“…arrival had kept its interest. Excitement dwindling, curiousity had increased. Occasion revived an illusion of discovery, as if one woke in a strange room to wonder afresh not only where but who one was; to shed assumptions, even certainties.” 

– from The Great Fire by Shirley Hazzard

I am so often guilty of assumptions. Hell, I am so often just plain guilty. Period. (Probably best to leave that topic for another time.)

Last night I was dining with new and old friends at Diva at the Met. We had a crazy-good five-course meal with wine pairings. Perhaps that’s why the conversation was so much fun?

Then again, it might have been the pre-dinner cocktail at the Hawksworth Bar. In honour of that day’s blog post about death, I had the Corpse Reviver #2 martini.  I was most assuredly revived once I was finished that drink.

At one point in the evening I mentioned how I loved using Yelp.  No one had heard of it.

Which brings me back to those assumptions. Recently, I was talking to a girlfriend, and I said, “Don’t you just love a great massage?”  When she told me she’d never had a massage I nearly fell down. I realize now it’s pretty stupid to think that everyone has access to these things but I just assumed that she was someone who would have been to a spa at some point in her life.

And why did I assume that? Because I’ve had about a zillion massages and spa visits. Talk about projecting your own experiences.

So. No more assumptions.

I called this post Trip Planning because I thought of all the things I like to do when planning a trip and thought maybe I shouldn’t assume everyone knows this stuff. So at the risk of stating the obvious, I’m going to start with Yelp.

I love Yelp for finding any thing, any where in Vancouver, though obviously it works a lot more places than here. It is a great way to get first-hand helpful information in one spot.

Trip Advisor is also great. Hotels are vying for top ratings on Trip Advisor more than almost any other measurement. It it the endorsement of choice.

As well, I am a recent convert to Twitter. I’m still not quite sure how to keep up to it all, but I do know that hashtag searches (#) are a great way to find current info. So if I put in the #Vancouver, I can find everything that is currently being talked about under that subject heading.

And at the risk of sounding biased, I also believe that blogs are a godsend for planning a trip. On my last trip to India, our entire month of travel was based on two blogs; the ashram recommended in Breathe, Dream Go and the wonderful 10-Year Itch blog that morphed from a friendly back-and-forth blog chat, to Madhu planning every detail of our two-week itinerary with his newly-created travel company.

I’m always looking for other great ways to help with planning a trip. Any other suggestions?

Please don’t assume I already know what you’re going to tell me.