From the Inside Out

As my plane landed in Dallas today, I was greeted with a pleasant thought. My next trip will not be for business; it will be for fun! At the end of this month, Gary and I are heading to New York for an extended weekend trip. Since my work schedule won’t allow me to go on a real vacation until October, we’re jetting to NYC for a quick getaway.

We’re staying at the W Hotel in Times Square (my favorite hotel chain). It’s located in the heart of the theater district, with museums a few blocks north and downtown a quick subway ride away.

During our stay, we’re going to check out Wicked, the popular musical currently playing on Broadway. I’d also like to stop by ground zero, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center/Top of the Rock, Central Park, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

For those of you who are familiar with New York, what else should be on my list of things to do? I visited the Statue of Liberty on a previous trip. Are there any other tips you can share or “must see” places I should go? If so, please leave a comment!

Are you planning a trip this summer? If so, you should check out TripAdvisor.com. It’s a travel community that features real advice from real travelers. With 15 million reviews and opinions, TripAdvisor is the best place to go to get the scoop on destinations, attractions and hotels for your next trip.

TripAdvisor is the first place I go when planning a trip. No matter what my destination is — Hawaii, Rome, London, Florence, NYC — TripAdvisor has become my personal travel agent. By using the site, I can find the best locations to stay and the highest rated hotels in those areas. I’ve been using it for a few years now, and it’s never failed me.

Booking travel on the Internet is convenient, but it can also be a crap shoot. You never know what you are getting until you arrive at your destination. It’s easy for companies to make their hotel rooms and facilities appealing on the Internet — online pictures can be very misleading. I’ve been burned a few times with hotels that didn’t live up to the descriptions and photos on the Website.

The thing I like about TripAdvisor is that it offers reviews and photos from real travelers who actually stayed at the hotel. They tell you the good, the bad and the ugly. It’s a great way to narrow down the list and find the best places to stay. When you are ready to book your stay, TripAdvisor links you to discount booking sites (i.e. Expedia, Orbitz, hotels.com) so you can get the best rates.

So, the next time you plan to travel, go to TripAdvisor first. You’ll be glad you did.