Before you get to the point of your next vacation where you are running through the airport to catch a flight, how about some quiet, restful, online pre-vacation shopping?
From travel destination, guide books and journals, to travel products and travel reviews, the internet can be your best friend pre-travel and during if you take advantage of what it has to offer.
I already mentioned some other pre-vacation tasks on other pages such as have a plan,lists, luggage and locks, etc, so we won't discuss those things here. But, there is still an amazing array of travel-oriented products that can make your vacation the focused, pleasant, and comfortable experience you want it to be.
This new travel shopping section starts with a few great ideas for travel books, journals and guides...
Travel Books & Travel Guides
I'll be the first to admit that I love a good book - actually I love books in general. They give my eyes a rest from a computer screen and I like the fact that if the book is in my hand I can read it. Not always so with something you find to read online. Maybe the web site will go down or internet service is not available...but the book is always there.
Here are a few suggestions on books that will inspire your adventurous travel spirit. Many of these books offer a "click to see inside" feature, allowing you to review sections of the book without even buying it. But book lovers will want to grab at least one or two for travel planning, advice, or destination ideas.
Travel Journals
Write it down...you won't remember....
I took a 3-day trip recently to Williamsburg, Virginia. I had a great time. It was even during my birthday. Two weeks later, much of it is a blur. I should have thought ahead and bought a travel journal.
These little inexpensive journals will come in very handy for jotting down notes about what you saw and did and where. If you are a person who writes online reviews based on your travel, a journal will be an invaluable resource to help you capture and retain the important stuff...the details. Trust me, you won't remember otherwise. You'll be having too much fun and we all know how fast vacation days seem to merge and slip by. Some of these journals are beautifully leather-bound and may even have a pocket in them for saving those small but important travel mementos.
If not for you, they also make thoughtful and inexpensive gifts...
Country Specific Travel Guides
It amazes me how well country-specific travel guides are written and how helpful they can be pre-travel and during your vacation. I love the UK so will highlight two specific guides there and since we've discussed Le Cordon Bleu and made a recommendation for visiting Paris...a travel guide for this extraordinary destination.
Whether you already have specific vacation requirements in mind, you're taking a freestyle, "see what happens" approach, or you want to do some indepth vacation research, travel books and guides are available to assist you and travel journals will help you record the adventures....take advantage of all and have a great vacation!
Still in the early planning stages of your country vacation? Then head back to things that may prove useful including a quiz to test your vacation personality, a handy starter list of things to consider about where you want to go and what you want to do, along with some luggage options and suggestions, and a thought or two about securing your main home-base property so things will remain secure there while you are on your country vacation.
