One of my favorite things about being a student as an adult is that I still have summer and winter break! I try my best to utilize my time off from school so that I feel recharged when I start again. I always feel at ease when I know that I have something exciting planned even if it’s a few months away. You don’t need to get on a plane in order to go on “VACATION” stay-cations are just as rewarding.

I want to share with you my top 5 tips to start planning your getaway.

1. WHEN- think about the time of year you will be traveling. What is the weather like? The past two winter breaks we have traveled to South America. We wanted to go somewhere hot and South America has the opposite seasons as the USA.
2. WHERE- will you be staying local or traveling by plane?
3. HOW LONG- will you be going on a weekend getaway? Or an extended vacation?
4. PEAK SEASONS- will you be traveling during a national holiday? Or peak season? This will affect your budget because hotel and ticket prices will go up. Last August, we traveled to Arizona. We got an amazing deal on tickets and hotels because it was the off-season!
5. BUDGET- how much are you looking to spend? Do you have credit card points that you can use for flights or hotel stay? I am a true believer in cost effective planning. I would rather go away on a budget than not go away at all.

Once you have these 5 questions figured out you are all set to planning your getaway.

My favorite websites for travel:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/ – I find that it has everything I need from hotel reviews to things to do. You can read reviews about different hotels. It very important to look at people’s posts who have been there recently. I also highly recommend viewing the traveler’s photos, because they will be the most reliable. Many times hotels with have professional pictures taken and make the hotel look gorgeous when in reality it’s outdated.

I also find that TripAdvisor is very helpful with activities. Make sure to use the search bar tools to narrow down your searches and what you are looking to do. Recently they added Viator.com to their website so you can book tours as well.

https://www.skyscanner.com/ – This website will give you the best prices for out of the country flights. I always use it for my flight plans.

https://www.google.com/flights/ – This website is great for local travel. I like it because you can select your date on the calendar and you can see the different prices depending on your dates.

http://www.fodors.com/ – This website is great for reviews on things to do.

http://www.frommers.com/ – I use this website as well for ideas of what to do.

The sites above are my main points of research. If I am traveling to a new country I will usually purchase a travel guidebook as well. I like to look at the pictures and see their guides and itineraries and then I base my plans off of that. I also prefer the books, because they usually come with a map. When I travel to a new city one of my favorite things to do is walk the city by foot so I can get a real feel for the culture. The map comes in handy when I do that.

I hope my tips are helpful! I will be adding my travel itineraries for places I have visited in the past as well as places I will be traveling to. Stay tuned for more exciting information on how to plan your getaway! Please feel free to message me or comment below, I would love to hear your feedback.

Cheers!

Batsheva