I'd sign up for travelzoo's weekly top 20 -- they sometimes have amazing offers (but usually priced at per person double occupancy and single supplements can add up).

They aren't all last minute - some are good for several months in the future so somewhere around April/May you'll start finding deals for July.

Thanks! I do get that one--I'd forgotten. Good idea to keep looking at it. (Those single supplements can be a bummer, though. Sigh.)

Most tour packages don't work out for solo travel (because of the dreaded 'single supplement').

If I were in your shoes, I would just pick a couple places and wait & book an independent trip. For me here in Seattle, I can usually get great prices on a plane ticket for Honolulu, or PV or Cabo in Mexico , and I know cheap hotels in all those places. That's what's worked well for me in the past.

Have you looked for deals on Qantas? Personally I'd never wait for a month before to book airfare, or trains, but I suppose I might for tours. If you don't mind going budget look at Intrepid. But for Oz a tour may be overkill.

Oh, the not going to Australia is about my friends not being able to go--otherwise, I'd just go this year. (I've got the trip all planned out, but it's not as important to me as it is to them to go to Oz, so I'm willing to wait for the next time.) That's why I'm kinda toying with the idea of randomness on the last minute deals. Most of the time I'm traveling solo/independently (and kinda cheap, anyway) but there's no one place "calling" me right now: I want to go to Syria, Lebanon, and/or Jordan; finally get to Prague and Budapest; Romania; Egypt; Finland with a stopover in Iceland (Icelandair's fares are usually great for that); Japan; and a host of other places...pretty random, eh?

Prague & Budapest would be an easy trip to plan last minute and independent I think, and summer a good time to go.

Except for the "end of July" part I would have said Egypt. Go there when you can go in December'ish, it's fantastic!

Finland and Iceland would be fun in July. Lots of daylight to explore with. Prague and Budapest would also be fun at that time of year.


Write out your top bucket list places on slips of paper. Remove all the ones that would kinda suck in July (as amazing as Egypt is, July would suck a bit) and drop the slips in a bowl. Pick one out and find a plane ticket. Or, pick out two or three and go with whichever has the cheapest plane tickets.

Or start a post in the Lounge asking where you should go. There's a lot more traffic on that board and there were some fantastic ideas posted when I asked.