Share Your Travel Tips

Got a favorite travel tip you want to share? A "secret" spot you'd like to recommend? Or some killer travel deal you heard about? Let the Travel Coach readers know all about it by posting it on my handy-dandy Travel Tips Forum. Best of all, you don't even have to register or share any personal information to post! Check it out today.

Cool Trip Idea #1: Firetower Rentals

Welcome to "Cool Trip Ideas", my special ongoing series about trips I think sound, well, COOL. First cool idea: Firetower Rentals. I've had this idea for quite some time, but it was just featured in the SF Chronicle and VIA magazine, so I guess it's not that "secret" of an idea after all. Run by the U.S. Forest Service, this program lets you rent unused fire-spotting towers in forests throughout the U.S. These towers (and cabins) are very rustic and usually in very remote locations, so they're not for finicky, room-service-loving type of travelers. But if you're looking for someplace quiet with no distractions, a firetower might just be for you. Reserving a firetower can be challenging. Reservations for the entire coming year open up on January 1, so you gotta do a little advance planning. This year, I forgot to make a reservation until nearly February, and I was SOL. Ah well, maybe I'll have better luck in 2006. For information on booking firetowers and cabins, click here.

Travel Bargains in your Email Box

I know, you're a very busy (and important!) person. One who certainly doesn't have time to surf all the travel websites looking for all those great travel bargains. So why not let them come to you...right to your personal email box? There are many, many of these services you can subscribe to, but here are a few of my personal favorites. Deal Alert from Smarter Travel delivers a broad selection of the week's best travel deals and advice, including airfare sales, hotel specials, car rental discounts, and vacation packages. These offerings are tailored to your specific locale, so you know the deals will always be ones you can take advantage of. The TravelZoo Top 20 is another of my absolute faves. Delivered on Wednesdays (with periodic special News Flashes at other times), the Top 20 are the hottest of the hot when it comes to travel deals. Snatch 'em up before they're gone. The Top Picks email from Site 59 will send you a weekly list of great deals for the next two weekends. Just provide your email address, name, zip code and preferred departure city. They're sent on Tuesdays -- just in time to getaway for the weekend! Of course, if you really want to get fancy, be sure to sign up for the Specials emails from any of the airlines where you have a frequent flyer number. Some of their deals can be amazing as well. Then just sit back and let the deals come to you.

Flying Around Europe on the Cheap

Back in the good ol' days of nationalized air carriers in Europe, flying from city to city within Europe was really expensive. Really, REALLY expensive. And that's one of the reasons you see so many backpack-toting students riding trains throughout Europe, clutching their Eurail passes to their chests. But while rail passes are still a great way to make short hops between (relatively) close cities in Europe, many cut-rate airlines have now popped up all over the continent. Start by checking here to see which low-cost airlines fly your particular route. I think you'll find most prices to be really cheap. Really, REALLY cheap.

For instance, a friend will be in Paris this summer on business, but then needs to get himself to Barcelona to begin a cruise. Sure, he could take an 11-hour overnight train ride, but he didn't want to waste precious vacation time. A quick check of the usual travel sites came up with an airfare of $750 one way (see, I told you it was really expensive). Enter EasyJet, a London-based carrier that flies all over Europe. Bingo, they offered a nonstop Paris to Barcelona flight on the day he wanted to fly. The cost? $70!! Vueling (a Spanish airline) came in even cheaper ($55!) and offered two nonstops a day.

Depending on your specific trip, there are many other intra-Europe airline sites you can check, including RyanAir, AppleFares, EuropeByAir and the new Dohop (get it?). With prices this low, you can now afford to check out more far-flung spots in Europe than ever.

p.s. To find low-priced airlines worldwide, check out this VERY useful site

Your Own Deserted Island: Isla Holbox (Mexico)

My nephew just emailed me looking for Spring Break ideas for next year. A few thing came to mind, but then I saw this article in Frommers Budget Magazine (definitely my FAVORITE travel publication) called "10 Great Islands You Never Heard Of". One of the the places is an island about 100 miles from Cancun called "Isla Holbox". It sounds pretty incredible, and cheap.

Here's a rental I found on the Island (btw, this site is great for condo/house rentals all over Mexico and the world). This hotel looks great (and it's so cheap!). And here's a comprehensive site for the rest of the Yucatan Penisula in Mexico, including ferry information for Isla Holbox (remember, this is an island). Here's a brief write-up on the island from the Frommer's site (scroll about halfway down the page).

Start planning...

Escape to the Xaloc Resort, Isla Holbox

Bloggin' the Blog

George Hobica is my hero. I've been following the "Travel Guy" since he published daily airfare sales for another web site (AOL?? Yahoo??) After becoming a victim of a budget cut, George went out and started his own airfare blog. This guy is more of a bargain hunter than I am! He finds AMAZING fares for flights all over the world. This link is for his "National Report", but he also puts together regional blogs for airfare sales from a particular city (like San Francisco!). Many of these fare are VERY short term, so check out the site every day. Seriously. George offers his information for free, but gladly takes contributions from readers. Send him $5 if you find a sale through his site...it's good karma.

Hot, hot sale fares!

Less Clicks to Cheap Flights, Cars and Hotels

Just came across the revamped Booking Buddy site from Smarter Living Travel, and while I don't think it's quite "there" yet, it's got promise. Here's the deal: Booking Buddy is "designed to help travelers search all their favorite travel websites with fewer clicks and in less time." With Booking Buddy, you just enter your pertinent travel information once, and can then choose to search for airfare, car rental, or hotel from a selection of the most popular travel sites. Here's my problem, you still have to click to search each individual travel site...Booking Buddy doesn't search all the sites for you at the same time. So while there's some time savings, it still takes a lot of time to click through (and wait) for each of the sites to return results. Seems Smarter Living could make Booking Buddy even smarter. Then, it'd be a real friend when it comes to bargain travel.

Make friends with Booking Buddy

Subscribe to the Travel Coach

Like most people I know, you've probably got a VERY busy life. But now, at least, you can remove "Check Gary's Travel Coach Blog" from your mental to-do list. That's because I've just added a handy-dandy "Subscribe" feature to my blog. Just enter your email address on the main page and click the "Subscribe" button. Then, whenever I add a new posting to the blog, you'll get a friendly email notification about the change. Check it out and subscribe today.

DING! Your cheap airfare is waiting on Southwest Airlines

As a devoted Macintosh user, I hestitate to mention this cool new Southwest Airlines offering because it only works with Windows machines...ggrrrr. But I'll put my jealosy aside and mention it here anyway. DING! is a small utility that sits quietly on your desktop and alerts you to last-minute and VERY limited-time sales on Southwest flights. And from some of the fares I've seen, the savings can be stunning. If you use a Windows computer, check it out and let me know how it works. Register and download DING!

Kickstart Your Life!

Originally uploaded by gappyd.

Okay, I admit this post isn't strictly about travel, but I'm still pretty darn excited about it so felt I had to "share." As many of you may already know, I've been busy developing a workshop series called Kickstart over the last few months. Co-created with a dynamic coaching colleague, Howard Miller, Kickstart is designed to help gay men who want to get unstuck and move forward in a specific area, need a kick in the pants (or head!) to get a project off the ground, or desire MORE of something in their lives. Ultimately, Howard and I will create a safe and supportive environment where men can harness the power of the group to help realize their individual dreams.

And now, we're finally ready to go primetime with this exciting workshop. For all the details, visit the link below.

Learn more about Kickstart

Site59.com: Get out of town, no really...

Are the pressures of life getting to you? Need to escape reality even if it's just for a few days? Site59.com can deliver sweet relief at an amazingly low cost. Specializing in last-minute weekend package deals for the coming weekend, the site also lets you planners out there to book as far out as NEXT weekend as well. Build-you-own vacation from a selection of flights and hotels. Then just throw a few things in a bag, dash to the airport and leave those troubles behind (well, until Monday morning...) site59.com

Travelzoo - Weekly Top 20 Travel Deals

If there's one email list to join, it's TravelZoo's Weekly Top 20 List. It comes out every Wednesday, and offers really incredible deals on airfares, hotel packages, etc., etc., etc. You never know what you'll find. If you don't want to clog your inbox with more email, you can also view the deals online. Check it out...seriously. Now! Travelzoo - Top 20

Slow Travel: Take time to stop and smell the flowers

Recommended by a fellow travel fanatic who I really trust (so YOU should trust him, too), Slow Travel is "is a community of people who like to travel and experience new places." The website contains reviews for vacation rentals, hotels and restaurants, personal trip reports, and other valuable travel information. Seems particularly strong for European destinations.
Slow Travel

Cheap Last-Minute Airfares

Wednesday is so much more than Hump Day. It's also the day that all the last-minute weekend fares get released by the airlines. How to keep track of them all? Sign yourself up for Smarter Travel's "Last Minute Airfare Specials" email. Then every Wednesday morning, you'll get a customized listing of deeply discounted airfares from the airports closet to your hometown for the coming weekend (and sometimes the weekend after that). Now there's another reason to get out of bed on Wednesdays! Cheap Airline Discount Tickets, Fares and Flights Online - SmarterTravel.com

TripAdvisor: Unbiased reviews of hotels, resorts and vacations

Going somewhere you've never been? Found a great deal on a hotel you've never heard of? TripAdvisor is the web site for you! It's got GREAT reviews from readers that let's you know at a glance whether a place is a DEAL or a DUD. You can even see a ranking of a hotel's "popularity" within a given city and do a quick check of rates for your travel dates. Definitely worth a visit as you plan your next trip. Reviews of vacations, hotels, resorts, vacation and travel packages - TripAdvisor

The National Airfare Report

Somehow this guy always manages to find the latest and greatest airfare sales. The site is updated daily, so be sure to check it often and sign up for his email for REALLY hot airfare sales.The Airfare Report: The National Report

Frommers: A very good place to start

Frommers is ALWAYS a great place to start looking for travel ideas, the latest bargains, insider tips and more. It's usually the first web site I visit when starting to reseach a new travel destination. Frommers.com Newsletter

The Travel Coach Is In!

Anyone who knows me at all knows I love to travel. But I suspect that I love travel planning even more. Which means I'm always looking for out-of-the-way destinations, "secret" spots, travel bargains, the "best" of wherever, and more. Friends know to call me first when looking for the cheapest airfare, the best value hotel, a unique vacation choice and for most any travel-related questions.

Recently, someone suggested I make good use of this, um, obsession and start gathering all of this information into one easy-to-access place where everyone could see it. So I'd like to announce the opening of my very own BLOG where I'll be posting interesting travel articles, late-breaking travel news, my favorite travel web sites, or anything else that catches my eye regarding travel.

Be sure to visit and leave your comments. I'd love to know if you find the site useful, or if you've saved big bucks because of a posting you saw. Or email me with YOUR favorite travel spots, useful web sites, or travel musings to post on the site.

Enjoy.

Gary