My husband says I’m an optimizer, trying to maximize time in order to see and do everything! My travel style is to do a lot of pre-trip planning and reading so that I get the most out of each place I visit. When I don’t do that, I sometimes feel a little let down by wasted time. Yet I am open to serendipitous finds and if something comes along that’s cooler than my pre-planned ideas, I am all for rearranging things on the spot!
I’ve always been a big destination researcher but I used to be much more cavalier about arranging places to stay but after wandering too much in Barcelona looking for a hostel (2001) and sleeping in a Brussels train station (Easter 2002), I decided that having lodging taken care of was a pretty nice thing to have settled. Also, if you notice the dates of my mild misadventures, it was essentially pre-internet with regards to online travel resources and things are much easier and so awesome with online bookings. (I was also much younger in 2001 & 2002 but let’s be friends and not talk too much about that!)
Without further ado and before this page has too much text and not enough links, here are a few of my favorite sites for trip planning.
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This year, SMS and I are taking a July Southern States road trip because we like traveling in furnace-like conditions and a September trip to Europe. I’m so excited and, trust me, I feel very lucky!
The posts have slowed down recently but her archives are filled with excellent posts!
We decided to add Berlin to our Sept 2017 itinerary and I’m really excited. I’ve always wanted to go but knew very little about it. This blog has helped. There is an incredible two-part “Berlin in 48 hours” post!
Great posts for specific places and a few packing guides.
If you’re driving, this is very helpful to plot out good routes!
Seriously good city guides! SMS and I really like foodie experiences and, well, Bon Appetit is here to help!
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