How to Find Inspiration for Your Next Vacation

How to Find Inspiration for Your Next Vacation

Bored of visiting the same ol’ monuments, parks, museums, and beaches? Itching to do something new and exciting for your next vacation, but not sure quite how to jazz things up?

Lucky you, I just so happen to have a few helpful suggestions.

• Pick a Destination Relevant to Your Hobbies

A lot of people don’t put too much thought into where they go for vacation. If it’s winter, they go somewhere warm and sunny. Or they go someplace obvious, a foreign country, a state capital, or a big tourist town like Atlantic City or Orlando, Florida. Why not go somewhere specific to your particular hobbies and passions instead?

Are you interested in classic rock ‘n’ roll? One visit to Graceland will have you looking up Memphis houses for sale, because you’ll never want to leave. Maybe you love pizza. Spend a week in New York City visiting all their famous pizzerias, such as the first pizza restaurant in U.S. history, Lombardi’s, which is still in operation today. The possibilities are endless.

• Trying Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

Another thing that many people do is return to the same one or two vacation spots year after year. As great as it is to find a place that you can reliably enjoy time and time again, overdoing it will eventually take the shine off. Reliability becomes predictability and predictability leads to boredom.

Sometimes simply going somewhere else doesn’t quite cut the mustard. Think outside the box and try something new. In other words, pick a vacation destination that’s not just different from what you’re used to, but wildly different. Are you a regular on the beaches of Malibu or Tampa? Give a ski resort in Vermont or Canada a chance this time. Spend a lot of time visiting museums? Hit the amusement park instead. Even if you don’t think you’ll like something, you may surprise yourself.

• Time Your Trip to Coincide with Special Events

Last but not least, the final common mistake that people make when planning their vacation is thinking only in terms of “where,” not “when.” Even relatively “normal” places can suddenly become fresh and exotic if you pick the right time of year to visit, say during a specific holiday or annual festival.

Milwaukee, Wisconsin seems a nice enough place to visit, but unless you’re a big beer fan there’s probably nothing really drawing you there. Except, that is, when the city holds its yearly Summerfest event, the largest music festival in the U.S., whose performers have included everyone from Bon Jovi and Ozzy Osbourne to Billie Elish and Snoop Dogg. Just like anything else, when it comes to vacations, timing is everything.

Guest Article.