Well-planned travel lets you maximize opportunities and minimize expenses. Whether you’re taking the family to Disney for a vacation, or whether you’re planning an executive retreat at your company, planning is an essential element in making your trip a successful one.
Accordingly, there are a number of tools you can put to use to make the planning process smooth and easy. Many of these tools are available simply by entering a web address into your browser.
Here are some of the best travel planning tools around:

1. Travel booking websites.

There are a number of these sites online, from Priceline to Orbitz and more. One of the best up-and-coming travel websites is Kayak.com, although most of the sites will provide you with similar results.
Travel booking websites give you access to pricing information for a variety of hotel, airline, and rental car vendors. They let you see what your trip is going to cost in a side-by-side comparison.
One thing to pay particular attention to when using travel booking websites, however, is that they’re a great place to start looking for prices; they’re not always the best place to buy. When you actually get ready to make travel reservations, check out alternate sites as well as the companies themselves to see if you can get a better deal.

2. Consumer review websites.

Price isn’t the only aspect to choosing your travel details, of course. If you want to have a good experience – whether it’s with the hotel, the airline, or even with a business or entertainment venue in your destination city – you need to know what others are saying about them.
30 years ago, that meant digging through the last year or two of consumer reports and hoping that your particular travel choice would be reviewed. Today, however, it’s as simple as going to TripAdvisor, IgoUgo, or another travel review website.

3. Destination travel-planning guides.

No matter where you’re headed, chances are pretty good someone’s written a book or a website about things to do and see in that destination. From Fodor’s travel guides to information published by the local visitor’s bureau, there are a wealth of these kinds of resources out there.
You need to choose your travel-planning guides carefully, however. If [Read more…]

Packing a car for a trip can be very difficult if the whole family is going. Things get even worse
if the trip is going to be very long, or if you need to pack a lot of items. There is a certain art to
packing, and it needs to be done correctly to get everything in the car. If you find it difficult to fit
everything into the car, then follow these helpful tips to get yourself situated.

Pack the Last Item First
This is a technique that can help you manage your car space. Most people pack the essentials
first, and that can work. At the same time, packing the essentials first puts them at the bottom of
the car. If you need the item right now, then it’s going to be aggravating to get it out from the
bottom of the trunk.

It’s a better idea to pack the last item you will use first. For example, if you are going to a water
park, then you will probably need towels. You won’t need those towels until you reach the water
park, so it would be a better idea to pack them first.

Working in this order allows you to put the items you need first right in front of you. This is
much more convenient when you need to reach an essential item immediately, and it will allow
you to better configure the items.

Use Fewer Suitcases
Suitcases have long been useful tools for carrying travel items, but they aren’t the most efficient
way of carrying those items. Suitcases are bulky, and there is often a thick layer of material that
takes up a lot of room. This can make it difficult to pack items when you need to use every inch
of room.

It’s better to use big plastic bags. There are many plastic bags made exclusively for travel, and
they are very useful for conserving space. The bag uses a thin layer of plastic. This means that
you are efficiently using all the space in the bag. It is also easier to remove air from the bag, and
this can be used to squish down soft items like clothes.

These bags are best with items that are not fragile. This is because they do [Read more…]