by: Paris Permenter & John Bigley

A new year always means a chance for a new start. You and yours can begin this new year by making some travel resolutions together, regardless of your time and budget restraints. Put aside those old travel habits and make some new ones! Let this be the year that your travel plans focus on fun, fantasy, and festivities!

(1) We’re going to plan a real vacation. No, it doesn’t have to be an around the world cruise or first class getaway (but if you can afford it, what are you waiting for?) It does have to be an honest-to-goodness vacation, though. No cell phones, no laptops. Mark the dates on the calendar and keep it just like you’d keep any business appointment. The business of romantic travel, though, is a fun one and an activity that the two of you can plan for months.

(2) We’re going to involve each other in the trip planning. All too often, one partner gets the job for planning a trip…and that task quickly becomes a bore. Plan your trips together! Anticipation is half the fun. Visit a travel agent. Collect brochures. Buy a guidebook. Rent a video about your destination. Search the internet for information.

(3) We’re going to do something we’ve never done. Here you can be as mild — or as wild — as you dare. Go whitewater rafting. Rent a houseboat. Take a hot air balloon ride. Spend the night in a local bed and breakfast. Learn to scuba dive. Dance the whole night away under the stars. The choice is yours.

(4) We’re going to take one mini-vacation every month. Whether it’s for the night or just for the night out, plan one tiny slice of a vacation every single month. The only rule: you must pretend you’re on vacation. Book a night at a local bed and breakfast. Call your local hotel and find out their non-peak nights (in business-oriented cities, it’s usually Friday and Saturday) then plan a short romantic getaway.

(5) We’re going to go to at least one festival. Special events take place at just about every community around the world. Whatever your interests — from square dancing to sandcastle building — you’ll find a festival celebrating with a day or two of fun and food. If you don’t have the time or budget to go far, contact area chamber of commerce or tourism offices within a day’s drive of your home for their calendar of events. If you can, extend your trip into a long weekend. If you’ve got the time and resources, check out some of the major fun festivals: Carnival, Mardi Gras, Rio’s Carnivale. Don’t forget your costume!

Husband and wife team Paris Permenter and John Bigley edit the award-winning Lovetripper.com (www.lovetripper.com), a romantic travel magazine and resource featuring honeymoons, destination weddings, and romantic getaways worldwide.

by Jem Geek

Trips especially during the Christmas season are planned for but they fall short of expectations. The ones that are a success still have some areas where they can be improved and perfected. Here are some tips that will help you execute the flawless trip to any country.

Firstly, the perfect trip needs to be planned well in advance. Hotels especially during the Christmas season are filled to capacity way before Christmas day. Places with warm temperatures and sandy beaches are a means of escape from winter. People from Europe, America and places experiencing winter especially in December find a safe haven in warmer countries.

Your reservations need to be made according to the hotel that you want to stay in. popularity of hotels vary even if they are equal in quality. Your reservation needs to be made at a time when the hotel is experiencing the least number of guests as they are more eager to grab new ones. Remember that in some hotels, you can reserve a room and cancel at no cost. Take advantage of this and reserve accommodation well in advance.

It’s better if you book into a chain of hotels as they allow you to stay in different hotels and synchronize your account.
Planning should be made to the smallest detail possible. Micro planning allows you to have control of nearly all the activities that you will do while traveling. This is a step closer to a prefect holiday.

Remember that for the perfect holiday, a schedule needs to be made and all the places of interest listed and time allocated to them. The time to get from one place to another cannot be known by simply looking at a map. If it is a foreign country that you will be visiting then the travel dynamics will totally change. The roads might be poor, the car might develop troubles or bad weather will delay you. This is why a schedule in reality cannot be followed to the letter. The best that you can do is staying on course as much as possible.

Language barrier is a hindrance to the perfect holiday plan. Luckily, hotels employ people who know at least one foreign language so that more tourists are attracted and retained by the hotel. The downside comes when you venture outside large cities to places where the locals know only their mother tongue. To eliminate this, you can hire a local who knows the language you are comfortable with.

When unexpected situations occur, make the best of them to fully utilize your holiday. Convert a disadvantage into an advantage that is enjoyable; always look at the bright side of situations.