Five Steps to Finding the Perfect Destination!
By Amanda

Five Steps to Finding the Perfect Destination!

So you’re ready to book a vacation!? But then you find yourself in love with 5 different islands, 4 countries and no clue how to choose the “PERFECT” spot. Decisions , decisions! Here are the FIVE steps I use when finding the best vacation spot!

1) Distinguish what type of vacation your are looking to have. Are you seeking adventure, history and sight seeing opportunities, food galore, museums .. or is a tropical beach and cocktail what you’re after? Theres a BIG difference between an Italy Vacation and a Caribbean Vacation.. So be sure you know what you’re in for! 😉
Also consider your personal schedule right before your trip..  will you be coming off of a tiring work week/month/year and want to relax.. or maybe you’ve been studying your brains out and now your ready to go exploring a new place.. It doesnt hurt to also double check with anyone else traveling with you.

2) Check the WEATHER! Im a huge weather freak when it comes to planning a trip. I’m not a fan of heavy rain storms, hurricanes or anything else that mother nature might have in store during my vacation. And although you obviously cant predict the weather , Id rather have the best chances at the best possible forecast. I like to google the heck out of a destinations weather during the time Im looking to travel! Sometimes I’ll even research the month Im looking to travel in and see what the best destinations are to travel to during that time.

3) Get the best bang for your buck. So now you have a couple destinations in mind, you’ve checked the weather and they’re both good to go.. now its time to see how far your money will take you. Assuming you have a budget (and if you dont, well , thats awesome and you can disregard this step) start figuring out what this trip will cost. I highly recommend using several different websites when doing this – Travelocity – Expedia – Priceline – CheapCaribbean – Kayak – Airline Sites – VirginVacations are my favs. If you’re on a $2,000 for two people budget your going to be able to do a lot more in say Puerto Rico then maybe you would in somewhere like Hawaii.. so see which destination will get you the most for your money.
**Part B to the 3rd step 😉 – The last thing you want is to end up paying majority of your budget for flight and hotel only to find that food, drinks and excursions at your destination are insanely expensive.. So do your research on cost once you get there.. check out ahead of time what excursions you want to do and what they will cost. Does hurt to check out general pricing for food and drinks too.

4) Consider the distance and travel time. Make sure to research the amount of time it’ll take you to travel to your destination. Say you have 4 days to vacation you may pick to go somewhere like Cancun,MX (direct flight from New York) over Los Cabos,MX (1 stop from New York) .. because this way you get more actual vacation time!

5) Learn about the destinations current state before you go. You might come across an amazing deal to a beautiful destination , BUT then that place has a worldwide travel warning, increased violence and lack of security that you didnt know about.. I find that most of the popular destinations are totally fine, but its always good to take the appropriate steps to increase your security awareness. It also doesnt hurt to learn about conditions at your destination that could affect your health..

Hopefully now you have picked the PERFECT DESTINATION for you and your travel partners 🙂 !!!

Happy and Safe Travels!!
xoxoxo

  • The Chica Travelista
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  • April 16, 2014