Trip planning

The art of trip planning is one that is intensely personal. Do you like to have your restaurant reservations booked in advance? Do you feel burdened by plans and expectations? Husband and I try to strike a balance, researching enough to know that we're not missing out on something amazing but arriving with some ideas of things we'd like to do. We've also learned a few things about ourselves, namely, that we do not like uncertainty--we'll gladly pay the campground reservation fee, even if it doesn't seem likely to fill up, and we like to be early for things like planes and ferries and the like.

Here's a short list of resources we usually consult:

Frommers.com is a great place to start, because it's free and gives a good overview. It's good for making the big decisions, like "Do I want to stay on this island or that one?"

From there, guidebooks always provide a good overview, although I approach them with a bit of skepticism. Rough Guides tend to be my favorite, followed by the Hidden series and Lonely Planet.

My favorite source is the New York Times, which archives an extensive library of travel articles. Their "36 hours in ____" is always a good feature, although I certainly never aspire to abide by their ambitious itineraries.

Lastly, my most invaluable source is blogs. I read a lot of bloggers from the Pacific Northwest, so for our latest trip I was inspired by the advice of Orangette, Not Martha, Tea and Cookies, and ShelTerrific. Don't read any local blogs? Search on blog search engines to stumble upon some unwitting reviews.