2. The #2 stress about a vacation is When, Where, What? A lot of people know they want to visit certain places, but don’t know much about the places. Some options would be to:
• Google it: when you google the subject you’ll want to make sure you go to the “organic” listings as they are not paying google to advertise their information. When searching for opinions organic listings are the best. An example would be “Things to do in Ecuador” or if you don’t know for sure where to go maybe “top ten vacation locations”. Of course I recommend google because it is an organic search, not paid advertisers. You could utilize any search engine really.
• Blogs are good sources of information if you know one to look for
• Of course utilize your social media network of friends: Post in your status that you’re looking for things to do in Ecuador and see if anyone in your network has been there or knows someone who has. People LOVE to talk about their vacations so get them talking! Of course you’ll risk receiving some sales pitches with this, just remember that they really are trying to help you out.
• Weather.com is a good place to find weather trends where you want to go at the certain time of year. After typing in the city you want to visit click on the month tab near the top of the page and it will tell you what the average temps are in that area for that day. This will also help in your decision on whether or not to purchase travel insurance on your vacation. If you choose to cruise during hurricane season you’ll definitely want to consider vacation insurance.
• You could also contact us and we would be happy to recommend some favorites, based on your interests.

3. What to pack? It’s a toss up between what to pack and what about the pets as the #3 concern for the majority of people. I am an animal lover however since I now travel so frequently I don’t have a pet; thus what to pack officially comes in as #3 for me (don’t worry pet owners we’ll talk about what to do with the pets)
Once you’ve decided where your going and what you’re doing what to pack usually falls into place pretty naturally, however in some situations we’re actually experiencing a 1st so there may be questions surrounding the circumstances. For instance if you’ve never been on a cruise to the Southern Caribbean islands in January you may wonder about what to pack or if you’ve never even cruised before at all you wouldn’t know that there are dress codes in certain areas of the ship.
• Specific Cruise line websites:If you’ve never cruised before each cruise line has a website that offers valuable information on appropriate cruise attire.
• New Time of Year: If you’re experiencing a familiar location at a new time of year, 1st check the weather and make adjustments to your wardrobe appropriately.
• Almost always appropriate to pack: Of course there are some appropriate things to pack on every trip and while they may be obvious to some here they are anyway:
   ~A light jacket: even when going somewhere warm a light jacket is appropriate for overly air conditioned rooms, evening breezes, unexpected cooler weather, etc.
   ~Camera and charger or extra batteries: when cruising especially extra batteries could cost you a lot extra so save the dough and pack some extra batteries. And of course there’s always a moment for a camera on a vacation!
   ~Bathing suit: I know some people don’t like to swim, but you never know when you’ll change your mind, I pack my swimming suit even when going on business trips (granted my business trips are more like vacations than work), but you never know when you’ll want to soak in the hot tub or swim a lap or two.
   ~Toothbrush: although this is a simple fix if you forget yours it really makes a difference to your mouth when you have the toothbrush you’re used to.
   ~Smile: Planning a vacation can be an involved process so when you remember to smile before and during it will be much easier to smile after and make the memories all the better.