There are countless rues and ponti for you to navigate
while planning your next adventure.
These are a few of the resources we have used
countless times when planning our journeys.
Many suggestions below will take you to another location
and point you further along the way!
The 1st thing in planning is to know the weather patterns for an area ...
DK publishes a great book called Where to go When.
We use Weather Underground for the forecast worldwide, but also to check the past weather history of a destination we are considering.
Finally, The National Weather Service has a great graph that shows you how Wind Chill Factor will affect the temperature when you are traveling to chilly climates.
Tourism Offices Worldwide
We have recieved generous amounts of information when we contacted a tourist office! Take a look at Towd for a complete list of worldwide tourism offices.
State Tourism offices can be found on this website *added in 2009
World News
Extra! Extra! Read the local newspaper for your next adventure in English!
I love this website and have used it many, many times. Reading the local paper gives you the knowledge of upcoming events, concerns of safety etc etc. Sometimes, I even check back in
after we return to find out the outcome of a news stories that locals shared with us or we experienced 1st hand...there's also a domestic section if you are traveling or relocating in the USA! *added in 2009
Crowd Control
There are more & more cruise ships sailing throughout the world than ever before.
Whenever we begin planning our land vacation, we always check to see how many cruise ships might be in port the same day we are. An extra 6,000-10,000 people can really put a damper on your day. I've compiled a list of sites we use in Karen's Cruise Corner *added in 2009
Maps
We love the durability of these maps! Before we leave we circle all that we want to see and do, along with the location of our hotel, train station, and embassy.
Library
We have found our library to be an excellent resource not only for books, but videos. Also, if a book or video is out of stock it will be sent to our "home" library from another library throughout the system. Books that we have found useful we photocopy pages for reference while traveling.
Bookstores
Our favorite way to spend a lazy day! We have found it incredibly helpful to look at travel books that you would find sitting on a coffee table. The pictures have a way of drawing you in and speaking to your own sense of adventure. When they do, you know it's a journey you must take!
GuideBooks
We use quite an assortment of guide books:
Rick Steves,
Read my list of Rick Steves publishing schedule..
NOT every book is updated annually anymore!
Lonely Planet, DK Eyewitness (especially the Top 10 books),
Bradt, Rough Guides, & Insight Guides
Be sure to check out the company websites. as many are offering a clearance section, the opportunity to download only the chapters you need at a nominal cost, videos and podcasts!
Participation in message boards. These websites will provide a treasure trove of information for you and of course lead you to another list of websites and so on and so on!
Youtube and Flickr are great resources too! Many tourism offices, hotels, cruiselines have begun posting professional videos and photos online!
