A friend recently asked me how I decide where to go when I travel. Not only was it a fabulous question, but it seems to be the center of conversations in this new year, with articles like this one from the NY Times simultaneously inspiring and encouraging people to get out there and cross destinations off their bucket list.
I started thinking about my own travel habits and came up with a few criteria that I use when evaluating potential destinations:
Desire.
First and foremost, where do I want to go the most? What's been on my bucket list forever? What's a destination I've never been to? What's the place I want to revisit that I haven't been to in years? For me, more often than not, the new destination wins out over the revisit, and my bucket list seems to be never-ending. I'd love to make it to Thailand in 2016, and if I look at domestic travel, Portland, Seattle, and Denver are all high on my list.
Timing.
Timing is an interesting factor when it comes to travel. There are a few things I consider with timing: what's happening in a given destination this year? Will I miss out by not going? Will I run into trouble if I do go? Part of what drove me to go on March of the Living this past year, and to stop putting it off, was knowing that the longer I put off the trip, the less likely I was to meet anyone who had actually survived the Holocaust. One of my favorite parts of traveling over Christmas and New Years as a kid was being in a foreign country during those two holidays and seeing how that country celebrated (or often, didn't celebrate) those two holidays. Being in a new place for a holiday unique to that place can also be an eye-opening cultural experience, such as celebrating Mardi Gras in New Orleans or the time I happened upon Memphis as BB King passed. Of course, traveling over/during holidays or high tourist seasons can also lead to higher costs, so do some research ahead of time to make sure you know what you're getting into.
Ease of travel.
I had the good fortune of growing up in the Tri-State Area, near three or more huge airports. Whether I wanted to travel to another city or another country, it seemed like no destination was more than a plane ride away. Since moving out to SF, I still have the good fortune of being near SFO, but my eyes have been opened to the misery of taking two, three, or four flights to reach a destination instead of a single one. This is definitely a factor for me when I travel. While connecting flights often lead to cheaper fares, the additional stress and time added to the trip is not always worth the tradeoff. Before deciding to travel somewhere, I check to see what kind of effort will be required to arrive.
Cost of travel.
Related to ease of travel is the cost of travel. While perhaps an obvious factor, cost of travel can vary greatly. Try looking at different times of year to visit a destination and see how the price of travel changes. Consider different methods you might use to visit somewhere… can you fly to a cheaper destination and then rent a car or take a train? Flight prices not only vary during the course of a year, but during the course of a week. Can you travel on off days, like the middle of the week? Not only do prices tend to be lower on off days, but airlines often run sales on different days of the week. Keep an eye on sales and watch for patterns in flight prices well before you need to book to take advantage of the lowest fares.
Cost of living.
Lastly, I look at the cost of living once I arrive somewhere. Thailand, for example, is not a cheap flight from SF, but the cost of living once I'm there looks to be incredibly low, making the expensive flights worthwhile. Other destinations can be the complete opposite. Consider the activities you'll want to pursue once you arrive - a vacation to an all-inclusive resort or a condo where you're cooking all your meals can come with very different costs than a vacation to a city where you're eating out and enjoying the nightlife.
What's your evaluation criteria when choosing a destination? Where do you hope to travel to in 2016?