Most people, however tentatively, are planning their next vacation. You need something to look forward to. About 3:00, when the afternoon starts to wane, lunch is a distant memory, and two or three hours of work are still due at the office, most people dream of being on vacation. Backpacking in the Sierra-Nevada, partying at Mardi-Gras in New Orleans, cruising up the Amazon in a steamer, basking in the sun on a beach in Bali. This article is dedicated to those people who want to make their next vacation the best ever. It describes how to research a destination how the Internet can help you find out where to stay and what to do while you’re away. You find out how to obtain inexpensive airfares, hotel rooms, and rental cars. This article also presents Internet resources for traveling abroad.

Researching a Destination

Taping a map to the wall and throwing darts at the map to decide where to go next is one way of travel planning. However, mathematicians have determined that the amount of pleasure you derive from a vacation is directly proportional to the amount of time you spend planning it. Read on to find out how the Internet can help you plan itineraries, locate attractions on the map, and get directions for driving from here to there. You will also discover how to get up-to-date information about the weather and road conditions where you want to travel.

Deciding where to go and what to see

The hardest decision to make when you are planning a travel itinerary is deciding where to go and what to see when you get there. The following Web sites can help you match your desires and interests with attractions and destinations:

-  Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel Online: This site is the Internet companion to the famous Frommer’s Travel Guides. Besides travel advice, you can look for hotel accommodations, nightlife, shopping, and dining opportunities in cities the world over. Address: www.frommers.com

-  Citysearch.com: This site currently offers comprehensive guides to several dozen U.S. cities and a handful of cities abroad. The guides are up to date, with detailed information about local restaurants, nightspots, clubs, and shopping. Address: www.citysearch.com

-  Fodor’s Travel Online: Click the Destinations link to see about traveling in different cities. Not that you will stray from the beaten path, but you will get solid information about the city of your choice. Address: www.fodors.com

-  Online City Guide: From this site, you can pinpoint a city in the United States, find a list of hyperlinks with information about the city, and click a link to help plan your vacation. The links are to private Web sites and sometimes are not the greatest, but try your luck. Address: www. olcg.com

-  Yahoo! Travel Pages: Starting from this page at Yahoo!, you can begin investigating any number of travel subjects, including eco-tourism, train travel, and hitchhiking. Address: http://dir.yahoo.com/Recreation/Travel

Finding out how to get there

The Web sites listed here are meant to keep you from getting lost. These Web sites present online maps and online mapping tools to help you go precisely where you want to go. Still, before you look at the Web sites, consider the advantages of getting lost. Being lost quickens the senses. It makes you acutely aware of your surroundings. It makes you feel alive. Someday, a genius is going to put up a Web site with instructions for helping people get lost. Meanwhile, visit these Web sites when you are planning your vacation and you want to know where an attraction is and how to get there from your hotel or the airport. These Web sites all permit you to get driving directions from one place to another:

-  How far is it?: As the crow flies, how far is Athens, Georgia, from Athens, Greece? The answer: 5,628 miles (or 9,058 kilometers). This very friendly Web site for crows and travel planners calculates distances in no time at all. Address: www.indo.com/distance

-  MapBlast!: Displaying a map is pretty simple, and the tools for zooming in, zooming out, and printing are easy to understand and use. Address: www.mapblast.com

-  MapQuest: Another site for creating a map. Enter an address and click the Get Map button to get your map. Address: www.mapquest.com

-  Maps On Us: You can enter your starting address and destination address, and this site creates a map for getting from one to the other. Address: www.mapsonus.com

-  The Subway Navigator: For several dozen cities around the world, about a dozen in the United States, plan a subway or light train route from one station to the next. Address: www.subwaynavigator.com

Weather and road conditions

Ants and mosquitoes can ruin a good picnic, but that’s nothing compared to what a vigorous storm can do to a weekend at the beach. Before you leave, check out these Web sites to see whether the roads are passable and what kind of weather you will encounter:

-  AccuTraffic: From here, you can get the latest report about road conditions on American highways. Click the Traffic link and select a state to go the official Web site of the state’s Department of Transportation. Weather reports are also available from this site. Address: www.accutraffic.com

-  USA Today Online Weather Almanac: For travel planning, this site offers monthly climate data for cities the world over. Go here to find out what the average monthly high and low temperatures, rainfall, and snowfall are in a vacation spot that you are eyeing. Address: www. usatoday.com/weather/walm0.htm

-  The Weather Channel: While you are deciding whether to pack a sweater or a T-shirt, sunblock or an umbrella, pay a visit to the Weather Channel. By entering a city or zip code, you can find out what meteorologists think the weather will be for the coming week at your destination. Do you remember what Mark Twain said about the weather? He said, “Everybody talks about the meteorology, but nobody does anything about it.” Address: www.weather.com

Online Travel Services

As far as purchasing tickets goes, the Internet has put you in the driver’s seat. Now you can search the same databases that travel agents search. Instead of looking into prices at one airline or rental car service at a time, you can declare where you want to go and when you want to go there, and make everybody come to you. Your search of the Internet will turn up flights, rental cars, hotel rooms, and railway tickets that meet your travel needs. Read on to find out how to look for inexpensive airline tickets, hotel rooms, rental cars, and railway tickets on the Internet.

Visiting an all-purpose travel site

These travel sites attempt to be all things to all people. You can book a hotel room, buy an airline ticket, or reserve a car from these sites. The advantage of looking here is that these sites are user-friendly. Compare prices and services, and pick the one you like best.

-  1travel.com: This one has a couple of interesting things you don’t find at the others a currency converter and a list of airports experiencing delays. Address: www.onetravel.com

-  CheapTickets.com: This a comprehensive site where you can buy an airline ticket, book a hotel room, or rent a car. Address: www. cheaptickets.com

-  Expedia.com: From here, you can buy airline tickets, reserve hotel rooms, and reserve rental cars. So-called wizards make it easy to search for good rates. Address: www.expedia.com

-  Hotwire.com: Besides renting cars and booking airline tickets, this site lets you book luxury cruises. Address: www.hotwire.com

-  Priceline.com: Another great site for purchasing airline tickets. You can also rent cars and book hotel reservations here. Address: www.priceline.com

-  Travelocity.com: Besides the usual travel-planning stuff, this is the place to go if your flight dates are flexible and you don’t need to search for a ticket on a specific date or time. Select the Search All Dates for Best Fares option button, and you’ll get a list of low airfares on different days. Choose a day to travel instead of choosing a ticket. Address: www.travelocity.com