Flying Monkey Travel Awards

I have had quite a few people ask me where I hear about travel activities and hotels. Well, there is no single answer. I get a lot of information just asking questions of my well-traveled friends and then researching the locations online (see the Flying Monkey Travel Awards below). I also read magazines like Time Out and Budget Travel. For example I just read about the Torre Hotel Guelfa in Florence for $100 per night. The hotel has a tower that was built in the 13th century, and there is a bar on top – YES AND YES. When I see cool places/activities/ restaurants like that, I cut the article out and sort them by country. Then, using my Elmer’s School Glue, I paste the snippets into my travel notebook like such.

 

The sacred notebook.

A multi-day bike trip and visit to the coast are on our agenda.

Flying Monkey Travel Awards

OK, here are my top picks for travel websites. I believe that travel should NOT cost a fortune. There are always deals to be had if you are willing to look around a bit and research. Spend your money on the champagne, and not the hotel room or airfare. These sites all support that travel premise. (Sorry for the weir formatting and spacing here.)

Best Overall Site - Tripadvisor.com

Obvi - this site is the BEST for hotel reviews. I NEVER stay at a hotel without checking the reviews first. I love finding a gem of a small, family run place - like Ramsay's in Edinburgh, for example. I like that the reviews aren't paid endorsements, unlike some of the reviews in  magazines and guidebooks. It's funny, sometimes the people that give hotels bad reviews at Tripadvisor seem so annoying, I know I will like the hotel anyway.


Cons: Not good for much other than hotels. The restaurant and tour/activity reviews are generally inconsistent and lame.

Best Hotel Site - Venere.com

I like Venere because you can book smaller, family run hotels in addition to large chain hotels. A lot of the smaller hotels and inns that I find at Tripadvisor can be booked instantly through Venere, which is a lot easier than emailing a hotel owner in Italian and hoping that you get an email back that you can understand. Plus,(generally) the reservation can be cancelled without penalty, which comes in handy of you are coordinating a group or your plans are in flux but you still want to hold a room.

Cons: The site is not good for booking U.S. hotels, though they are very slowly improving on that front.

Best for Airfares - Kayak.com

Your typical consolidation site, which I use primarily for airfare and rental cars. I used to use Orbitz, but they had that row with American Airlines and now their results aren't so reliable on the airfare-front. The site is simple to use, allows you to search several airports at once, and pulls results from lots of websites, which is especially good over here in Europe where there are so many tiny airlines you've never heard of. Same for rental cars, Kayak is easy to use and has good, consolidated results. 

Cons: Sometimes the price changes when you link through to the actual booking, which is exceedingly annoying after the second or third try.

Best for Alternative Lodging - VRBO.com

VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) is such a cool concept. Property owners list their rentals at the site and you rent directly from them for days, weeks, or whatever. I generally use VRBO when I need a house for a larger group. Vrbo is also handy for cities where hotels are pricey and I am already familiar with the city (since there is no concierge to help you), like Santa Barbara or Paris. Wait, isn't that scary? I suppose a little, especially when you are mailing cashiers checks to France......but I have never had a negative experience (knock on wood). We have met some really cool owners through VRBO, plus they will all generally give discounts to return guests!


Cons: Can be overwhelming to sort through everything to find what you are really looking for. For example, if you want a two bedroom place in Maui – be ready to sort through nine million properties.

Best for Alternative/Work/Volunteer Travel - WWOOF.org, HelpX.net
I love checking out these sites when I feel a bit wanderlusty. You can do anything as part of you travels, help at a beachside hotel, work at a winery, harvest veggies, make cheese, the locations and types of jobs are endless. Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) is obviously more farm- and food-production based, and Help Exchange is more random-job based. Both sites are based on the premise that you work part-time and get room and board in exchange. Not too bad if you are on a budget while traveling! And for anyone in the Live Earth farmshare, the TLC (Tastes Like Chicken, really the name) farm owners quit their egg operation last year (sad) so that they could WWOOF with their daughter for a few years until she is old enough to start kindergarten. Awesome!


Cons: This type of travel isn't for everyone. It takes a fair amount of research and coordination. You also really need a open mind. I had a friend that WWOOFed in Ireland and basically had to make tea for the farmer she was working for, that was her job. Weird.




Well I hope you all enjoy this! Now get out there and travel~