14 Gifts for Your Travelling Valentine

On February 4, 2016February 7, 2016 By rebeccawanderlustingIn Travel Tips1 Comment

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching (11 more days, oh my!) which means it’s time to shower those you love with, well, more love. Last year, I happened to be away from home at this time, celebrating Valentine’s Day over FaceTime with Mike. He handled it very well and gave me the perfect Valentine’s Day gift to support my choice to travel, even if it meant spending the day apart. If you and/or your valentine happen to be of the nomadic variety, here are a few (14 to be exact) suggestions for tokens of your affection:

Vintage Postcards to stay in touch with while you’re apart. Bonus points if you include stamps! ($7 for the set)
Photo Courtesy of Amazon.com
FujiFilm Instax Mini Camera to add some whimsy to the no doubt endless amounts of photos they’ll be taking. ($70.00)
A Pretty Notebook to journal their adventures. ($19)
Photo Courtesy of Anthropologie.com
Scratch Off Map to chronicle the places you’ve been together, plus some fun home décor. ($36)
Photo Courtesy of UncommonGoods.com
A Toiletry Bag to help them carry the essentials. ($38)
Photo Courtesy of Flight001.com
A Book to keep them company on a long flight without you. ($10)
A Rollerball Version of Their Preferred Perfume to help them carry-on only with their favorite scent. ($20)
An iPad Travel Case to help them travel with information and style at their fingertips. ($13)
Photo Courtesy of Amazon.com
Luggage Tag to save time at baggage claim. ($10)
Photo Courtesy of Flight001.com
Shadow Box Frame to hold their plane tickets, train passes and polaroids. ($35)
Photo Courtesy of HipLittleSquares on Etsy.com
Cozy Socks to keep them comfy and warm on their travels. ($10)
Photo Courtesy of Stance.com
A Beautiful Scarf to liven up their outfits and keep them cozy on their flights. ($65)
Photo Courtesy of Aritzia.com
Solid Headphones to fill their head with music and drown out annoying passengers. Bonus points if you include a playlist. ($180)
Photo Courtesy of Amazon.Com
A Globe to help them map out their next adventure. ($129)
Photo Courtesy of UncommonGoods.com

Now that you have my best recommendations, go forth and make your better halves’ wandering hearts soar. Bonus points if you can sneak it into their luggage before they leave (unless it’s a bottle of wine in their carry-on). If you’re out a significant other, buy yourself all of these trinkets because, damn it, you deserve it. Happy Early Valentine’s Day!

What’s the best travel-related gift you’ve received? How or where do you plan on spending your Valentine’s Day?

Trip Planning: Washington, D.C.

On February 1, 2016 By rebeccawanderlustingIn Travel Tips, Trip Planning4 Comments

I started this year with the knowledge that I would have a six day weekend towards the end of February. I had no idea where I was going to go during this time, but I knew I wanted to go somewhere. It wasn’t a hard problem to solve, as I have a very long list of places I want to visit and a knack for trip planning. I wanted to go somewhere that would be cheap to fly to, easy to get around once I was there, and that had a good amount of amazing food and interesting attractions. Washington, D.C. fit the bill. I’ve been there once before, way back in 8^th grade. We took a charter bus there that left from the school parking lot. My eighth grade brain took all of the history of D.C. in one ear and out the other and focused mostly on finding those cool FBI sweatshirts with my friends so we could all match. This time around, I’ll be going by myself and I plan to take it all in. I’m no longer interested in hooded sweatshirts, in fact the only thing I will have in common with my 8^th Grade self is my concern of when my next meal will be. I guess I’ve been on a recent kick of returning to places I’ve visited before to better appreciate them (see “Trip Planning: San Francisco”). I am so excited to revisit Washington, D.C. There is so much to see and do and eat there that I just hope I have enough time to accomplish it all. I’ll be there for three nights, staying two nights in a hotel and one night in a hostel to help keep my spending in check. I have a very long list of things I want to accomplish while I’m there. Here is the breakdown:

Flight:

American Airlines – nonstop from ORD to DCA

Lodging:

Courtyard Marriott
Hostelling International Washington, D.C.

What I want to see:

The National Mall, The Memorials and The White House, of course
The Smithsonian Museums
The Eastern Market
The Holocaust Memorial Museum
Georgetown, Columbia Heights, Dupont
The Folger Shakespeare Library
Glen Echo Park
And anything and everything else that I can fit in

What I want to eat:

We the Pizza (any Top Chef fans out there??)
Ted’s Bulletin
Founding Farmers
Dangerously Delicious Pie
Honestly, I could go on and on; I’m going to need to eat four meals a day to keep up with this list

I have two and a half days to do it all. My plan of attack is to tackle the National Mall, Monuments and Museums one day and tour the neighborhoods the next day. I am just so excited to go on this trip, and I can’t wait to explore Washington, D.C. I’m a little bit concerned that because I’m going there in the winter, some things may not be as enjoyable. However, I’m going to bundle up and power through to make the most of it. See you in a few weeks D.C.!

Washington, D.C. 2004 — A few pictures from the first time I visited Washington, D.C., in 2004

If you have any Washington, D.C. recommendations or tips, please share!

Worldly Recipes: Lasagna

On January 23, 2016 By rebeccawanderlustingIn Travel Tips, Worldly RecipesLeave a comment

Welcome to Worldly Recipes, a new segment of RebeccaWanderlusting where I explore my love for cooking! I’ve always loved working with food, and since I have a degree in Culinary Arts, technically I know what I’m doing. However, sometimes my ideas in the kitchen fall flat as a pancakes (just like the pineapple upside down cake I made for my sister’s birthday!) Since we’ve moved into this new apartment (back in April, 2015), I’ve been cooking more and more, so I decided to share some of my favorite dishes here! I can combine my adventures out in the world with my adventures, or misadventures, in the kitchen. The first recipe I want to share is my take on Lasagna, a dish created in Naples, Italy. I didn’t really have a recipe to go on, so I kind of made it up as I went along. But that’s part of the fun of cooking, right? Right! The lasagna turned out really well and made some delicious left overs! Full disclosure, I made far too many lasagna noodles and a huge mess, but overall, everything went great! So without further ado, here is my lasagna recipe:

Lasagna Noodles – I used Prince brand, the kind you boil, not the kind you can just bake. I made the whole box, which turned out to be too much. I only used nine noodles in total for a 13”x9” dish
1 large can of tomato sauce (29oz)
1 can of diced tomatoes (14oz)
½ a green pepper, diced medium
1 small onion, diced medium
6oz white Mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
Two cups of spinach
1lb of ground turkey
Grated Parmesan Cheese to taste – I used Mama Francesca’s
16oz shredded Mozzarella Cheese
9oz Goat Cheese – I used La Bonne Vie brand
½ cup of red wine – I used Menage a Trois Red Blend
Oregano to taste
Dash’s Garlic and herb to taste
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp Olive Oil

Once you have all your ingredients, here’s what you do with them:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit
Put on a large pot of water to boil for the noodles, add a dash of salt to the water
Pour yourself a glass of wine because you deserve it (not the ½ cup in the recipe, you’ll need that later)
Medium chop the onion, mushrooms, and green pepper
Finely chop the garlic
In a large sauce pan, sweat the onion, green pepper and garlic in olive oil for five minutes, or until the onions are translucent
Add the can of diced tomatoes and the mushrooms and let the mix simmer for a couple minutes
Add the tomato sauce into the mix and set to low heat
Season with salt, pepper, and oregano
Add ½ cup of wine into the sauce and stir well
Cook the ground turkey in a little bit of olive oil
Season the turkey with Mrs. Dash’s seasoning, Oregano, and salt and pepper
Once the water for the noodles is boiling, add in nine lasagna noodles
Drain the grease from the turkey meat, if there is any
Once the noodles are cooked, lay them out on a sheet pan with tin foil on it so they don’t stick together
Put a layer of your sauce on the bottom of a 13×9” pan
Cover with a layer of lasagna noodles
Add turkey, spinach, and goat cheese (use a fork or your hands to separate the goat cheese)
Then sprinkle a generous amount of mozzarella cheese and a dry parmesan cheese to taste
Cover with another layer of sauce and noodles
Add one more layer of turkey, spinach, the cheeses, and sauce
Add the last layer of noodles, and cover with sauce
Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella on top and more Parmesan to taste
Cook the lasagna for 25 minutes, or until the center is nice and piping hot

And voila! A delicious dinner for six… or two with leftover for the next few days.

I hope you’ll forgive my first attempt at recipe sharing. I made it through the whole cooking process and then realized I didn’t take any pictures, so the next one will have a ton, I promise. If you are able to try this recipe, please let me know how it goes!

Travel Credit Cards: A Beginner’s Tale

On January 14, 2016 By rebeccawanderlustingIn Travel Goals, Travel Tips3 Comments

My priorities in life have changed over the past few years. No longer am I compelled to buy new outfits every week and spend hours basking in the designer glow of Nordstrom on Michigan Avenue. Nor do I go out every night for dinner or drinks. Lately my wallet has a one track mind – travel. I spend more time that I’d like to admit checking airfare to anywhere on sites like kayak, airfare watchdog, and secret flying. I read travel blogs like I used to pour over fashion magazines. And nothing I used to pine for in the pages of said magazines does it for me now like new destinations do. It’s an interesting and not unwelcome change. That all being said, I’m not allocating all the money I used to spend on fashion straight to travel funds. I’ve become more frugal in my old age and look tirelessly for great deals and bargains for trips. I know of travel hacking, of course I do, who doesn’t? Nothing has made me want to look into it more than this article: “Meet the Homeless Man Who Flies the World First Class”. If this guy has been racking up miles since he was 14 years old, why shouldn’t a savvy twenty-six year old lady like me be able to figure it out? Well, for starters, I have no patience for fine print, and I’m so damn cheap that the upfront costs aren’t justifying the benefits. But! I’m determined to figure it out, and I will do the research. What I want is a credit card with a big sign up bonus and not a huge annual fee. I also would like to not be pigeonholed into only being able to fly with one airline or their partners unless it makes sense for me. This leads me to believe that I should get a travel credit card through a bank or major credit card company like Discover It Miles Card, Chase Sapphire Preferred Card or Bank of America Travel Rewards Card. But then I think of the sign-up bonuses with a lot of the airline loyalty credit cards. Oh, so many miles up for grabs! I am so tempted by them. Realistically though, can I afford to spend $3,000+ in three months just to get 50,000 “free” miles? No, I really can not. $1,000 in three months for 30,000 miles is a definitely more doable, which is a deal available with United Mileage Plus Explorer Card or Bank Americard Travel Rewards Card (for 20,000 points instead of 30,000 miles). There are a lot of choices out there, and luckily (or unluckily, depending on the amount of time you want to spend on this) a lot of reviews and opinions as well (check out The Points Guy or Nomadic Matt). After some preliminary research, my front runners are the Discover It Miles Card and the United Mileage Plus Explorer Card.

I’m working on making the decision, but what do you think? What card has worked well for you? Which one didn’t? I want to know all about it!

Frontier Airlines: A Review

On January 5, 2016 By rebeccawanderlustingIn Travel Tips, Trip Planning1 Comment

I booked our flight to San Francisco through Frontier Airlines, because….well, because it was cheap. All told, it was $160 round trip for each of us, which is a pretty good deal. I’ve flown with them once before and had a not so great experience, so this time I wanted to document the flight and see whether the great price is really worth the trouble. The last time I flew Frontier, it was to Salt Lake City in November 2014. That time, my flight was delayed over an hour because one of their flight attendants didn’t show up for work that day. To make it up to us, they gave us a $15 credit, which I didn’t have the opportunity to use because it expired three months later. This plus an unpleasant interaction with their customer service team when I had to change my return flight just left me with a bad overall experience. So although their tickets are cheap and they fly places that I want to go, it took me over a year to book with Frontier again. This time around, the flight was on time and the service was much better. Here’s the breakdown:

Pros:

The flight attendants were friendly and were all on time for work
The boarding process was quick, with the seats pre-assigned at check-in
Cheap airfare, especially when you catch a good sale
No muss, no fuss travel

Cons:

The luggage fees are almost as much as the cheap airfare
There are no free refreshments during the flight
The standard seating has very little leg room and there’s a fee to pick your seat ahead of time
The flyfrontier.com website is not very user-friendly and sometimes goes on the fritz

Tips:

Check your bags instead of carrying on (it’s $5 cheaper), and choose to do so ahead of time to save some money
Don’t pick your seat unless you are super choosey, they’re pretty good about putting you next to who you booked your flight with
Bring your own snacks and water so you don’t have to buy them on the plane

Overall, Frontier is a cheap way to get from point A to point B if you plan ahead and aren’t picky about where you sit. I wouldn’t book this airline if I was travelling outside the continental U.S. (they do offer flights to Mexico and The Caribbean), but it works just fine for short flights. In my humble opinion, it works best if you don’t have a set destination in mind and you book based on the sales that run frequently. I’d definitely do it again, if everything fell into place like it did for San Francisco. So, if the question is to fly Frontier or not to fly Frontier, flight time and budget should be your deciding factors.

Have you flown with Frontier before? What was your experience like? Is there another budget airline that you prefer?

26 in 26

On December 3, 2015December 3, 2015 By rebeccawanderlustingIn Travel Goals, Travel Tips3 Comments

My 26^th birthday is tomorrow, December 4. I will be entering into the mid-to-late twenties bracket of life. I feel pretty good about it, actually. I’m only having a quarter-life crisis every other day, and I’m trying not to question what I’m even doing with my life more than once a week. I’m kidding…mostly. I am really very grateful for everything I’ve been able to accomplish in the past year, with this blog, travelling, and other miscellaneous personal accomplishments. However, I am eager to do more this year. Maybe not more in volume, but more in the sense that I’m taking steps to put myself on the path I actually want to be on. Last year, I made myself a list of 25 things I wanted to achieve, and I did pretty okay I think. I missed a couple of things, like “go camping”, (which I really wanted to do but couldn’t fit it in anywhere) and “Chicago Boat Tour” (no excuse for this one, it’s literally just a CTA bus ride away), but I also accomplished more than I thought I would. I checked off “get published” with my short story in Sheriff Nottingham Holiday Harold, I went on my first ever solo road trip to North Carolina, I saw a concert I never would have picked for myself (aka – Metallic at Lollapalooza), and I got the opportunity to go to China for work. This year, the list is 26 items long of course, and I fully intend on completing each and every task on this one. After all, now that I’ve written about here, I’m holding
myself accountable to finish it. This year I want to write more fiction and more on travel, I want to go on more trips (even if they’re little ones), I want to read more, I want to do a cross-country Amtrak trip, learn French (Bonjour!) and so many other things. I’m hoping this will be a big year (though, I do say that every year…) and I promise to keep this little ol’ blog updated through it all.

In the immortal words of the Doors, “the time to hesitate is through”.

Cheers to 26!

Trip Planning: San Francisco

On November 10, 2015November 10, 2015 By rebeccawanderlustingIn Travel Tips, Trip Planning3 Comments

Trip Planning: San Francisco

I cannot tell you how excited I am for my upcoming trip to San Francisco. One more month! I booked the flights three months ago, but have only just begun to plan the actual trip. I will once again be travelling with my boyfriend, Michael, and we’ll be celebrating my birthday (ahem, my 26^th Birthday) while we’re there. Right now, I have one hotel booked, but only for two out of our three nights there, and a long list of attractions I want to see. Here’s what I have so far:

Flights: Frontier Airlines – Previously, I had a not so great experience with Frontier (see SLC Punks), but was willing to try them again because the price was so right. I plan on doing a full review on them this time to set the record straight.

Hotels: Hostel International San Francisco Downtown – 2 nights booked. We are on a little bit of a budget for this trip, which is why we chose to stay in a hostel for the majority of the trip. However, I tend to like to stay in a hostel for a couple nights to save money, then book a nice-ish hotel for the last night, just to get both perspectives (I did this in North Carolina too). I think our second hotel will be Hotel Vertigo, but I have yet to book it out of sheer procrastination.

Attractions: The Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, Fisherman’s Wharf, The Mission, Cable Cars… the list goes on and on. I would really like to bike across The Golden Gate Bridge, shop in Haight Ashbury, eat some good seafood by the ocean, and find the Full House house. We are also planning on driving to John Muir Woods to hike and Sonoma for some wine tastings. There are a lot of things to check off and I’m hoping we can get to them all without going crazy.

Restaurants: I have had two recommendations that were pounded into my brain by insistent friends: 1. Dottie’s for breakfast and 2. Yank Sing for dim sum. I plan to try both, and as I said before, I really want to east some good seafood in Fisherman’s Wharf. I don’t want to pick too many restaurants that we absolutely must go to so we can ask around when we get there to see what the locals recommend.

Typically what I do for trips like this is to write down my must-sees/must-eats, which I choose from Pinterest and Travel Blogs, and use Google maps to see how far away from the hotel each one is. That way, I can group attractions together based on what’s near what. I try to make a rough, but not too binding, schedule of how I can make it to everything. This is especially important for this trip, because we have to rent a car for a day to get to a couple of our must-sees (John Muir Woods and Sonoma). I haven’t made the car reservation yet, or our last night hotel reservation, BUT I did get “On The Road” to read on the plane before we visit the historic Jack Kerouac Alley. So that’s settled. Even though not everything is organized quite yet, I am beyond thrilled to be able to visit and experience this gorgeous city.

I’ll keep you updated on this trip, but in the meantime, enjoy these photos from the first time I was ever in San Francisco in 2002. We only stopped there for a couple of hours on our way to Yosemite National Park, but I guess it was long enough to make me want to go back!
Feel free to leave all of your best San Francisco travel tips in the comments!

Planning the Perfect Staycation

On November 4, 2015November 4, 2015 By rebeccawanderlustingIn Travel Tips, Trip Planning1 Comment

I firmly believe that it’s really important to explore your own city. It would be such a waste of a perfectly good destination if you didn’t. This is where the staycation comes into play. It’s a great way to get the feel of a relaxing vacation when you don’t have the time or funds for one. While travel is obviously something that I’m passionate about, I have a fondness for staycations and the vacation vibes they provide in between big trips. There are two ways to plan a fantastic staycation: 1.) think of yourself as a tourist in your own city and venture to unchartered territory (to you, anyways), or 2.) book a hotel with some sort of spa/pool facility, get yourself a good book and chilllllllll. When my boyfriend and I staycationed at The Freehand earlier this year (see staycation blog here), we chose the first option. We went to a popular restaurant we’d both never been to and wandered around the city, popping into bars and enjoying the River Walk. I have to say, staying downtown and enjoying the city lights and attractions definitely made me love Chicago even more than I already do. It’s about time we try the second option, but more on that later. Whichever option you choose, you are sure to have an amazing time and a whole new appreciation of your hometown. Plus, you get the added bonus of having the knowledge and experience to play concierge to your friends and family when they ask for accommodation or restaurant suggestions. Below are my best tips for planning the perfect staycation, take them as you will and let me know what you’re favorite staycation plans are in the comments!

Choosing the hotel: This is most likely your first step in planning your staycation. Base this decision on what kind of experience you’re looking for, i.e.- if you want to relax, book a hotel with room service, a pool and/or spa and a comfy bed, or if you want to explore, choose a hip hotel in the center of the action. If you live in a big city like I do, the options for hotels are endless and can get a little pricey. As I am not made of money, I usually check if there are any deals on LivingSocial or Groupon first.
Planning activities: Since you’re familiar with the lay of the land, I’m sure you already know exactly what you’d like to do. Choose something that you’ve always had on your hometown bucket list, but haven’t made time for yet. Maybe it’s finally caving in and checking out that city attraction all the tourists rave about, or seeing a play at the local theater or even trying out a trendy bar. If you aren’t planning on venturing out, make a spa appointment or check if your hotel has any special in-room features you can utilize.
Doing dinner: Whether you’re relaxing or exploring, you gotta eat. For the relaxing type – kick back in your hotel room with some room service or order delivery and eat it in your robe. If you’re feeling adventurous, go out to a restaurant featuring a style of cuisine you’ve never tried. Either way, order decadently and enjoy.
Sleeping in: I don’t really have a whole lot to say on this topic, other than, if you are staycationing, it’s imperative that you sleep in at least a little bit. Bonus points for you if you order breakfast in bed.
The morning after: Take your time in the morning and don’t rush to leave the hotel. Go for a dip in the pool, go out for breakfast, have a morning shopping spree… whatever you want! Squeeze every last bit out of this staycation, and don’t even think about checking out early.
Going back to reality: Of course returning from any sort of vacation is always rough, but since you were only a few miles from home, it should be easier to get back into the swing of things. Take the rest of the day to soak up all the good staycation vibes and go back into your weekly routine feeling refreshed and happy to know your city a little better.

Fall In Chicago, Bucket List | RebeccaWanderlusting

Memphis Road Trip

On October 7, 2015 By rebeccawanderlustingIn Travel Tips, Trip Planning1 Comment

I’m going on another road trip! And this time I won’t be going alone. While I love solo travel, I am so happy my boyfriend, Mike, is joining me on this one. We are headed to Memphis, TN tomorrow, bright and early. This trip was planned so long ago, that I almost forgot it was happening. In fact, I had a very panicky moment where I thought I misplaced the Foo Fighter’s tickets in the time between booking them (6 months ago) and now, which would be unfortunate as they are the whole reason for this trip.

We planned this trip around the Foo Fighters concert on Wednesday, October 7, and decided to make a little vacation out of it. We are staying in Memphis for four days and three nights. It’s only a seven hour drive from Chicago, so it will be a perfect long weekend trip. Memphis is a new city for both of us, so I did some scouting on the best attractions in the area, mostly using Pinterest and taking some tips from some fellow bloggers (thanks Nomadic Matt and The Blonde Abroad!). There are so many intriguing things to do there that I had absolutely no idea about, which makes this all the more exciting. It’s going to be a very music-centered trip with the concert and Memphis being the heart of Soul and Blues music (as well as being the birthplace of one of my all-time-favorites, Aretha Franklin). The top attractions on our must-see list so far include: Sun Studios, Graceland, Stax Museum of American Soul Music and of course, the Blues Bars on Beale Street. Plus, I am super excited for some delicious southern barbecue and fried chicken. We will be staying downtown at
the Comfort Inn for two nights (chosen for the price and the location) and our last night is still a mystery to me, because Mike insisted on booking the hotel and won’t tell me which one he picked. It’ll be good though, I bet.

Today, in the last minute scramble to get ready to leave, I had to pack, choose an audiobook (“The Wind Through the Keyhole” by Stephen King), buy snacks and bottled water for the car, and pick up some other last minute items for the trip. This crazy Chicago weather has me really craving the sunshine and warm weather we’ll be encountering in Memphis, but it also means I’ll have to round up all my warm weather gear that I’d shoved to the back of my closet. My only concern for this trip is that I may have too many items on our Memphis To-Do List. I don’t want it to be so scheduled that we don’t have time to enjoy the vacation we both so desperately need. It will be interesting to see if we can find a good balance of exploring the city and relaxing. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, I’m just looking forward to hitting the road with my main man and enjoying this beautiful city. Feel free to leave any Tennessee Travel Tips in the comment section for our Memphis Road Trip.

10 Tips for Planning a Trip from Scratch

On September 3, 2015September 25, 2015 By rebeccawanderlustingIn Travel Tips, Trip Planning1 Comment

Sometimes when the travel bug bites, you don’t feel pulled in any one direction. This can prove to be a fantastic opportunity. To plan a trip from scratch, meaning with no destination in mind, can be a beautiful thing. Picking a destination through throwing out a wide net and finding what deals are out there is a great way to start planning a trip you may not have been able to imagine before. I’ve tried this tactic a few times with amazing results. This is actually how I planned my trip to North Carolina earlier this summer. Below you can find my top ten tips for completely planning a trip from scratch:

Budget, Budget, Budget: This may be a boring first step, but it’s necessary. Set a budget for how much you want to spend on your airfare and hotels to help narrow your options. I’m not saying you should shoot for budget travel, but just try spend within your means or credit card limits.
Explore your options: Use the Kayak Explore function, or something like it, and see where you can go within your budget. You can put in your home airport and check flights to anywhere. Don’t rule out a road trip! Check mileage with google maps or try roadtrippers.com to help plan the ultimate road trip to wherever you choose.
See what each option has to offer: Once you have options, check out the attractions in the area to see which you find most appealing. I like to use Pinterest to have good visuals and links to the top lists of attractions in each list.
Check Transit: Another thing to check before making any decisions is your destinations transportation options. Is it a walkable city? Is there public transportation? Will you need to rent a car? And those are all things to think about budget-wise, as well.
Lodging: Check hotel prices in the area. I like to use Tripadvisor for reviews and pricing, but I also use websites like Livingsocial or Groupon to find any deals on hotel rooms. Trivago and TravelZoo also have good deals to be found.
Ulterior Lodging Options: If the hotel prices are too high for your budget, take a gander at Airbnb.com or check out if there are any hostels in the area. For me, hostels are always a great budget option with great locations.
Book it!: Once everything fits the way you want it to (locations, prices, attractions), start booking! I usually book airfare, then hotel and finally choose any additional events or attractions (tours, boat cruises…) later on.
Take note: Be sure to write down all of your important dates and times, as well as cancellation dates to avoid charges should you need to cancel any portion of your travels. Having all the details in one place will help you keep organized.
Loose Itinerary: Make a rough plan of things you want to do while you’re there. You should make sure to take note of any special events happening in the area or days certain attractions may be closed.
ENJOY!: You planned this whole trip from start to end and you deserve to enjoy every minute of it. Don’t forget to relax and take in all the amazing details. You earned it.

Have you tried this before? Where did you go?