Ok.. I'm going to say it...... I'm turning the big 3-0!
I know, I can't believe it either but it is the inevitable!
What to do what to do.. Do I have a big party, go out for a night into town, keep it low key? Well I have decided that we are going to go overseas, and Vietnam and Thailand will be perfect! We will be in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) for my birthday and I'm totally excited!
Planning a trip is part of the highlight for me! I love looking for accommodation, planning sights for day and finding interesting restaurants. It gets me excited! There's a few useful websites and apps that I use to organise our trips. For this trip in particular these are my friendly sources:
Skyscanner
Move over Webjet, Zuji and all the other ones out there. Skyscanner is the best thing that has happened to me (flights wise!)
It's a simple and easy website that allows you to compare flights. There's no money making here. You fight the flight you're interested in and it takes you to the website that has the deal.
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| Looking for return flights from Bangkok to Ko Samui |
I've only used it to compare flights so I don't know how the hotels and car hire options are compared to other sites. Don't forget to have a try! www.skyscanner.com it's also available on Android and the Apple store.
Tripomatic
Where do I start with Tripomatic. This has also been a lifesaver for me, especially when we planned our trip to Europe last year!
It has all the popular cities in the world! All you have to do is choose your city and how many days you're there for. It will then give you the option for any tours available. Once that is done, it divides your itinerary into days, and all you have to do is click and add the attraction to a day that you want. What I love about it is that you can filter the map to show the 'must see' things to do or all things you can do in the city. Not just that though, it tells you how long it takes from one attraction to another. LOVE IT!
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| My planned itinerary for Day 2 in Ho Chi Minh |
You can also add your hotel/accommodation into the map so I love how it shows perspective to how close or far you are to an attraction.
It's a simple interface. You can move attractions to another day, click and drag attractions in order of preference, and save and download your itinerary to print. Let me tell you this is one of my favourite websites out there! This is also available on Android and the Apple store. I have it on Android but I much prefer to use it on computer! Have a go here
Tripadvisor
And last but not the least, good ol' Tripadvisor. You've probably all heard about this site. It's where real people have real reviews and real photos. Some people can be harsh, and some people to lenient so you would have to use your own instinct to see if you want to book a hotel, see an attraction or stay at an apartment rental!
You can connect through Facebook too see where your friends have been as well (though I have not done this as I don't really use Facebook!)
I would say seeing people's photos for me helps. Does the hotel really look like that in their pictures? Only real travellers photos will tell you and these photos have really helped me make a decision in choosing the right hotel. As a matter of fact, I have chosen all our hotels we're staying at based on reviews on Tripadvisor.
Check out my profile here. I try to review when I can, and also try to attach pictures because they do go a long way! So I'll be reviewing Vietnam and Thailand soon!
With all our flights and hotels booked, it's time to plan what we're going to see. I can't wait!
10 more working days until our holiday!
Until then
-V
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