Making Reservations
Once upon a time, you went to a travel agent to make reservations for planes, trains, hotels, and car rentals. It was usually the first step of vacation planning, and it was luxurious. You gave the travel agent your requirements (destination, dates, budget) and then sat back while they used their travel agent superpowers to navigate the reservation system on your behalf. Ah, memories…
These days, of course, people are their own travel agents and book everything online for themselves.
Many people start by visiting generalized travel web sites like Expedia or Travelocity to book flights and cars and hotels. Early on, I would use these sites, designed to make the entire experience as convenient as it can get. But the first (and only) time I ran into trouble on a hotel reservation and called the web site rep for help, I felt like we were playing telephone. I explained my concern (I was charged for a night at a hotel when I shouldn’t have been). The rep contacted the hotel and transmitted their response to me (the charge was legitimate). So I asked whether they knew the web site promised free cancellation several days before the stay. The rep now had to contact the hotel to ask and transmitted THAT response to me (they were sure the web site entry agreed with them). Can I send them a screen shot of the entry? So the customer rep contacted them again…. You get the picture.
This problem could easily have been resolved with one phone call to the hotel instead of the three or four it took.
Well, life is too short.
And getting shorter by the day.
After that experience, I swore off intermediary travel sites. It makes more sense to me to be a paying customer dealing directly with the service provider. If a problem arises – canceled flight, lost luggage, hotel filled up – I feel I can better advocate for myself directly with the airline or hotel or car rental agency. I am aware not everyone is comfortable doing it this way. Some people would really rather have somebody more expert with the travel business handle their needs. I can’t say one way isn’t better than the other. It’s a personal preference.
So after deciding on a trip, I get information on my destination from tourist sites like TripAdvisor, Fodor’s, Frommer’s, Lonely Planet, Rick Steves. I go to the library and look at tourist books printed on (gasp!) actual paper. Once I’ve decided on an itinerary, I go directly to websites of airlines, hotels, and car rental companies to make reservations, shopping online and comparing prices and services. And nerd that I am, I read up on the history of the place, to try to get a handle on what kind of vibe it has.
From Northern New Jersey airline travel goes through Newark Liberty International Airport. There are a number of airlines flying in and out of Newark, but United Airlines is the big boy here. So nine times out of ten, if I’m looking for flights to anywhere in the world from Newark, they’re going to be on United. United’s frequent flyer loyalty program is the first one I joined. And my first stop in looking for flights is always UNITED.COM.
Packing
Used to be most of your worries traveling by plane involved making reservations and finding someplace to stay when you landed. Packing was an afterthought. You just loaded your suitcase(s) with whatever you thought you would need. That changed with ever-increasing fees for checked luggage, the increasing incidence of lost luggage, size and weight requirements for carry-on bags, and those blasted transparent plastic bags for toiletries (and what counts as a toiletry anyway).
There’s now an online cottage industry devoted to giving advice on packing for travel. As is common when you get advice on the internet, lots of what gets written works for the person writing the article, not necessarily for your individual case. It pays to be a bit critical when reading these suggestions.
Example: Packing cubes. Packing cubes are all the rage right now as a way to use luggage space efficiently and stay organized. I have nothing against people who swear by packing cubes. Nevertheless, I have over the years developed my own way of organizing a suitcase without them, which is efficient and organized enough for me. Besides clothing, toiletries, and device chargers with their tangle of cords and adapters, I have a CPAP machine. How many kids of the Internet Generation do you think write about traveling with a CPAP?
The real question is how much stuff to bring. That becomes an exercise in arithmetic. How many of each thing to bring for the days you will be touring? Are you willing to wash anything in the hotel sink? How often do you personally feel you have to change trousers, shirts, sweaters? Judge for yourself and pack accordingly. Does your airline have size and weight restrictions? They’re not all the same.
Another option is to pack less than the amount of clothing you will need and have some of it laundered during your trip. Most decent hotels offer laundry service. They usually charge by the piece and it’s usually expensive, appropriate if you have clothing that needs tender loving care. My clothing tastes are more casual and utilitarian. (My motto: Machine wash, tumble dry. If the care label says anything else, there has to be a compelling reason for me to buy it.) So before leaving, I’ll look for someplace at my destination that will launder clothing for a reasonable price. Another option is to go to a laundromat and launder the clothing myself. Hanging around a laundromat might not sound like fun on a vacation. On the other hand, it can be part of a tourist adventure, something to tell the folks at home about.