Planning Weekend Getaways: Website Ideas

Derek and I have been doing travel getaway gifts for one another for a number of years and I thought I would share some of my "go-to" travel planning websites for creating great experiences for one another.

Trip Advisor

My number one "go-to" site is Trip Advisor.  I use both the desktop and app version on my phone.  I will look around at hotels, restaurants, and things to do (my favorite section).  This is where I get the "feel" for the area and make sure there are plenty of things to do. I'm normally looking for food tours, wine tours, outings (like a Segway tour), museums, or other things to keep us busy during our visit.

Yelp

I use Yelp to cross-reference restaurants against Trip Advisor to see if the reviews are consistent.  If we are visiting from out of town, we want to make our calories count and pick a great restaurant.

Pinterest

I am an avid Pinterest user and will put our next destination into the search engine to see what comes back.  I've found this to be a great tool to check out ports of call on cruises and to look for free ideas instead of paid shore excursions.

Google

When all else fails, I check out what Doctor Google suggests. I normally comb through the first two or three screens of results (hey, I'm into research!) and find a number of interesting local sites to find out timing-specific events like festivals to check out.

Let me know your favorites!

Cathleen

Big Plans for 2019

Blue Footed Booby

While we are still in January, Derek and I have been planning some of our future trips for 2019.  With my turning the big 50, he has been planning both my birthday party and a big trip.  I too, chose to delight him with a trip for his birthday too. (His is in January, mine in March).

For me, we are booked on a Celebrity Cruise to the Galapagos! I am beyond excited. This has been the top of my bucket list for years and we are finally going to make it happen. 

For him, we are doing a weekend getaway in ... Richmond, Virginia.  I know it doesn't sound like a fair trade but there are a number of cool things to do in Richmond and I think he will really like it. My biggest question is whether to do in the wintertime or wait for better weather.

We will do one of his bigger bucket list trips in 2020. That will even it out a bit I think. We also have a trip to Waco, Texas in May. Our son will be going with his Aunt to South Korea and Mongolia this summer.

-Cathleen