You Deserve a Vacation and Some Fun for 2009.

2008 Sucked. Maybe I'm just speaking for myself and/or just speaking in sweeping generalities, but I'm sticking by that statement. Doesn't seem like 2009 has really had a chance to spring into action and take over its official role as the new year and the much needed arbitrary new page in life. Sure, sure there are some with smiles on their faces and to them I actually applaud. Unlike probably the majority of humanity I welcome good fortune to others. Sadly enough though, I still think that sentiment is founded in selfishness. My thought is that the more other people are happy, fortunate, or whatever, that a) they are less likely to bother me and b) that maybe I could get a little help from one of them. Regardless, I digress, and the point of all this is that things aren't just going to get better. It's the responsibility of each and every one of us to fight for a better way in life. Well, just like I'm sure you've been waiting, one way of getting there is living life and getting away. Yep, I backed door all of you on this one, but it's all apprapoe and relevant. Get out and find a vacation. Just so you know the link provided is my gratuitous citing using Wikipedia as a source.  I stand by that Wikipedia is one of the best fair and balanced and non-biased source of information on the net today. 

The one drawback, if that is really even the right way to frame the situation, is that due to the economic downturn, alternative options need to be investigated. Let me tell you many exist. If you've followed this blog for the past few months I've been able to either track down, stumble over or some how serendipitously discover more and more unique ways to travel and get away. What's more, and this is the real beauty, a lot of these hidden gems don't require giving up quality.  The biggest revelation or discovery I think I came across were the minivacs. Minivacs or "mini vacations" have been around for some time, but in recent years, due to a combination of many forces, including the current economic downturn, the offerings and combos of packages have improved. What's more because minivacs are associated with the timeshare industry a more concerted effort has been made to reinvent these products. All signs for me point to this very thing, a better product and a greater level of disclosure to the consuming public.  Also, for better or worse, this shift in reinventing minivacs has actually created a growing market segment in the world of travel. More and more companies are entering the market place. Most of the time greater competition usually equates to for a win to the consumer, but again, with an industry that has a stigma like timeshare problems do occur. I've cited this website several times in the past few months, but once again Reserve Vacations offers unique vacation packages such as these. Each time I revisit the site has expanded the number of destinations it serves and the number of individual packages it offers per destination. On average the price for accommodations plus premiums is about a 75% Discount to that of traditional packages. 

The fun doesn't stop there. Even the big label providers such as Travelocity and Expedia are not only experimenting with discount packaging and unique pricing mechanisms they offer to their members, traditional packages are showing a decline in rates. For example, and I apologize for citing this deal so late because the deadline is tomorrow, but Expedia is offering a great Holiday Travel Coupon if you book.