:28:03 PM

I put my wife in charge, I bitch about how much it costs, she comes back with a cheaper equally as good solution, we go and have a great time.

5/22/2012 12:25:53 AM

Quote :

"Thailand"

Is expensive to get to, cheap when there. Do not buy any jewelry, the vast majority of it, even in many stores, is fake.

$5k is more than enough for one.

5/22/2012 1:15:04 AM

Wait, you mean that sketchy guy with the rickshaw in front of Wat Pho was lying to me when he said he had a buddy with great deals on jade?!

5/22/2012 9:06:17 AM

going to Ha Long bay, Vietnam next month. how did I plan it? well, I used to play this game called Vietcong and I thought the maps were cool.

5/22/2012 1:35:43 PM

FML, the boy let the plane tickets we had expire so all this time I've spent planning this vacation has been completely wasted. He was too lazy to check before I started planning and now I'm pissed.

I can't take any more of his shit.

5/30/2012 1:42:08 PM

Quote :

"FML, the boy let the plane tickets we had expire"

Did you not know when they expired?

5/30/2012 2:05:39 PM

No, he had handled the first booking and then canceled them without asking me. I didn't have any paperwork until last night when I got pissed at him and made him email it to me. I check it first thing this AM and find out it's expired because the POS was looking at the wrong date.

So once again, I trusted him to be competent and got screwed.

5/30/2012 2:11:28 PM

Quote :

"No, he had handled the first booking and then canceled them without asking me."

Sounds like he might not able to take any more of your shit.

5/30/2012 2:14:28 PM

Might have something to do with you call him 'the boy'.

5/30/2012 2:18:04 PM

Isn't he your husband?

He was too lazy to check the date before you started planning? If you were planning perhaps you should have looked at the expiration date to see what kind of time frame you had to work with?

5/30/2012 2:49:34 PM

I thought she didn't believe in engagement rings and marriage?

While he doesn't believe in keeping records of important dates...

5/30/2012 2:53:08 PM

I would've thought you'd check the dates in the first stages of planning?

5/30/2012 2:54:48 PM

He told me they were good until June 14th, turns out they expired May 1st. Guess I can't trust him.

5/30/2012 2:57:27 PM

You're being a bit dramatic

You can't trust your husband because he screwed up the expiration date?

Really?

5/30/2012 3:12:11 PM

If it was just this I wouldn't be mad. It's a combination of many things and times he has hurt me with his lack of giving a shit about anything.

5/30/2012 3:23:25 PM

Quote :

"You're being a bit dramatic"

we're talking about

- lewoods -

here

5/30/2012 3:26:56 PM