Right Here in the US

For the larger travel web sites; travel deals are generated when they purchase airfare seats, hotels and rental cars in bulk and then resale to the general public at reduced rates.

The same holds true for discounted cruise deals and hot vacation spots. He who has the cash flow to purchase travel in bulk do extremely well in the resale.

However, there is another travel deal that is generated consistently that the general public usually is not aware of. This is the travel deals created by the smaller resorts and off the beaten path travel spots.

With any purchase of sight unseen you run the risk of the vacation NOT being what you expected. You can be fairly sure that your accommodations will be as advertised when you purchase from the large travel web sites.

This leads us to why the "travel review" sites are so popular. You can go to any of these sites and read what other traveler's have written about the destination you are interested in visiting.

This leads us to another concern for the independent traveler; unless you know exactly where it is you want to travel you may never know about the exciting, wonderful, beautiful, inexpensive, travel deals throughout the world that have been totally safe for Americans in the past.

Getting small private resorts, travel agents and travel suppliers to be consistent with their marketing efforts has not proven successful. In the pass their ad campaigns have been hit and miss, now and then. Unless a cash flow rich travel agency decides to promote one of these small and unique travel destinations in the San Francisco Chronicle or the New York Times; the general public may never know of the hidden travel spots.

Yes, this is a time when we must be extremely aware of our surroundings, regardless of what county we are in; but we don't have to leave the US to find really nice exotic places alone the Eastern seaboard or the hidden islands and coast line off the southern states here in the US.

Travel Agents receive press releases and flyers on remolded, inexpensive, small, out of the way resorts, via their fax lines all the time. Its one thing for them to receive this information and another for them to promote them. And why should they? Good business persons promote that which will increase their income! And many of travelers go to the larger travel sites for vacation packages.

So for the independent traveler who wants more from his/her travel experience - research is the key. You don't have to leave the US to find new and exciting places to travel -- However, you do have to take the time to find them.