Since I am a planner and I am very well organized, I tend to do a lot of research before any trip. Also, I prefer to have this type of thing out of the way beforehand, rather than doing it after we have left home! I am sharing a few suggestions that have served me well. Feel free to share your ideas, too, and let me know if you have any questions.
Take a look at the online Visitor's Bureau
I always search for the visitor's bureau online for the area I will be visiting. I search by city, state, county, or any other keyword specific to the area we are traveling to. For example, when we visited the Gulf Coast in Florida, I searched for "Florida panhandle visitors" along with the names of the towns we were going to visit.
I then fill out the online form for any free brochures, maps, discounts, etc. for things we are interested in. I prefer to have items mailed because I am not a total smartphone user, and we sometimes make notes on printed maps of the area. Sometimes, I opt-in for email notifications, and sometimes not. I usually unsubscribe after our trip. I have found that doing this often makes us aware of things we did not know about, and you can find discounts, coupons, promotions, and information about special events.
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| Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico |
Before we visited Albuquerque, New Mexico, I submitted a request for a visitor's guide to be mailed to me (this always makes a good magazine for the plane ride, too). I found a coupon in the guide for
Holiday Inn Express where we had planned to stay. The rate was $30 less than the AAA rate I had booked online! Amtrak often has coupons in their
printed guides, which are not available online. Unfortunately, we have never found one for any of the routes we traveled, although I have seen them for other areas. We received many coupons when we visited
Wisconsin Dells by subscribing to their emails and requesting a travel packet. These are just a few samples of things you can receive with a bit of research.
