How to Travel Practically Anywhere

An essential guide for today's traveler: timesaving tips to navigate, book, and troubleshoot your travel planning, on and off the Web. If you"ve ever tried to find a sale fare you saw advertised for a flight, only to turn up much higher prices, or discovered that the hotel you booked wasn"t exactly "steps away from the ocean," you know that the do-it-yourself era of travel can mean something else entirely: you"re on your own. Now Susan Stellin, a regular contributor to the New York Times, offers the ultimate guide to the sometimes overwhelming logistics of travel, from researching trip plans to avoiding pitfalls on the road. This comprehensive guidebook presents practical advice on the most useful Web sites, strategies for finding the best deals, and resources to help you decide where and when to go. It also provides crucial tips to ensure your trip doesn"t disappoint, including - what you should research before you book your hotel - how to avoid hidden fees and expensive change penalties - what your credit card covers when you rent a car - whom to call if you need a doctor far from home No matter what type of trip you're planning -- business or pleasure, domestic or international, budget or splurge, exotic getaway or family visit -- How to Travel Practically Anywhere will be an indispensable resource.

1 Researching Your DestinationIf your days off arent already set aside for your best friends wedding in Denver, Christmas with your parents in Atlanta, or a family reunion in Montana, you have the luxury of planning an actual vacation - a rare opportunity when so much of our leisure travel involves visiting friends or relatives. Not that theres anything wrong with those trips: They certainly account for most of the travel charges on my credit card. But to paraphrase someone I once overheard on the subway, "Visiting family is a trip; going to Tahiti is a vacation." Of course, there is one thing that makes visiting loved ones easier than traveling somewhere new and exotic: Theres much less planning involved. (As far as Im concerned, whoever said, "Planning a trip is half the fun!" made that comment when travel agents still did most of the work.) But if you know where to look, the planning process can be part of the fun, and doing it right can make or break the trip itself. This chapter guides you through the research phase, whether you already have a destination in mind or are still deciding where to go. Among the topics covered: how to find articles about your destination in back issues of travel publications, choose a guidebook that fits your style and budget, and track down tourist bureaus and other local sources of advice. Theres also a list of Web sites where travelers trade tips - often, the best source of information about where to go and what to do all over the world. As youre deciding where to go, its also wise to consider when to go, another issue this chapter covers. Hurricanes, spring-break revelers, and local festivals and holidays are just a few things you should factor into your decision, and if youre traveling abroad, State Department advisories are worth checking for other timely concerns. Theres more planning advice in chapter 8 ("Pretrip Preparations"), which covers the types of things most of us put off until after weve booked a trip - and some of us, until just before its time to go. Sources of Inspiration: A Week Off and No Idea Where to Go Some people seem to know exactly where they want to go on their next vacation, their dream destinations stored in a mental must-see list like titles of movies to rent. Other people are more likely to ask a friend at a Memorial Day barbecue, "Ive got a week off in August - where should I go?" Twenty or thirty years ago, that question would have been directed at a travel agent, and the options would have been limited to certain predictable parts of the globe. But these days, adventure travel means trekking in Tibet, and once-inaccessible places like China, Eastern Europe, and Vietnam have become popular places to travel. So figuring out where to go on your next trip can literally be a matter of spinning the globe.Search the archives, on line Newspapers and magazines that cover travel are a great source of ideas when youre planning a trip, highlighting places you may n

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Excerpted from How to Travel Practically Anywhere: The Ultimate Travel Guide by Susan Stellin
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