Image by S Wilson

INSPIRE YOURSELF

Everyone is inspired by something different.  Sometimes people will have a specific destination in mind from the start while others just have a general idea of what kind of destination they would like to visit.  Perhaps you want to visit somewhere tropical, but have no idea whether you want to visit the islands of southeast Asia, Central America, or Polynesia.  Maybe you love art and want to travel through Europe seeing many of the great museums that span across the continent.  It’s time to start researching your trip and narrowing down where you want to go and whether or not your dream vacation fits your budget.

Do check out our recommendations and read what inspires us.

START RESEARCHING

Whatever your inspiration, do your research to be certain this is a place you want to visit.  My first recommendation is just punching your destination into google or read the wikipedia article.  Wikitravel is a great user created wiki geared towards, well, travel, while TravellersPoint also offers great member created content as well as a load of other travel tools such as blogs, photo storage, maps, and forums.

For those who don’t want to abandon the joy of curling up with a good book, a travel guide is a good choice.  My favorite guides are Lonely Planet and Let’s Go, though they are typically aimed towards younger and cheaper travelers.  Two other reliable travel guides are Fodor’s and Frommer’s.

There are also guides geared towards specific types of travelers, such as the Spartacus International Gay Guide, obviously geared towards gays, or the Not for Tourist Guides, aimed at people who may live in an area for an extended period of time.  Some guides focus on certain interests such as The Blue Guides, which focus on architecture.

Many brands of guidebooks focus on particular areas, such as Rick Steves, who is one of the most reliable resources for traveling to Europe.  If you know the region you want to travel to, but want to narrow down where you want to go even further, browsing guidebooks like his is a good place to start.

Other quality guides include Rough Guides, Moon Publications, In Your Pocket City Guides, and Insight Guides.