2012 Itinerary In the Works

As we slowly crawl out of our winter caverns as spring nears, I am formulating my itinerary for the 2012 travel season. I’m very excited about this year, it may even surpass last year’s wonderful experiences. Here’s what I have tentatively planned for 2012:

March:
Alexander Hamilton National Historic Site, Manhattan
Metropolitan Museum of Art/The Cloisters, Manhattan

April:

May:
Fort Stanwix National Historic Site, Rome
DeadApple Tours, Manhattan
Other touristy things in Manhattan

June:
Philip Schulyer House, Albany, NY
New York State Library and Museum, Albany, NY

July:
Erie Canal Boat Museum, Chittenango, NY

August:
Lake Placid Olympic Center, Adirondacks
Whiteface Mountain, Adirondacks

September:

October:
Plymouth, Massachusetts

November:
Lake George, NY
Trip to Vermont?

As you can see, the itinerary needs some fleshing out. Two trips per month is enough for the spring and late autumn months, but I’d like to have a few more activities for July, August, September, and October. If you would like us to visit a certain place, feel free to use my contact form for suggestions. I’d love to hear from you!

Monograms: Nice Travel Planning Website

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Monograms. All opinions are 100% mine.

Ugh! Planning a travel itinerary can be SUCH a bore. I like to dream and plan, but sometimes… especially for budget travel… it’s a real drag. It helps to have a helping hand when it comes to travel planning; and the simpler, the better! There’s a very nice, neatly organized site for planning trips and more: http://www.monogramstravel.com/simple?utm_source=izea&utm_medium=ppp&utm_campaign=simple. Actually, Monograms has got to be one of the simplest travel planning websites I’ve ever seen.

You can search for vacation deals and make an itinerary by typing information in the search box, or you can choose from some pre-packacked destinations, that are very nice! The price and vacation day lengths are upfront, the first thing you see. There’s a small description, and then you have the option of filling in your itinerary data (date for vacation, etc). Packages include everything from New England Drive to National Parks to the cities of Europe to Beijing, Tokyo, Hong Kong, to New Zealand to the Galapagos Islands, and loads more! I was surprised to see how low some of the packages were priced. Very nice. And Monogram handles all the details!

Check out the website http://www.monogramstravel.com/simple?utm_source=izea&utm_medium=ppp&utm_campaign=simple for more details.

Feeling Adventurous?

While the children grow, we take day trips for most of our travels. But one of these days, Mr. Mecomber and I are going on a *real* adventure trip. It may be cross-country, or I just might be able to drag him across the ocean to explore another continent. One thing for sure is, there is NO way I could possibly plan all the details about travel in a foreign country on my own.

So look what I found!

BootsnAll Travel Network. Wowee!

This is the premier travel network site. Wow! I’ve heard of it before, but never really got a good look at it until today. Now I see why it is so highly-rated. This network helps travelers (including us armchair travelers) discover places to visit all over the world, offers deals on destinations, hotels, hostels, travel insurance, airfare, and more. Booking flights (sometimes an arduous task at other sites) is quick and easy, and BootsnAll has a large database of flight destinations for both domestic and international travel at very competitive prices.

This site has EVERYTHING! Trips to New Zealand, Europe, Tibet, the U.S., Asia, and even Antarctica! Feel like hiking the Fjordland National Park in New Zealand for 11 days? It’s $1654– it’s that simple and easy to plan your trip. I love the extremely detailed itineraries and what is and is not included in the trip– including estimates for meals prices. How about an Egypt family adventure for 12 days? Or Oregon whitewater rafting? Or a “Volunteer Vacation” in Machu Picchi where you help Cuzco children with their homework and cook the orphans a warm meal? It’s amazing to me. Like I said, the itineraries are extremely detailed– you’re not just thrown into a plane and then dumped into a foreign country to fend for yourself. That Egyptian trip looks really, really good (12 days for $1290 is cheaper then some of those video game players!). Hmm.

I love sites like these, because you don’t feel like you’re jumping into another country blindly and without a guide. The photos of the destinations are exquisite. I am very, very impressed with the site; everything is organized, neat, all the details are up front and you can even submit questions about adventure travel. Excellent.

My only question about the site is: where on earth did they get that name, “BootsnAll”?? Answer: YES. LOL. See here. Funny!

This travel site gets a *thumbs up* from Mrs. Mecomber!

P.S. I also notice that BootsnAll membership is free, and they offer many benefits for members. This is a goldmine for travelers, I think!