Nina - did you do the ACK rental through a realtor? If so, were you happy with them? My boyfriend and I are looking to rent a small place late in the summer and are trying to find the best way to go about doing so. If you don't mind my asking, how much are you paying? Thanks!

Lizzie, I got the rental from cyberrentals.com. It is on Hummock Pond, just renovated 2 bedroom for $ 2000/wk in Cisco. Relatively speaking it seemed to be a bargain which is why I nabbed it already. I looked at a lot of the realtors websites (Maury people, Jordan, etc) and the prices were actually much higher. Didn't see much for under $ 3000. Try cyberrentals.com and weneedavaction.com. You save the realtor fee if you go directly to the owner. I recall lots of cute smaller rentals in 'Sconset (where we stayed last year). There were a couple of cute 1 bedrooms in Town as well. Good luck and hurry, lots of things were already booked for the summer!

Recently we are planning our Sptember trip to Swiss Alps. Our Agust trip to Alaska we started to plan last August. It is never too early and it is so much fun

Mona:
We flew a mere 2 weeks after the 9/11 tragedy, and outside of a natural "odd" feeling had no problems whatsoever. Since that trip, we've flown twice with about 4 more planned already. All are in the good ol' USA and we are thoroughly looking forward to them all! Don't worry about flying -(I figure if I go to the airport to cancel my flight I'd probably get run over by a car when I was coming out of the terminal) so what the heck.

I think it would be interesting to find out whether your early plans worked out the way you planned.

We had four great weeks traveling in Alaska. Halibut in Homer was so plentiful that my husband wanted to plan another visit before we left Homer.

Starting to gather a TON of information for our 10 day trip to Alaska in early July. VERY excited about the trip.

This is our first trip there, and im sure we will return to either cruise or travel via autombile.

Can't wait to go.

We know Alaska books up fast so it is imperitive to book ASAP.

Susan

One of my favorite things is trip planning. I got three in the works for next year, bringing me up to December 2003. My line of thinking is you can never start planning too early. I am going to Italy in 2 weeks, and I have been researching it for about 5 years!
(didn't have the $$$ to go until now!)

That is inspiring Melissa. I just returned from Kauai Sunday. Starting inquiring here about Costa Rica on Monday. New Zealand and the Cook Islands are a dream, well ok Polynesia too along with Thailand and Japan. Problem with planning is nailing down where you will go.

Love Love Love Italy. I have always thought that next to Hawaii I would love to live in Italy. ENJOY ENJOY ENJOY!!!

I just booked our hotel in Santa Fe for Indian Market...August 2003

I have been actively working on our trip to Switzerland/Germany/Italy since last month for June/July 2003.

Right now, for next June.

This past May I went to France, Italy & Greece - started planning about 15 months in advance. Going to Vegas next month, but am already planning for a return trip to Italy in October, 2003, and am seriously considering (if still available) one of those Go-Today six day trips back to Paris next spring. At the price, its hard not to grab it! The planning is definitely half the fun of travel!!!

I started planning our July 2002 Alaska trip in October of 2001. When I called about flying to Katmai to see bears, I was told they were already sold out. As it turned out, I could've booked any number of trips like this when I got to Homer.

You are right to start planning now. In fact, Jim is right that you have to start planning at least one year ahead for a popular destination. Last summer, I planned this summer's trip to Hawaii and was not too early reserving rental houses and cottages. I have already begun my planning for our 6 month sabbatical leave in 2004 - I will sketch out several possible itineraries. Next summer, I start reserving the places we will stay.

ttt
because it is very interesting topic

We've been planning our Hawaii trip since February and will be leaving in a week. Was already worried about the post-vacation depression. But since I just booked tickets to see Celine Dion in Las Vegas in May and am already keeping my eyes open for deals to Germany in the summer I already have something else to look forward to. It seems I have the same "sickness" as everybody else here! Sarah, we had a marvelous trip to Costa Rica a few years ago. Feel free to e-mail me direct if you want any feed-back.

Yes - We plan the large trips at least 18 months in advance, especially to a high tourist area or when we have to travel during Summer season (2003 is one of those "Have to" travel during High summer season - Wedding in Scotland in July) This way my hubby & I can save up over time the $$ needed and I can research for the best deals. We usually take at least 1 or 2 short local trips inbetween the larger ones. On those I just start researching only 2 - 3 months in advanvce (since we usually travel during off & shoulder season.)

I plan trips WAY in advance, even though I wait to lock in airfare/hotel until I can get a great deal. I'm currently planning trips for Feb 2003, Sept 2003, and Dec 2003.

Our March 03 trip is in the planning, as are the summer 03 and fall 03

We booked in August 2002 for trip in August 2003.