One more trip?

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Did your Summer go by way too fast? Need to stretch in one more “getaway” or some additional vacation time? Ohio’s cold, cold winter seems just around the corner. Here are some trends, tips, and hacks to get the last drop out of the season.

“Hood hopping” is a great way to break up a big city into smaller sections to explore. Stay in one part of the city and learn the quirks, perks, and vibes and then move hotels to a different part halfway through your trip. On a recent trip to Paris, my husband and I stayed in a hotel by Notre Dame. If I had thought about doing this, I would have switched to a place by the Eiffel Tower halfway through our stay. You get to experience different views of a city. Staying in New York City would look entirely different if you stayed in Times Square and then moved to a Wall Street location. You would eat the same bagels, but the energy, type of people and restaurants would be very different. Hopping can also be done over several trips to a city. Don’t always stay in the same area or hotel. Chose a different neighborhood and experience something new.

Millennials and adopted by Gen Z is the idea of “Micro-trips,” taking shorter, more frequent trips and spreading out your vacation time. Longer vacations are saved for every third year or so, allowing you to skip some of the planning and organizing required with a longer trip. Hotel apps such as Hotel.com, Expedia.com and Booking.com let you grab last-minute bookings. One Hotel App CEO says that 99% of their bookings are for less than five nights and 77% are for two nights or less. You can collect more experiences without impacting work or family time that a two-week vacation would do.

“Pooling” is when you and your friends rent a hotel room and split the cost so that you can enjoy the hotel pool together. Hotel pools have a lot of advantages that you can’t find at the public pool such as food and beverage service and usually prime locations. Grab a rum drink and let the tunes blast with a group of friends while you cool off and relax. Great locations for this are Las Vegas, New Orleans, Miami and Fort Lauderdale. I often suggest this if my travelers have a last night flight back from a cruise in Miami or Fort Lauderdale. Enjoy your wait time somewhere besides a busy airport and squeeze the last moments of fun out of your trip.

Everyone is familiar with “Meet-ups,” but let’s take it to another level and pick a city, invite your friends and all gather together. This seems to be a trend as friends and families get spread out and can spend some time together that doesn’t involve someone doing the dishes. I’ve seen this lately for birthday celebrations and bachelor/bachelorette parties and even sporting events. Plan a solo trip and invite a wide range of friends from different cities. They get to meet each other and your friends become friends. This is a great way to get together and celebrate without all of the planning.

Whatever your budget, time off, or schedule looks like, take some time to enjoy this summer season.

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By Marci DeWitt

Contributing columnist

Marci DeWitt owns a local travel agency, Anchor and Away Travel, a Dream Vacations franchise. She can be reached by email at [email protected].

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