Travel Planning 2024

I am not a seasoned traveler. That being said, I’ve travelled most of the East Coast, been part of several group trips to Europe, and visited resorts in Jamaica and Cancun. I enjoy seeing new places and experiencing the world up-close and in person, but extended or over-the-top adventurous travel is not something I have a great need to do. That’s just how I’m wired.

My husband and I are planning annual 7-10 day jaunts to parts of our own country that we have never seen and should. (With two needy fur children at home, that time frame is long enough to pay the pet-sitter.) Last year was Colorado and the Rocky Mountains and this September will be Arizona and the Grand Canyon. 

But online travel planning is not for the faint of heart. I’m old enough to remember  AAA  “trip-tiks”—paper maps with the routes highlighted in brightly colored markers, my parents choosing hotels based on ratings from the AAA guidebooks and then paying for them with travelers’ checks.

Ah, but life has changed. Recently, I’ve spent hours surfing for hotels on various sites and at the risk of sounding like Jeff Rossen, NBC’s consumer guru, you better read the fine print. Just trying to decipher the reviews alone is enough to make your head spin. You can tell some people just want to gripe. One person said the place was noisy and the swimming pool was gross when all the other reviews were stellar. There was limited parking, there was plenty of parking. The staff was rude, the staff was lovely. Ad nauseum until you finally just have to pick one and go with it.

And then comes the really fun part—the rates. I’ve learned, and I think it’s probably correct that it’s better to book directly with the hotel rather than through one of the secondary sites. If there’s an issue, the hotel will be more helpful than a call center thousands of miles away. But that in itself is an adventure. For each room, there are at least 5 different rates, the best of which are not refundable. Some include breakfast, some do not. Some places add “resort fees” over and above the taxes. Will the room be in the recently renovated part of the facility or the older part with 1980’s Formica sinks and  faux wood-paneled rooms? Join our vacation club or points system and save—another way to glean your info and preferences. The bottom line is travel, especially in a popular tourist area, is expensive, especially for those of us who enjoy comfortable accommodations. “Rustic lodge” with a shared bathroom at the end of the hall? I don’t think so. I’m way past rustic.

But despite the expense, and the frustration of trying to discern the best options, I see vacation costs as investments in education and understanding. We had fabulous experiences in Colorado with wonderful local guides and delightful people proudly sharing their stories and the history of where they lived. I think it’s good to wake up in the morning to different scenery (preferably not the dumpster area of the hotel), to discover how a whole other part of the country came to be, and to find a connection with strangers you’ll never see again.

I don’t know if  the hotel I picked is close enough to the shuttle stop for the Grand Canyon or if the gorgeous inn I splurged on in Sedona will be worth it. It doesn’t matter. Seeing the beauty of starlit skies in Arizona and the majesty of the Grand Canyon for the first time—as they say in the commercials—priceless.