So tomorrow we head out to our fantastic Caribbean vacation.  I’m super excited. Honestly though, preparing for a trip like this is a lot of work.  We want to have everything you need, we don’t want to have to pay crazy cruise fees for an aspirin, or waste any time when we only have a few hours in a port that we may never visit again.  Laying in bed last night my mind was rolling with to-do lists.  Since I’ve got a planer’s heart — I actually love it.  I’ve enjoy finding day adventures, reading about our locations, hints to good cruising, and getting everything together.

Here are my three favorite vacation planning finds:

• Download Lonely Planet Chapters: Since we are only making three stops in the Virgin Islands it is silly to pay $24.95 for a guide book, but in the lonely planet online shop you can download certain chapters of their larger and fantastic travel books. So for $6.95, I was able to go into their guide books — search for my particular ports and print just that chapter for $1.95-$3.95.  So I printed them and threw them into a binder and now I have a personalized guide book that outlines exactly where Ken and I are going without having to bypass a lot of other information.
• TripAdvisor:  I’ve used trip advisor in the past occasionally, but as I’m trying to find out real details about locations — which whale watching company should we use in Samana?  Where is the best fresh seafood in Tortola?  The reviews and advice on trip advisor is great.  I’m going to make sure to add all my details from my trips when I get back because their advice has helped me so much.
• Virtual Tourist:  I didn’t actually end up using this site, but if you are headed on a trip and don’t have the luxury of your own blog to update everyone back home, Virtual Tourist lets you create your own travel blog, design maps of your travels, post photos, etc.  It is a great for the non-techy traveler who wants to share their adventures online easily.

So after I found these gems of travel ease I found an article about women and men’s packing style.  In fact, Ken and I just had a talk about the quantity of stuff we are bringing last night.  We are trying to coordinate outfits, working to keep luggage to two large suitcases, but I’m finding it almost impossible.  I guess this artice from the Mail Online is why. . ..

However, a leading psychologist today said that the ‘over-packing’ should not be seen as a fault as it demonstrates women’s ability to plan for every eventuality.

Cary Cooper, professor of organizational psychology at Lancaster University, said that women only packed too many clothes because they had greater foresight than men. “Women are planners and they look at every eventuality. They are also likely to think ‘better to be safe than sorry’. This is why they pack so many clothes when they go on holiday. And what’s wrong with packing too much? It’s better than packing too little which is what men are likely to be guilty of” he said.

To follow our adventure check out lauraandken.com for our calendar.  Bon Voyage!