Lanzarote Holidays Guide

I thought it would be fun to talk about travel sites and travel books I like. I “travel” vicariously a lot. I am by no means the globe trotter that some people are. I mean, I doubt I’ll make it to even 99 places to see before I die, let alone 1,000. It’d be different if I was still a single gal. But you know, I wouldn’t trade Kyle and the kids for all those exotic locations. Not in a million years.

I really like NomadicMatt’s website. I first stumbled upon him from this post — The best sunsets ever. These are some wonderful pictures of sunsets from his travels. I think the Florence picture is my favorite. I told Kyle that he could get stationed in Italy, that’d be OK with me. Matt seems like my kind of traveler. No nonsense and an adventurous eater. Love it!

As to travel books, this might be anathema but I’m not a fan of Lonely Planet books. I like Fodors and Rick Steve’s guidebooks. When we went to Slovenia, the Lonely Planet was the only guide book we could find and it was fine, but it wasn’t the constant companion that a travel guide usually is for me. I’m glad that when we go back (fabulous wines, so I’m going back!) there’s now a Rick Steve’s book to use. I also like the DK travel books. Their Eyewitness Travel books are great. The Venice book is one of my favorites.

There are tons of books out there for traveling with kids. And not just Europe travel books. A friend gave me the Frommer’s 500 Places to Take Your Kids Before They Grow Up and it is fun to flip through. I can understand why some people don’t like it. A few of the places seem more than a little un-friendly for kids. From a practical standpoint, I mean. Long car rides or bus trips are difficult for adults to handle let alone an 8 year old. I think, because of having lived all over, the variety of destinations didn’t turn me off like it has some people. I picked up this other book, Amazing Places to Take Your Kids which is all North American destinations. It is cute. Really great photographs and simple write ups about the places.

Whatever the travel book for you or your family, the key is to spend some time with it before you travel so that you can have an outline of plans in mind before the plane lands. I don’t think you have to micromanage the trip — far from it. But better to have a loose itinerary. Kyle likes to tease me and calls me “Julie your cruise director” ….  which is from the TV show The Love Boat, if you didn’t know. Anyway, more and more you can find travel books online, either to buy new or used, or as eBooks. Often they have supplementary material that will help you get the most of your vacation.