What do I do during the months leading up to my trip? Plan and become informed! (The photos on this page have been taken from the web. The sites have been listed below the photo)
Vacation is about relaxing and being spontaneous. Many items must be planned before taking off on a trip. Like hotels, or transportation, or just plain research. Some excursions must be planned ahead of time also, especially if they require an appointment. Have you ever tried to eat at the Blue Bayou at DisneyLand? At times they are weeks out for reservations. As they come to mind I’ll put some of my favorite web sites on the “Links” page. Most of my vacation however is spontaneously planned. Or is it planned to be spontaneous? Whichever works for you, just as long as your not nailed down to a clock, calendar and of course your phone! The point of vacation is to get away from all of that and just do whatever works at the time for you. Un-wind, relax and enjoy being free!
A couple web sites I love to frequent to find information, excursions, hotels, flights etc are; Trip Advisor, Kayak, Wikipedia and of course just plain ole Google. I will visit as many sights as I can to gain information about the area, culture, food, activities and social venues. I have planned my vacations out to the hour before and it tends to not be a vacation. It becomes more work trying to keep your schedule going and just isn’t fun. Gaining knowledge before your trip helps in being spontaneous during the days. As long as you have a place to lay your head at night (or morning), it doesn’t really matter what you do as long as you’re having fun.
We have reservations at the Sheraton in SJU! Why did we pick the Sheraton? Well let me tell you why! I’m traveling with a friend who has “Status” with SPG, the parent of Sheraton. With his level of status we book the cheapest room (which for the type of hotel, The Sheraton was the cheapest) and our percentage of an upgrade at check-in is significant. I would guess that the upgrade percentage since I have been traveling with him has been oh, about 100% at each and every hotel we have stayed with. Why not stay at a hotel that will give us a suite? This makes the vacation even better.
The only negative with the Sheraton as our selection is that it is far away from the airport and on Monday morning we fly out at 9:00 AM! So since I’m building status with Hilton we booked a room at the Double Tree for Sunday night (which is rated as the second best in SJU by Trip Advisor). This accomplishes two things; 1. Get’s us closer to the airport so we can sleep in an additional 5 minutes, and it helps me obtain a credit towards my status on Hilton.
I like to be sociable and meet people while i’m on vacation. I love to sit on the beach and just people watch. My goals on this trip are to sit on the beach, eat and socialize with people from around the world along with the locals. I did find a list of “The Worlds Best Bars” in USAToday.com. Guess where i’ll be going!
JetBoyErik 
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