TripAdvisor.com

So...have you heard of http://tripadvisor.com yet? One of my sisters told me about it. It's a great website to do your research on before you take a trip. It's easy & free to register. Once to do so, can you select a city or cities that you are interested in and receive info about those. It's mostly lodging/airfare kind of info.

What I've done is start looking around for the next trip my sisters & I have planned. Last year, we were planning our sister trip to Savannah..wow - there is a ton of information about popular destinations. Oh, and it cover the globe, not just the U.S.A.

One of the best features in my opinion is the forums. These are categorized by location. For our just-completed vacation in northern GA, I went to the Blue Ridge forums and asked for help regarding the problem with the rental owner deciding to keep our deposit. Check it out here:http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g34778-i3004-k2090222-Deposit_unfairly_kept_by_vacation_rental_owner_help-Blue_Ridge_Georgia.html

I got some great answers! I really loved the post where someone gave me GA law...we actually included that in our letter to the owner...and we did get our deposit back!

Another great thing is that you can go and see reviews that "real" people have left. I still need to go post some reviews from our Savannah trip...for example, we were very dissatisfied with the Whistle Stop Cafe...and very happy with other restaurants. I love reading those...but remember to take all reviews with a grain of salt. I read a lot of reviews for "Lady and Sons" that were negative..but within those reviews were some great ideas. It helps to keep your expectations in check as well. I believe reading reviews does that.

Ok, that's all for today - Happy Vacationing!