1. You’ll want to keep track of what you learn
2. You’ll want to have easy access to the information as you make your reservations
3. You may even want to have access to it as you travel

1. Commit the information to paper
2. Save the information on a private web site

1. Surf to the Web page that contains the information you want to save
2. Highlight the information (pictures included), right-click within the highlighted area and then left-click on Copy
3. Open your favorite word processor (Microsoft Word recommended) and position the cursor at the location where you want the information recorded
4. Right click on the document to get a menu and then left-click on Paste

1. The most straight-forward way to save information on the Web so that it is readily accessible is to use the “favorites” or “bookmarks” feature of your browser
2. If you want to be able to access the sites from any computer anywhere in the world, I recommend www.del.icio.us
3. You must “join” the site in order to use it, but this is free and needs to be done just once
1. Click on "Register"
2. Choose a Username and type it in (Remember it!!)
3. Enter your full name
4. Choose a password and type it in (Remember it!!)
5. Type the password in again to prevent errors
6. Type your email address
7. Type the letters in the greyed-out box (case sensitive). This is to prevent automated sign-ups
8. Click on the Register button
4. At this point (at home) you can add the clipping tool to your browser's toolbar. This has two effects:
1. It will place two additional buttons on your toolbar:
1. one will automatically save the current web page to your del.icio.us collection and give you an opportunity to assign keywords to it
2. The other will take you directly to your del.icio.us collections of links
2. Also, from now on all your favorites will be on the del.icio.us site and accessible from any Internet-connected computer anywhere in the world.
3. We’ll be using this tool repeatedly during the course, so don’t worry too much about the details right now

There are six major travel-oriented web sites -- Kayak (www.kayak.com), Sidestep (www.sidestep.com}, Travelocity (www.travelocity.com), Expedia (www.expedia.com), Orbitz (www.orbitz.com) and Yahoo Travel (travel.yahoo.com) -- that offer "full-service" travel planning, transportation booking and destination review services. In this presentation we will focus on the "boutique" travel planning sites.

1. What activities do I like to do on vacation?
1. Sightseeing
2. Learning
3. Physical activity
4. Living well
5. Foreign travel
6. Etc.
2. What physical limitations do I have?
1. Can’t do lots of walking
2. Can’t handle high altitude
3. Can't sit for long periods of time
4. Tire easily
5. Etc.
3. What sort of climate do I like?
1. Warm in winter
2. Cool in summer
3. Doesn’t matter
4. How do I like to travel?
1. Just us in the car with no fixed day-by-day schedule
2. Just us in the car with a plan for each day
3. Go directly to a destination and stay there until it’s time to go home
4. Self-driving tour (Hint: Google “self driving tour + destination name)
5. Group guided tour. Reviews of many tour companies and information on what they offer can be found at Vacations to Go (tourvacationstogo.com)

1. Try phrases like
1. New York sights
2. Seattle vacation review
3. Cancun guide
4. France travel
5. Vienna highlights
2. NOTE: if you “Google” the name of a city alone (e.g. type www.google.com then type the name of the city in the search box), Google will provide you, at the top of the list, access to information on
1. Dining Guides
2. Lodging Guides
3. Attractions
4. Shopping
5. Suggested Itineraries
6. Tours and Day Trips

1. Discovery Travel (travel.discovery.com)
1. click on Vacation Ideas to start to get some idea of where to go
2. click on Destination Guides to narrow the choice down
3. click on Traveler’s Reviews to obtain personal opinions of various destinations
2. Lonely Planet (www.lonelyplanet.com)
1. click Destinations tab
2. type a destination in the search box
3. point the mouse to Explore, then a country, then a city
3. Trip Advisor (www.tripadvisor.com)
1. type a destination in the search box and then click Go
2. or click on a location in the Browse Destinations box
4. Concierge (www.consierge.com)
1. Under "Insider Guides," click on "See all guides"
2. Click on what you think might be an interesting country to visit
3. Click on a city that appeals to you
4. Choose from the "See+Do," "Shop," "Nightlife," and "Fact Sheet" tabs to get useful information
5. Rick Steves (ricksteves.com) Note: Europe only
1. Type the name of a city or country into the text box in the upper right and click on "Search"
6. Rough Guides (www.roughguides.com)
1. Use the drop-down Country or City lists to explore possibilities
2. You can also purchase books and maps in the Travel Guides section
7. And a brand new one, WikiTravel (wikitravel.org)
1. Click on a continent, a country and a city
2. You can even add your own new entries and augment or correct existing ones

1. Fodors (www.fodors.com)
1. Click on the Destinations tab
2. or click on the map
3. or type the name of your destination in the search box
2. and remember, if you “Google” the name of a city alone, Google will provide you, at the top of the list, access to information on
1. Dining Guides
2. Lodging Guides
3. Attractions
4. Shopping
5. Suggested Itineraries
6. Tours and Day Trips

1. Cruises:
1. Ocean Cruises
1. Cruise Web (www.cruiseweb.com)
2. CruiseServer (www.cruiseserver.net)
3. Cruise Critic (cruisecritic.com)
2. Theme Cruises
1. Locate Theme Cruises (snipurl.com/themecruises)
2. Plan Your Cruise (www.cruising.org/planyourcruise/guides/theme.cfm)
3. Vacations to Go (http://www.vacationstogo.com/theme_cruises.cfm)
3. Yacht Cruises
1. SeaDream Yacht Club (www.seadreamyachtclub.com)
2. Horizon Yacht Charters (www.horizonyachtcharters.com)
4. River Cruises
1. Affordable Tours (rivers.affordabletours.com)
2. Viking River Cruises (http://www.rivercruises.com/#)
3. USA River Cruises (/www.usarivercruises.com)
4. RiverCruise (www.rivercruise.com
2. Escorted Tours
1. Affordable Tours (www.affordabletours.com)
2. Tour Vacations to Go (www.tourvacationstogo.com)
3. Vacation Packages:
1. Adventure Vacation Packages
1. Gorp Travel Away (gorptravel.away.com)
2. OuterQuest (www.outerquest.com)
3. About Adventure Cruises (snipurl.com/adventurecruises)
2. Educational Vacation Packages
1. Shaw Guides (www.shawguides.com)
2. Archeology Tours (http://snipurl.com/archeovacations)
3. Lindblad Expeditions (www.expeditions.com)
3. Senior Vacation Packages
1. ElderHostel (www.elderhostel.org)
2. Senior Summer School (www.seniorsummerschool.com)
3. AARP Travel (www.aarp.org/travel/destinations)
4. Elder Treks (eldertreks.com)

1. Use a mapping program
1. Google Maps (maps.google.com)
2. Yahoo Maps (maps.yahoo.com)
3. MapQuest (mapquest.com)
4. and many more
2. With most of these maps sites you can
1. Zoom in and out using the + and – controls
2. Move the map around by dragging it with the mouse
3. Get printed driving directions
3. There are many web sites devoted to automobile travel, including
1. Free Trip (www.freetrip.com)
2. Roadtrip America (www.roadtripamerica.com)
3. Roadside America (www.roadsideamerica.com)
4. Mile by Mile (www.milebymile.com)
5. National Scenic Byways Program (www.byways.org)
and, most important of all
6. Speed Trap Exchange (www.speedtrap.org)

1. Most of the web sites on which you can access schedules, reserve seats and purchase tickets work in a similar way
1. Choose One-Way or Round Trip by clicking on the appropriate radio button
2. Enter the city and state (or the airport designator) from which you want to depart
3. Enter the date you are departing and, if you prefer, a certain time of day (I recommend leaving the time of day open as you will have more alternatives to work with)
4. If you’re booking for a round trip, enter the date you are returning and, if you want, a time of day
5. Enter the number of travelers
6. Click on Continue
2. On the Schedules screen
1. Verify your itinerary
2. Click on the departure that best fits your needs as to time and price
3. Click on Continue
3. On the Purchase screen
1. Fill in the Passenger Information
2. Verify that the site is secure. It should display at least one of
1. A yellow padlock in the lower right corner
2. A yellow background in the Address Bar
3. https (rather than http) and the beginning of the URL
3. Fill in the credit card information
4. Click on the Buy Now button (or its equivalent)
5. A printable ticket purchase confirmation will appear on the screen
6. Print it and take it with you, along with the credit card you used the purchase the ticket, when you board the conveyance
4. Amtrak (www.amtrak.com) and Greyhound (www.greyhound.com) have their own web sites where you can reserve space and purchase tickets
5. When flying, there are usually multiple airlines available to you. Hence it is to your advantage not to book flights with individual airlines. Instead use one of the big six sites
6. or, for discount tickets purchased at the last minute:
1. Priceline (www.priceline.com)
2. Cheap Tickets (www.cheaptickets.com)
3. Lowest Fare (www.lowestfare.com)
4. 30 Places to Find Cheap Airline Tickets (snipurl.com/1wtc6)
7. Additional sources of information:
1. Airport information including maps, parking and other facilities
   (www.amadeus.net/home/airports/en/index.htm)
2. Average waiting time in the security line
   (waittime.tsa.dhs.gov/index.html)
3. Prohibited and Permitted items
   (tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/prohibited/permitted-prohibited-items.shtm)
4. Rules governing Laptops and Batteries
   (www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/batteries.shtm)
5. Aircraft seating charts
   (www.seatguru.com)
6. Tips to make air travel more comfortable
   (www.remote.org/jochen/travel/tips/airtravel.html)
7. Air Travelers' Rights (www.mytravelrights.com/travellaw.cfm?ai=3)

1. Use one of the big six sites
2. Get discounted prices at
1. Priceline (www.priceline.com)
2. A1 Discount Hotels (www.a1-discount-hotels.com)
3. Use the Web site of the hotel chain you prefer or look up chain hotels around the world in All Hotel Chains (all-hotel-chains.com)
4. Pet-friendly hotels (www.petswelcome.com)
5. Bed and Breakfast establishments:
1. BedandBreakfast.com (www.bedandbreakfast.com)
2. BBOnline (www.bbonline.com)
6. Rentals and Time-Shares
1. CyberRentals (www.cyberrentals.com)
2. Vacation Homes (www.vacationhomes.com)
3. Vacation Rentals by Owner (www.vrbo.com)
4. Sell My Timeshare Now (www.sellmytimesharenow.com)
5. Vacation Timeshare and Rentals (www.vacationtimesharerentals.com)
7. RV Parks and Campgrounds:
1. RVPark (www.rvpark.com)
2. RVAmerica (www.rvamerica.com)
3. Go Camping America (www.gocampingamerica.com/ParkSearch.aspx)
4. Woodalls (www.woodalls.com)
8. "Google" lodging + the destination you've chosen

1. Use a restaurant directory web site:
Fodors (www.fodors.com/reviews/drevselect.cfm)
1. Zagat (www.zagat.com) Note: click the Restaurants tab
2. Chez Moz (www.chezmoz.org)
3. Restaurant Row (www.restaurantrow.com)
4. DineSite (dinesite.com/home/action-browse)
5. "Google" type of food you want restaurant near city, state or zip code;
   e.g. italian restaurant near pennington nj or indian restaurant near 08648

1. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (www.cdc.gov/travel)
2. International Association for Medical Assistance to Travellers (www.iamat.org)

1. Visa (snipurl.com/visa_atm)
2. Mastercard (snipurl.com/mastercard_atm)

1. rec.travel.usa-canada - The active group is happy to provide driving directions and sightseeing advice for US and Canadian tourists
2. rec.travel.europe - If you're looking for advice from fellow travelers about finding sightseeing hot spots as well as great hotels and restaurants, you'll love this group