Do you ever find yourself asking: Where to next? We do all the time. And it can be stressful! The world is so dang big and there are so many AMAZING destinations to choose from!
It can all be overwhelming. We have found that the following 7 tips are our very best, put-to-the-test, better-than-the-rest methods for choosing the PERFECT destination for your next vacation!
Find Awesome People and Ask Them!
Always going to be our number 1 piece of advice when it comes to recommendations. People you like usually like the same things that you like! Did that sentence make sense? It did in our heads…
Ask your friends and family their favorite destination. You talk to people every single day in person, over the phone, on text, via Facebook chat, on Instagram DMs, Snapchat, WhatsApp, the list goes on forever.
Just once or twice per day, ask someone what their favorite destination is. You’ll get some great information and inspiration, and they will appreciate the chance to talk about some of the best experiences they’ve ever had! That’s a winning conversation in our book.
How Far Will Your Money Go?
There is a fascinating article by telegraph.co that goes through all the details of how some countries are more expensive than others. Here is an excerpt that outlines it:
Holidaymakers could enjoy nearly six weeks in Thailand, and four weeks in Mexico or Jamaica, with a budget of just £500 per person, a new survey has suggested.
The same amount of spending money (when used to purchase three meals, four soft drinks, two beers, a coffee, and two journeys on public transport each day) would last less a week or less in Switzerland, Norway and Denmark, and just eight or nine days in Belgium, Britain, Ireland, France, Finland, Australia and Italy.
What does that mean for you and me? You should research how far your money goes in the countries you’ll be visiting!
I am ALL IN for having 6 weeks in Thailand over 1 week in Denmark for the same amount of money. Especially with views and activities like these:
Use Instagram to Your Advantage
Instagram is FULL of people traveling to AMAZING places. The internet has evolved into a means of communicating and connecting with people on the complete opposite side of the world from you, at the tip of your finger!
All you have to do is type in a hashtag that suits your interests and start scrolling! You might make it down a rabbit hole or two, it can be tough to keep Julie on the rails as she’s scrolling. To help out, here are 3 of our favorite hashtags to search to find inspiration on where to travel next!
#traveltheworld
#wheretonext
#globetrotting
Here is our article on some of our favorite accounts we draw our own inspiration from:
https://ruhlsoftheroad.com/2018/06/14/15-amazing-travel-instagram/
Choose Based on Flight Cost
Use Google Flights. Please use Google Flights. It is SO EASY to use! We wrote a whole article on how to save money on travel, but the most expensive part is almost always the flight.
Once we’ve found our best flights on Google, we like to do a double-check search on Momondo. Every once in awhile the flight will be cheaper on Momondo, and can save you up to $100 sometimes. True story: Zach was able to get flights to Copenhagen for a guy’s trip for $400 roundtrip from Chicago!
Here is what scottscheapflights has to say about what is good about Google and Momondo:
Google Flights
Good at:
- Finding availability
- Searching quickly
Bad at:
- Finding the absolute cheapest price
- Finding all mistake fares
Momondo
Good at:
- Searching a ton of different travel booking sites at once
- Finding the cheapest fares for almost any given flight
Bad at:
- Searching a range of dates
- Completing searches quickly
Bottom line: cheap flights are out there if you are willing to search to find them! And it will only help if you’re flexible on your destination.
What’s the Weather?
You have to know yourself. Are you into adventure? Hanging out on the beach? Hiking in the mountains? Bar hopping in the city? No matter what, we love you, and we want to hang out with you.
Here’s the thing, there are probably 100 places in the world that you can go have the absolute time of your life, but you’re going to want to pick somewhere that jives with your weather taste. If you are thinking beaches, then that will narrow it down to 30 or so. Same thing if you’re looking to hike in the mountains!
Pinterest for Inspiration
Pinterest literally has an endless amount of information that you can use to inspire yourself. We love to search Pinterest for ideas of what to do in some of our potential destinations. This will really help you narrow it down from your final 3 or 4 cities down to the winner!
Go Where You Know People
There are a bunch of reasons to do this! We love making friends in new places and staying in touch, because traveling places where you know someone is ALWAYS a good idea.
They can show you around town. Locals know all the best places in every city, and you’ll be able to have your friend be your guide as you see all the places the other tourist will miss!
You can crash on the couch. Or maybe they’ll have a guest bed that you can take a snooze on! You can take them out to dinner in exchange for them putting a roof over your head, and everybody wins!
Community. It can be tough to travel a lot if you aren’t great at striking up conversation and making new friends. Knowing people in a new city might just be the spark that you need! You can hang out with a few of their friends at a bar or restaurant and meet a few fun people on your vacation in addition to soaking up the sights and sounds!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiViijIVA2Q&w=560&h=315]
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