The Ultimate Planning Guide
At first, it seemed like such a revolution when we all began using the Internet to make our
own travel plans. No more waiting on hold while a travel agent clicked a keyboard in the
background, finally announcing “the best you can do:” $469 to fly from New York to Los
Angeles. Sure, you could try calling a few airlines yourself, to see whether you could find a
better deal. But that meant more time on the phone—not even cordless back then.
But then, there was the Internet and online travel agencies like Expedia, Orbitz, and
Travelocity. Before long, every airline, car rental company, cruise line, and hotel had a Web
site, and even the most cautious shoppers relaxed their vigilance over their credit cards and
began booking their own travel online.
This fundamental shift in the way we plan and book travel certainly has many benefits. Price-
comparison sites have made it easier to hunt down the best deals—which has helped lower
fares—and online message boards have created more opportunities to trade tips with other
travelers (even if contradictory opinions sometimes leave you scratching your head). And
search engines like Google can help you find just about anything you might be looking for,
whether that’s a tour guide in Tanzania or a map of downtown Berlin.
There’s just one catch: All this clicking and comparing takes some know-how, not to
mention time—one thing most of us don’t have to spare. Also, as “self-service” replaces
“customer service” in the travel industry, being in the driver’s seat takes on a whole new
meaning if something goes wrong: You’re on your own.
Welcome to the brave new world of do-it-yourself travel. There ought to be a guidebook for
this.
How to Travel Practically Anywhere aims to be that resource. Not how to travel to a
specific destination but how to travel, no matter where you’re going. This book offers
practical advice on the entire process of planning, booking, and navigating a trip, as well as
strategies for dealing with situations that threaten to ruin even the best-laid plans.
The first part of the book walks you through the planning process, with tips on figuring out
where to go, researching your destination, or finding an organized trip—say, a culinary tour
or a rafting excursion through the Grand Canyon. Part II offers booking advice, covering
everything from flights, lodging, car rentals, and cruises to other travel-related purchases,
like insurance or train tickets. The last part of the book helps you get ready for your trip and
then handle situations that might come up during your travels, like a delayed flight or a
stomach virus that requires a doctor’s attention.
Think of this book as a reference guide, which you can flip through as needed to find
answers to specific questions, like how to decide whether you need car rental insurance or
where to find a house to rent. To make all this information easier to digest, there are lots of
sidebars highlighting useful Web sites and key advice.
But this book is not meant to be solely a guide to planning a vacation, since for most of us,
travel is often simply a way to get from here to there—to see family, go to a wedding, meet
a client, or visit friends. It’s essentially a guidebook for the logistics of travel, whatever the
reason for your trip. The goal is to help you save money and time and, I hope, avoid
disappointment and stress.
On that note, there’s no doubt that travel in the twenty-first century involves some new
sources of anxiety, not to mention challenges that have plagued travelers as long as people
have been exploring the planet. (Christopher Columbus’s journey across the Atlantic was
fraught with delays, and he really didn’t know how he was going to pay for that trip until
shortly before he left.)
But travel is still one of life’s greatest pleasures—and for many of us, for both business and
personal reasons, a necessity. How to Travel Practically Anywhere is really about making
sure that you have the best trip possible—or as they say in Spanish, que te vaya bien,
which, loosely translated, means “may it all go well for you:” wherever, however, and
whenever you travel.
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