I regularly get asked how I find the unique places where I vacation.
Places like:
an air conditioned treehouse (with screened outdoor shower) in Costa Rica
a remote mountain lodge with chefs and helicopter hiking excursions in British Columbia
a posh, eclectic, yet inexpensive hostel on Cape Town’s waterfront
a secluded bungalow next to a seaside cliff on Middle Caicos
a former Russian research vessel on its way to Antarctica
I’ve flown shotgun with a float-plane mailman, delivering packages to Pacific islands. I’ve ridden in an Olympic bobsled with the real coach depicted in Cool Runnings. I’ve river boarded in the coldest river in France and paraglided off mountains or cliffs in four countries. I’ve tubed an underground river by headlamp; and I’ve repelled waterfalls in three different countries.
My trademark response: “Give me five hours and Google, and I can find a vacation you’ve never seen.”
Everybody has the Internet, though; and everybody has five hours. Here’s my process, in case you’re looking to break your status quo.
Use your credit card points for airfare.
The most unique places to stay are almost never part of a hotel chain. Many aren’t available on typical travel sites like Expedia. So, I save my credit card points for the ubiquitous part of the trip: the transportation.
Start your search in developing countries.
Your dollar will go farther in countries where the U.S. dollar is strong. I’ve intentionally booked or even prepaid trips during months when our dollar surged in value. Google charts the last year of currency exchange rates in the search results for “convert USD to [insert country name]” to help you determine when to book. It’s not unusual for me to find international destinations whose cost is comparable to domestic excursions because of discounted food, lodging, and vendor costs. (Other countries often don’t have the insurance premiums American vendors have to pay, either.)
Look for the “Traveler Photos” on TripAdvisor.
Reviews can be helpful, but different people have different expectations. What tells me more about a place is the undoctored, unprofessional photos of the place. Also, it lets me know what kind of pictures I’ll be able to take there.
Use Instagram as a search engine.
Instagram is filled with traveler photos you won’t find in a Google image search. Start with the hashtags you’d use on your vacation photos. In addition to activity words like bungee, paraglide, or helicopter, I use search terms like adventure and adrenaline. I look for the official Instagram accounts of the vendors or lodging recommended on TripAdvisor. I also peruse AirBnb’s Instagram account for unique rentals.
Cross-reference each site or app with at least one or two more.
I jump back and forth between TripAdvisor, Instagram, and Hipmunk. I leverage Google search, Google Images, and Google Flights. I save newsfeed listicles, and start many travel searches with “top ten [fill in the blank].” I open the links in those articles in new tabs and key the lodging, activity, or destination names into the search bar of iPhone apps.
Build (private or public) Pinterest boards of the sites you visit for quick comparison.
Rather than save a bunch of browser tabs, I pin my findings to Pinterest boards for each specific trip—not generic travel boards. (My bucket list items have a shared board to be individually developed later.) If you’re an Evernote person, you can skip this recommendation.
Be willing for an unAmerican experience.
One of my buddies once complained that the hamburgers at his all-inclusive resort didn’t taste American enough. His first problem was staying in an all-inclusive. His second mistake was leaving the country with those expectations. I look for pizza and burgers everywhere I travel, but I approach other cultures with curiosity, not condescension. While a lot of tourist destinations cater to American money, some of your best experiences will happen in very unAmerican situations.
What are your travel research tips? I’d love to hear them in the comments section below.
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Stock image purchased from iStockPhoto.com
