1. Delete your browser’s cookies before searching flights, hotel, and car rental sites. Many travel booking sites will increase prices gradually the more often you visit. And/or use the private or incognito window of your browser when booking.
2. Check with friends about travel ideas on Facebook, twitter, google+, Instagram, or whatever the current social media trend is at the moment.
3. Lonely Planet’s Thorn Tree and Tripadvisor are great sites for research about both the good and bad of a country. Join their forums.
4. Check with the Centre for Disease Control’s website for travel notices on their website.
5. Search engines are not the only places for good information. YouTube, Vimeo, and Pinterest can be just as useful.
6. Check out map sites such as Google Maps or Bing. They can give you a great overhead view of your destination and provide you with ideas of what you may want to see.
7. Use Google Alerts to keep up to date on recent events about your destinations.
8. Search for other websites or blogs to the locations you are going to travel. Expatriates (foreigners who are living and/or working in another country) often have insightful and informative blogs or sites setup about their new home country.
9. Research current events that may be happening while you are there. This will help you make sure that you are not missing events going on in the city. Exciting events like festivals, ceremonies, sporting events and music festivals are happening all over the world right now.
10. Research a few of the national dishes to try. Who wants to leave France without experiencing their bread and cheese? I am glad that I tried sheep’s tongue although I am not sure I would order it again.
11. Research special souvenirs. I avoided the tacky souvenirs in Oman and spent 2 evenings searching for and bargaining for a special antique dagger, which remains one of my treasured possessions today.
12. If you are unsure which airline flies where, check out the destination’s airport. They will list all of the carriers and you may be able to find some discount carriers.
13.Check out your destination’s local newspaper. It will list local activities and events. Plus, it will help you to keep up to date on the local news.
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