A few years ago, I wasn't sitting around thinking I needed a website full of Caribbean islands, cruise ships, golf courses, theme parks and vacation comparisons. But here we are.
What started with helping people plan vacations turned into a lot of researching, comparing, learning, asking questions, fixing little problems and occasionally having way too many browser tabs open.
These are some of the trips I've gotten pretty good at helping people figure out.
Some have turned into entire sections of this website. Others just keep showing up in my research. Either way, you can start by looking around before you ever have to decide what you want to do.
I've looked at a lot of beaches. Aruba isn't Jamaica. St. Lucia isn't Punta Cana. And the cheapest resort isn't automatically the best vacation. That's why I've spent so much time building destination guides and head-to-head comparisons instead of just throwing a list of resorts at you.
Because getting everybody to agree is half the vacation. Different ages. Different interests. Different definitions of relaxing. The goal is finding something that works for the people actually going — not just the trip that looks best in a picture.
No pressure on this one. It's only the trip people may remember for the rest of their lives. Beach? Cruise? Europe? Caribbean resort? Something completely different? I'd rather figure out what sounds like the two of you before worrying about where everybody else says you should go.
Sometimes you should keep going. There is a whole lot more out there than the places I've managed to put on this website so far. Europe, bucket-list trips, multiple cities, places you've talked about for years — this is where the research can get interesting.
This counts as research. At least that's what I tell my wife. A golf trip gets a lot better when the courses, hotel, location, transportation and everything around the tee times actually work together.
Then there are the floating vacations. Caribbean, Alaska, Europe, Iceland, river cruises... there are a surprising number of ways to unpack once and wake up somewhere else. The ship matters, but so do the route, ports, cabin and what you want the trip to feel like.
“We want to go to Disney” is only the beginning. Parks, resorts, dining, transportation, timing, breaks and a surprising number of opinions on the internet all show up before anybody gets to the castle.
Sometimes Disney isn't the answer. Coasters, water parks, Universal, regional parks and international theme parks can all be the reason for a trip. And two parks that look similar on paper can make for completely different vacations.
This one may have gotten a little out of hand. A football schedule somehow turned into helping people think about entire road trips around Lions away games. I'm okay with it.
Some people show up knowing the exact resort, sailing or golf course they want. Others show up with “somewhere warm,” “maybe a cruise,” or a collection of screenshots they've been sending back and forth for three weeks.
Both are completely normal starting points.
This isn't a call center, and I don't work for one particular resort, cruise line or destination. I'm an independent travel advisor with Magical Vacation Planner.
When somebody asks me to help with a trip, I'm actually the person doing the research, comparing the options, answering the questions and helping put it together.
I'm also not doing this completely on my own. Through Magical Vacation Planner, I have a larger travel team and supplier relationships behind me when I need them. You still work directly with me.
So if you've made it all the way down here and you're thinking about a vacation, I'd genuinely appreciate the opportunity to help.
Even if you currently have 37 browser tabs open.
Tell me what kind of vacation you're thinking about, who's going and what you already know. We'll start from there.
Start Planning My Vacation →