My husband jokes that I'm planning a couple of years in advance. But those are really just the ideas that I have - I get ideas on where I want to go when I'm returning from a holiday and I start to read about an area months in advance. We often try to fly with the ff miles, so that means booking flights early. Plus we have to ensure that we can both take time off work. My company prefers that I book fairly far in advance - I'm a consultant and they are able to plan my assignments better. My husband will be leaving his job in a few months time - hopefully will get something with more flexibility when he does go back to work. <BR><BR>On our trip to the Maritimes earlier this month, I had booked all of our accommodation because it's still a very popular time to travel. (Mind you, we did make some changes as the trip progressed, not because we weren't happy with our choices, but because I got a little concerned about some of the distances we were driving.) But generally I like to leave some time open. A couple of years ago, we were in Greece and decided to go to Turkey for a week - nothing booked and we found places as we went along - it was a wonderful experience. This winter we'll spent a couple of weeks in Mexico. I found a place where I wanted to stay for a week and then I had to get flights around that period. I managed to book the flights (and that was actually difficult to do using our ff miles). I'll book our night in Mexico City, but I think I'll leave some nights open so that we have some flexibility. For me, travel involves a sense of adventure - if every detail is booked, where's the adventure and spontaneity?

Booking to far in advance may not be a good idea with all the airlines in trouble. We booked tickets on Swiss Air last year and they went bankrupt. It took us about six months to get our money back. It was the credit card company that reimbursed us our money.<BR><BR>Just a thought