So, this year I'm finally going to start traveling. I'm thinking a trip to Chicago is my first destination, as I've always wanted to go and never been. Plus my budget is going to be kind of small, so I'm just thinking a little smaller for this year. My question is two fold. First - where is the best place online to compare fares and get good deals on flights? Second - where have you been, where should I go, and why?
VANCOUVER, VANCOUVER, VANCOUVER. I promise you will never run out of things to do, places to eat, or sights to see. It is a gorgeous city full of wonderful people. Trip of a lifetime I could almost guarantee.
I've been to 12 states and 4 countries. The beat place I've been to is London with San Francisco coming in second. Don't use those travel sites like Orbitz, as you can almost always get a better deal booking through the airline itself. If you're going to fly out of DFW, if you want to go nonstop, fly American.
You should check out the websites couchsurfing and roadtrippers. Couchsurfing is a great way to connect with people and find places to crash so that you can travel on a budget. Roadtrippers is great too. If you map out a route, it tells you what attractions are on your route.
I've looked into Couchsurfing a little bit and I plan to use it some. My first trip will be to Chicago and they have a nice looking, well reviewed hostel in the middle of Downtown, so I'm going to stay there. I have friends in California, Tennessee, New York City, and a few other places, so when I go to those places I'm planning on staying with them.
As someone who has been to 39 states + Washington DC, and 8 countries outside of the USA, I encourage you to travel and see things/places you have not seen. It is good to do a little research before you go, and see what you want to do/see when you are there. Otherwise you will waste time trying to figure it out, and not see everything you wanted. Keep in mind too, that the good airline price, or hotel price may not always be the best deal. Spirit airlines for instance is cheap as far as the ticket itself, but they nickle and dime you with fees, and extras so it ends up costing what you would pay on another airline. I also went with a cheap hotel in Phoenix once, I found that it was in kind of a scary part of town, and won't make that mistake again. Good luck on your travels, have fun and come back here and tell us about them.
To plug my own country, Dublin, Cork, or Galway in Ireland! Dublin, being the capital, is big enough to keep you busy, but is small enough to be such a friendly city and the variety of things you can find in that city is amazing! The history is really intertwined with the city, it's actually my favourite place in the world. Cork is the second biggest city (in the republic anyway) and is also really nice, though it is a lot smaller than Dublin, so a long weekend would kind of do you! Galway is a real culture city, with lots of markets and crafts if you're into that kind of thing. Outside Ireland though, Rome (although often overpriced) is wonderful, and Venice is really magical once you get away from the major tourist traps (although again, if you want a cheap place to stay, it's gonna be a box room). I went to Cornwall last summer, and adored it! It served as a reminder that the countryside can be just as good, if not better in some respects, as the cities!
I usually use google to find websites if I'm thinking about booking a trip. I went to Chicago a couple years ago and I loved it, I've wanted to go back since. Kind of expensive though at least where I stayed. I haven't been too many places so as far as where you should go I have no idea. Best of luck though.
