Browsing Tag Travel Tips
The best travel itinerary recipe
Have you ever followed a recipe for anything titled “the best” and been extremely disappointed? I have. I’ve tried about 10 “best blueberry muffin” recipes, and none of them were as good as my friend Amanda’s. While I know calling this “the best travel itinerary recipe” could welcome some people who don’t like the taste, I still believe it’s got all the necessary ingredients for a great trip.
10 things to double-check before a trip
There are always things I forget. I don’t mean to, but when there are so many details of the trip to remember, you’re bound to forget something. There are some things that you can forget that aren’t that big of a deal (like a toothbrush). There are some things, however, you’ll want to double-check.
New here? Nice to meet you.
I started this blog about two years ago, and have been writing many tips for travel. There is so much content on here, it may be easy to get bogged down on where to start. A few months ago, I added an FAQ page where I answer all sorts of questions that I get asked. (It’s one of my navigational pages at the top.)
Vacation anticipation: the best part of the trip
Going on the trip is the fun part, right? Well, I would also argue that planning the trip can be just as much fun. In fact, I read a New York Times article a few years ago that always stuck with me. It’s based on a study they did in the Netherlands on the effects vacations, and vacation planning, had on peoples’ happiness. Their findings revealed that the most vacation happiness came from what they called “vacation anticipation.” Vacation anticipation is just as it sounds: the excitement of actually going on the trip.
After the vacation, even if they were truly relaxed on the trip, their happiness levels resumed to a baseline happiness after about two weeks. This means that the actual anticipation of the trip was bringing more happiness than after they got home! Their recommendation after these findings was to plan small trips throughout the year, instead of just one large one, to increase your vacation anticipation happiness year-round! (You can read the whole article here. If you really want to read the entire science report, here’s the actual study.)
How to spot false travel advertising
I see this stuff all the time. A photograph for an amazing adventure tour, an ad for a 5-star hotel that looks almost too good to be true, and a historic site that looks like it was created for stock photography. I like to call these “false advertisements”, because they’re misleading. They’re not the real deal, the authentic deal… or anything you’re looking for. But it looks like it is.
That adventure tour is twice as expensive as others, and they’ve paid good money for you to see the ad. The tour charges you for things that would ordinary be free. The photographs taken of that hotel were taken when it was first built… 10 years ago. You know, before thousands of tourists have run it down. That stock photograph of the historic site was taken at the right moment, with a $4,000 camera. You can make anything look appealing with a little Photoshop and the right camera angle.
So what do you do? How do you know if what you’re seeing is what you’re going to get? Here are a few of my personal tips for spotting a fake experience, hotel or site.
