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One of the hardest parts of going on vacation is figuring out where do you want to go and what to see while you are there.  Recently we found a book called 1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. & Canada Before You Die which is good for finding places to go categorized by state.  We started by looking neighboring states for some vacations that we could do more vacation than driving.  This book gives about a page of info on each location along with website addresses to find more information which makes your job easier.  My only problem with the book is there are a lot of events listed when interesting places are left out.  If you like food festivals and flower shows this won’t be a problem for you but I was a bit disappointed by some of the entries.  Over all this is still a good guide to find places of interest to you.

After finding places that look interesting searching Google is always a good way to find more info but a couple of sites can really help you out along the way.  The first is Trip Adviser where people write reviews of different areas.  It is a good resource for filling out your vacation itinerary.  The second site which is really helpful and a little less obvious is Flickr.  Tons of people use Flickr to post photos and you know everyone has vacation photos.  For example if you search South Dakota Badlands  you are bound to find pictures of places to go while in the area that might not show up in the travel guides.

There are  a ton more sites out there to fill out your vacation itinerary but these are the ones we always end up using.  A quick tip if you don’t like getting junk mail don’t sign up for the print version of the state/area travel guide don’t sign up for it.  You will be surprised what kind of “mail offers” you will get.  If you do find that your only option is to give them your address a little trick that I learned long ago is to fill in your name with an alternate middle initial.  So if start getting mail for John Z Doe, you will know exactly who sold your information.  Most places are pretty good with keeping your information to travel related businesses in their state but other states just make a quick buck from selling your name to every mass mailing list out there.

Have a favorite travel planning resource post it in the comments.

So the idea of going camping in a Tear Drop / Tiny Travel Trailer interest you.  Of course it does!  There are a several routes you can go.  You can buy a completed Trailer or build your own.  There are several manufactures out there that you can purchase from and you can always find some one who is selling their project trailer.

If you go the route of building your own you can find many plans online or come up with your own from scratch.  As always Google is your friend you can find old Popular Mechanics plans and newer plans that are made available for free.  Most of the free plans are basic drawings with basic dimensions to get you going.  If you are looking for something a bit more complete, you can find plans for sale online that include more detail or pictures from the building process.

Don’t feel like sorting through Google Results all day long?  A good all around source of info is the Teardrops & Tiny Travel Trailers Forum, there are tons of people sharing there expereinces and construction know how.

Just a word of warning get a special bookmark folder ready or you will never be able to keep track of all the links you find.

This is the first post for our Tiny Travel Trailer and travel and vacation website.  We hope to start the construction process sometime in 2008.  We have been scouring the internet and making a parts list and book marking a ton of articles and forum post for reference.

This blog will cover our process including sharing our research on the choices we will be making.  Along with the actual construction process when the time comes. Our Tiny Travel Trailer will probably be a little different than any other you have seen.  I went to Kent State majoring  in architecture and have been working in the field for the last ten years.  So you will be sure to see some of that influence in this Tiny Travel Trailer / Tear Drop Build.  I say both because we have plans set up for a Tear Drop and a Tiny Travel Trailer.  More than likely we won’t go with the Tear Drop at least this time around ;).

After completion we intend on offering up our Tiny Travel Trailer Plans for sale to the public.  Our construction set of drawings will be pretty detailed to try and avoid problems during the building process. I imagine other people could use these to build their own copy or even help in planning out and detailing their own Tear Drop / Tiny Travel Trailer Plans.

Also in the mix will be chronicles of our travels, places we have been to places we would like to go.  I am sure we will have a few resources for finding new locations and planning your travels.

Enjoy,