A Vacation You'll Remember Forever (Part 2 of 4)

Let’s start simple: where do you want to vacation? That’s what everything from this point onward will depend upon. If you’re going away during a holiday it’s suggested to go somewhere slightly warmer than your current location, in that way it will be enjoyable in innumerable ways. Here is a list of things you should do to get started:

1. Location: Choose where you would like to vacation, you can go to Park City, Utah to enjoy the slopes or Oahu, Hawaii if you wish to catch some waves. Choose a place that relaxes you though, because in the end, for vacationing, all that matters is you, because you will end-up investing a good amount of money for your self-enjoyment.

2. Flights: After deciding on a place to travel you must find a flight there, unless you plan on driving to your destination (that is of course if your destination is in the US and not overseas). Regardless of location, there are a couple sites you can purchase airfare from, two of my personal favorites are JetBlue and Virgin Airlines. Virgin actually just started flights in America from and to major cities throughout the US, you always have the option of going to Europe as well. I personally like Virgin Airlines, especially if you’re going on a flight that will be lasting longer than 6 hours, they have a good amount of leg room, great service from the stewardesses, and the plane’s atmosphere isn’t that of your typical plane, it’s more relaxing. JetBlue is good as well and they offer special deals if you subscribe to their emails on their website, I once received an email for a $10 plane ticket to Florida!

Travel Tip: Try to avoid Expedia or any other site that offers to plan the trip for you, it makes for a more invigorating and enjoyable time if you take the time to plan your own trip.

3. Hotels: There are always many great hotels available where-ever you decide to travel to. When selecting a hotel there are a couple things you should take into consideration. Does the hotel have a good reputation? Do some research, see what you can find-out about the hotel you want to stay at, there are many websites, such as yelp, where other people go and rate hotels, restaurants, etcetera. Find a hotel with a convenient location based on the activities you plan-on taking part in, a nice pool, lovely restaurant, and anything else you may want it to have. When looking at hotels I compare them to The Portofino and The Hard Rock in Orlando, Florida, and The Plaza in NYC. It all depends on what you want to do though and the experience you’re looking for. If you want to relax and enjoy yourself, go to The Turtle Bay Resort in Oahu, Hawaii, but if you’re looking for more of a thrill you might want to stay at The Extreme 19th at Legend Golf & Safari Resort in Lompopo, South Africa. It all depends upon you and the experience you want.

Travel Tip: Arrange for a chauffeur to pick you up from the airport to take you to your hotel, and whenever you wish to leave the hotel have the concierge call you a cab, or if the hotel offers a car service (like The Hard Rock does), then request the car service, it’s not usually too expensive, and this way you don’t have to worry about getting lost.

4. Luggage: Do you already have suitcases? If not go out and get some new ones. I enjoy packing most of my closet for vacation to be ready for any situation, so if you’re anything like me I advise getting two medium-sized suitcases and one weekender. You can buy a weekender from Urbanoutfitters at a pretty affordable price, suitcases you can find available at almost any mall, but if you’re willing to spend a little extra money checkout the suitcases J. Crew and Burberry have to offer, if your budget for a suitcase isn't an extremely vigorous one then search around on Etsy, they tend to have some great stuff at affordable prices, you may even be able to find a vintage suitcase via-1920.

That’s about it for Part 2, next week we’ll be posting Part 3, which will be all about how to pack and prepare yourself both mentally and physically for your vacation!