August9

Travel Inspiration: 6 Websites That Inspire Travel – Part 1

By: JoAnna

Sometimes I know exactly where and when I want to travel. In those cases, I hop onto a commercialized website, plug in my destination and arrival and departure dates and I book a trip.

But more often than not I get an itchy travel bug telling me I need to travel, but I’m not sure where, when or for how long. How to start searching for my next getaway then? In my search to find ways to inspire travel ideas, I’ve found a selection of websites that encourage user interaction and fun and interesting criteria to help create the ideal vacation dream. While many of these sites encourage vacation bookings directly on the website, I’ve come to use them primarily as trip ignition, which sends my travel bug running in mad circles, excited by the brilliant ideas which I can then research more thoroughly elsewhere and book in other places that work better for my travel plans.

Below you’ll find six great sites that travel inspire. Perhaps you, too, will find that these sites excite your itchy feet.

080909 - GeckoGo

GeckoGo has a great interactive map on the top of its first page, which allows users to pick through a list of activites ranging from beaches and nightlife to temples and wildlife. Choose one or two that interest you, then choose a month of travel (but only if you’re so inclined). The world map highlights countries that will be great, okay or not ideal at meeting your travel dream. Hover over individual countries to see how they rank according to your criteria. Venture further into the site for background information, top sites and travel details on destinations around the world.

080909 - TravelMuse

TravelMuse assumes you know where you’ll be departing from, but beyond that, you get to plan a trip based on what time of year and number of days you want to travel, budgetary requirements, themes and activities that pique your interest, and flying time you are willing to invest to reach your destination. From there, the site offers vacation ideas that match your criteria as well as easily accessible online content about that destination and an estimated price for the trip (though exact dates of travel are needed to better define this).

080909 - Activity Breaks

Activity Breaks provides travel ideas in Europe based on where you want to go, when you want to go and what you want to do—though you only have to decide on one of these to get a list of travel ideas. Activites range from party holidays to outdoor adventures. Though the site serves up vacation packages based on your criteria, if you are stoked about booking a vacation package through the company, browse through the itineraries based on your interests, or hop off the site to build a similar trip using these ideas to get you started. If the packages do interest you, they are clearly marked as suitable for singles or if there is a group discount available.

080909 - African Portfolio

African Portfolio is an African safari company with a specific list of safaris available, but I find their easy-to-navigate site to be a good place to start if all you know is that you want to go on safari. Click on the Find Your Adventure tab to learn a little bit about safaris available across the continent and discover the types of safaris appropriate for families, first timers and more. Research your safari destinations and tour options here, then stay on the site to book, or look elsewhere to research further now that you know more about what you’re looking for in an African safari.

080909 - Tourdust

Tourdust is a company that discovers and supports local travel businesses, and thus creates tours based around the principles of responsible travel. Inspire your sustainable traveler by browsing unique, local experiences by considering the activities (from creative courses and foodie places to coastal wildlife and mountaineering) or regions of the world that interest you. Tourdust has done thorough research on the tour operators it endorses to ensure they meet the ethical standards set by the company, so feel free to book these unique journeys here, or use the site as a jumping off point to fuel the travel bug.

080909 - World Reviewer

World Reviewer is an extremely thorough website with a lot of information, and it can be a bit daunting to tackle, but the vacation ideas are interesting and fun. Though there are a number of vacation ideas based on destination, I love looking through the section under the What To Do tab. Few other places break down activities so comprehensively and allow you to find inspiration based on everything from ghosts and monsters to military history. Who knew you could find the perfect getaway for Christmas markets or extreme machines?

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