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Who's Got Travel Plans For The Summer?

thsc

By thsc
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makingfetchhappen Newbie

makingfetchhappen

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I don't know if I'm going this summer, but I might be going on a trip sometime soon!

 

But we want to go somewhere where we can get a really good deal. Does anyone here have any good recommendations for finding good travel deals? Any good sites? Kind of new to this whole travel thing.

I traveled down the West Coast one summer, starting in Vancouver. It was pretty neat. I went to Seattle, San Fran, Santa Barbara, and L.A. I would have gone to San Diego too but I ran out of money, lol.

 

I think I took a bus to Seattle, flew to San Fran, and took trains the rest of the way. I stayed in hostels the whole time and they actually had good ones in those places (not everywhere in North America does). 

 

I really think that it's a great must-have experience to stay in hostels when you are young. Hostelworld.com has pretty reliable reviews so you can make sure you are staying some place good. 

 

Europe is great when you are starting out traveling. It's similar to North America in a lot of ways, so it's not too hard to navigate. But, it's also very different than home, which is why you want to go of course!

 

I've found starting off points for planning trips before by going to skyscanner.net and putting in Toronto (or Buffalo) to "Everywhere" and seeing what is cheapest. Flying out of the States is almost always cheaper. Air Transit has some really good deals to Europe. 

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RichardHammond Newbie

RichardHammond

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I traveled down the West Coast one summer, starting in Vancouver. It was pretty neat. I went to Seattle, San Fran, Santa Barbara, and L.A. I would have gone to San Diego too but I ran out of money, lol.

 

I think I took a bus to Seattle, flew to San Fran, and took trains the rest of the way. I stayed in hostels the whole time and they actually had good ones in those places (not everywhere in North America does).

 

I really think that it's a great must-have experience to stay in hostels when you are young. Hostelworld.com has pretty reliable reviews so you can make sure you are staying some place good.

 

Europe is great when you are starting out traveling. It's similar to North America in a lot of ways, so it's not too hard to navigate. But, it's also very different than home, which is why you want to go of course!

 

I've found starting off points for planning trips before by going to skyscanner.net and putting in Toronto (or Buffalo) to "Everywhere" and seeing what is cheapest. Flying out of the States is almost always cheaper. Air Transit has some really good deals to Europe.

Last summer I booked a hotel through hostelworld and had a bad experience. They never forwarded the deposit and reservation to the hotel so the day before by trip, I called the hotel and found out that they don't have a room of that type available anymore... The hotel was saying it was a problem on hostelworld's end. Overall, it was a pretty stressful experience.

 

In terms of finding cheap flights, I'd recommend Google flights, Kayak or Hotwire. And also, an alternative to hotels and hostels I'd recommend is finding a place on airbnb.

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makingfetchhappen Newbie

makingfetchhappen

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Last summer I booked a hotel through hostelworld and had a bad experience. They never forwarded the deposit and reservation to the hotel so the day before by trip, I called the hotel and found out that they don't have a room of that type available anymore... The hotel was saying it was a problem on hostelworld's end. Overall, it was a pretty stressful experience.

 

In terms of finding cheap flights, I'd recommend Google flights, Kayak or Hotwire. And also, an alternative to hotels and hostels I'd recommend is finding a place on airbnb.

That's strange because I have booked dozens of places on there without any problems going back about 10 years now :S.

 

I suspect it might not have been hostelworld.com's fault, and that the place might have been denying responsibility. Either way, I would still recommend the sight for finding a hostel to stay at. Even if you do not book through them, it's definitely the easiest jumping off point.

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bakercyclist Newbie

bakercyclist

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Wanna go to Europe but most of my friends are broke or busy doing things to get into med lol...don't really feel like going by myself

 

Go anyway! If you stay in hostels or have a loose itinerary you might make new friends and travel buddies! I travelled through France and Spain with an ex-marine I met, and on the ferry between Barcelona and Rome I shared a room with a girl who hooked me up with a room in her parents' hotel on the coast for a major discount.

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jmatt1122 Newbie

jmatt1122

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Wanna go to Europe but most of my friends are broke or busy doing things to get into med lol...don't really feel like going by myself

 

I was in the same boat last summer... do what you want to do anyways. I travelled domestically instead of going overseas, which was still fun, but really shouldn't have let it change my plans. You'll meet plenty of people staying in hostels, develop great skills/traits, and have an amazing time! 

 

To respond to the thread's question: I'm off to Kigali, Rwanda to do a clinical elective for a month (+travelling surrounding area), then stopping in Amsterdam (+travelling from there in Europe) for a couple weeks.

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makingfetchhappen Newbie

makingfetchhappen

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I agree, go by yourself! It's a lot of fun that way anyways.

 

If you stay in hostels, you will definitely meet people without trying. If you go to Europe, every major city has walking tours you can go on, which is a great way to hit up major landmarks and people in the group will chat with you.

 

There will be other people travelling by themselves as well. Lots of Australian and UK kids take long trips on their own. Staying in a hostel is great because the close quarters make it almost strange not to talk to the people around you (unlike in hotels where people keep to themselves more).

You might end up spending a night here or there in a hostel where people keep to themselves, but generally there will be people around who will want to grab something to eat for dinner or hang out or grab a drink (in the hostel or somewhere else). 

Like medmom said, you will meet friends. But you don't even need to meet people who you will end up travelling with, you can find new people everyday. 

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thsc Newbie

thsc

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I was in the same boat last summer... do what you want to do anyways. I travelled domestically instead of going overseas, which was still fun, but really shouldn't have let it change my plans. You'll meet plenty of people staying in hostels, develop great skills/traits, and have an amazing time! 

 

To respond to the thread's question: I'm off to Kigali, Rwanda to do a clinical elective for a month (+travelling surrounding area), then stopping in Amsterdam (+travelling from there in Europe) for a couple weeks.

o.o Perhaps we can coordinate :P 

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Clever Newbie

Clever

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Venturing out to Edmonton for a week, and potentially Vancouver for a week as well. Nothing too exciting, but I've never been out West, so I'm looking forward to it

Don't judge our province based on the experience you'll have in Edmonton

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