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¶ … mixed up the numbers. I hope you are the person who wanted the Press releases as well. If you are, the audience for the press release is a local newspaper or children's/parenting magazine)

PUBLICATION: The following is written for either a local newspaper or magazine, for a general public.

Want to know where to go on vacation? How about which airline to take, hotel to stay in or what places to visit while you are there? Not even ten years ago, that would mean going to your public library or book store and picking up several books on different areas. Many times, the books would be outdated or not cover enough information. or, you would put all your faith in travel agents and hope that they were not suggesting a place just because they were receiving a bigger cut from one place over another. Now, the Web makes all of this so much easier and more effective. You just get online and travel to find out about traveling.

The Web offers a world of information to someone who wants vacation possibilities. In fact, it offers too much. That is the biggest problem. You have to make sure you find the Websites that are the most pertinent and trustworthy. That means, you have to go with known names of travel publications and websites, not just with a site that someone's Uncle Charlie put up.

Jennifer Franklin, a graphic designer from Sydney who loves to take one two-week trip every year, says that sometimes she has as much fun looking for her next destination than she does actually on the trip, itself. "I put aside a couple of hours every day for about a month to plan my vacation, step-by-step," she says. "There is so much information to help me. The tough part is really narrowing it down after I get all the input."

She starts off with Googling favorite trips for Australians and does a general read on different people's vacations, just to see what options she has. Then, once she has a few specific locations in mind, she begins to get more into the nitty-gritty.

Travel is a very personal interest, and people approach it in different ways. Some like to purchase everything individually: air fare, hotel, automobile and special activities. They have personal specifications on each of these items and are willing to perhaps pay more than a package to meet all their requirements. Other individuals are more concerned about money and realize that there are always trade offs. They are willing to get a three-star inn or a smaller car if it means cutting the costs.

"I only go on one vacation a year for a week," says James Fritch, a busy accountant. "So, I am willing to spend more. I do a lot of star shopping." In other words, he looks for the hotels or restaurants that have the highest rating by the most amount of people. A five-star hotel that is only rated by two people, does not mean much. Fritch looks for the hotel that has the most individuals who did the rating and with the highest grades. Then he thoroughly reads over the descriptions to make sure they have everything on his "must have" list. He realizes that everyone has different needs -- he could care less if there is a sauna, but he sure wants that workout gym, swimming pool and WiFi in the room. He says he only has been wrong once or twice. One hotel had a lot of raters and stars, but was very noisy (it could just have been the time of the year), and another time the food at a restaurant was "horrible," but it could have just changed chefs.

The fun part is being able to find certain people who have the same quirks as you. There are always other individuals who love cliff diving, or spending a week alone in the jungle, or seeing a different rock concert every night or eating fried eels. Moms and Dads love the Web, because they can get a lot of hints from other parents about how to keep their children happy, find youngster-friendly restaurants, and ways to buy discount tickets to theme parks. They also know what to pack because of the usual temperature at that time of the year, so they do not have to drag around six heavy suitcases. Senior citizens enjoy going online before a trip, because they can find another person who wants a low-cost, clean and quiet room in Hong Kong or a place to stay in Tokyo that will cater to lots of food and entertainment for the over 50-year-olds. They delight in hearing about what exotic foods they can try.