AAA projects 40.45 million Americans will travel during the July 4^th holiday weekend. According to AAA, more than 13 percent of the U.S. population will be on the road this holiday weekend despite record gas prices. Many will be taking advantage of travel bargains that are being offered by hotels hoping to boost last minute business.

For travelers always interested in a bargain, vacation rental homes can be so much more spacious and affordable than even discounted, one-room hotel accommodations. And this year, many property managers are offering rental specials, which include free golf, discounted homes, gas cards and more.

If you’re looking for a last-minute Fourth of July getaway, but you don’t have a lot of time to search and wait for replies, simply enter your destination and travel dates on PickPackGo. Then book a place securely online. There’s still availability in some great Myrtle Beach vacation homes, Hilton Head vacation homes, Orlando vacation homes, Gulf Coast vacation homes, and other popular destinations.

Happy travels!

Posted: June 26th, 2008 under Travel, Vacation Homes, Vacation Rentals.
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I had to laugh when I read Troy Wolverton’s “Have gadget, will travel” article in yesterday’s San Jose Mercury News. Our family spends nearly as much time considering which gadgets to take on a trip as we do planning what clothes and shoes to pack—maybe more.

For example, when we head off for our upcoming Fourth of July holiday, we’ll be traveling with: one cell phone, one Treo, two phone headsets, three sets of earphones, an iPod touch, a digital camera (that also takes video), a laptop and a USB memory stick.

Even with all of this gear, I disagree with Christina Tunnah, director of marketing for the Americas at Lonely Planet, that we’ll be “losing out on a potential conversation with a local or an interaction on the bus, and that taking a lot of gadgets tempers the experience of a place.”

In fact, it’s been our experience on more than one trip (and in lots of airplanes and airports) that our gadgets are actually great conversation starters that have led to more interesting discussions about a variety of topics from homelessness in San Francisco to dining in Kiev.

In addition, many of these gadgets have been both time- and money-saving, not to mention, sanity-saving for our family. On the iPod touch, for example, we get G movies inexpensively, and they become wonderful distractions during 5+ hour layovers (which we recently had in Dallas and New York).

We can’t imagine traveling without our gadgets, which is why at our vacation rental search site, we have been giving away gadgets and gift cards monthly as part of our PickPackGo Getaway Giveaway contest.

So although others may claim we are adding a layer of complexity to our trip with all of our gadgets, we won’t be leaving them at home anytime soon!

Posted: June 24th, 2008 under Contest, Technology, Travel, Vacation Rentals.
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It’s not too late to book a summer vacation rental home. In honor of the first day of summer 2008, I asked some of our property managers to provide a special offer to you—our PickPackGo customers—for vacation homes in some of the most popular summer destinations.

When you reserve the following properties, you can ask about and then enjoy these perks:

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Destin, Florida

PickPackGo ID: 447665 (Sandprint Castle)
Special: Free golf for him & spa for her

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PickPackGo ID: Jade East Towers
Special: Free $200 gas card for a one week stay (through Sept 21)

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Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

PickPackGo ID: 439411 (Penthouse – MV 1502)
Special: Additional $100 off (total savings of $550) through 8/29

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Property ID: 441446 (Myrtle Beach Villas II – 205)
Special: 10% off until September 1

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Disney Area, Florida

PickPackGo ID: 271244 (191 Watersong)
Special: 10% off rate or free GPS rental

Enjoy your stay!

Posted: June 20th, 2008 under Vacation Homes, Vacation Rentals.
Comments: none

Sarah Pascarella of SmarterTravel.com checked in with PickPackGo CEO, Felix Lin, for tips about ‘how to snag a waterfront vacation rental.’

Among his suggestions, if you have your heart set on a house with water views:

• Book now for next spring, summer, or fall.
• Inquire about last-minute offers.
• Change your expectations and be open to compromise.

Read the SmarterTravel.com “Tip of the Day” and other insider travel strategies.

Posted: June 17th, 2008 under Family Vacation, Travel, Vacation Homes, Vacation Rentals.
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I have a confession to make. I’m one of the only people I know who hasn’t been to either Walt Disney World or Disneyland.

I know, I know, I’ve missed out on a quintessentially American experience.

I really need to go sometime. I’m sure I’ll get to at least one, if not both, someday. Chalk it up to having grown up in Minnesota, about as far away as you could live from both Disney park locations and still be in the continental United States. Or maybe because planning a trip there seems a little daunting—is it even possible to see the majority of attractions in a single trip? How close are things to each other? If I wanted to see some animatronic dinosaurs, which attractions would I go to? Where can I find Nemo? By any chance, do they have a train ride that simulates riding to the top of Mount Everest?

Well, answering some of these questions just got a lot easier with the announcement of Disney World in 3D for Google Earth.

For those who don’t know, Google Earth is a desktop application that maps satellite images, building models and other data onto a three dimensional globe that you can spin, zoom in/out on, and fly around. The Disney World 3D data lets you see pretty good representations of many building structures, and includes links to videos and lots of other information about various parts of Disney World.

Of course since I am a software engineer, I think Google Earth is pretty cool technology. But the really neat thing for me is seeing the way that technology can enrich our lives by giving us better ways to access and use information. That’s what we’re trying to do for the vacation rental industry with PickPackGo—use technology to help make it easier for travelers to find, compare and book properties. It just so happens that there are a ton of vacation rental homes in Florida near Disney World, so if playing around with Disney World 3D in Google Earth makes you want to plan a trip, try checking out PickPackGo to find a place to stay in while you’re there!

Posted: June 13th, 2008 under Technology, Travel.
Comments: none

Aaron at Vagabonding recently wrote a thoughtful post about the physical reminders of trips that travelers keep around. He concludes: “The trick to bringing your trip back home is to try to create an effective, meaningful reminder of your trip without turning it into a showy display of your own worldliness.”

A “showy display of worldliness” might be nice for a change, since many of us traveling with kids are just struggling to avoid fitting more crappy souvenirs into already crowded living rooms and bedrooms.

Although it was once the most special “treasure” he owned, our son’s red, flowered ukulele from Maui has been gathering dust on the shelf for over a year now. His stuffed dinosaur from this spring’s Disney vacation home near Animal Kingdom hasn’t been hugged in a month. When you travel a lot with kids, even one souvenir per adventure starts to add up.

Since we don’t anticipate taking fewer trips, here’s what we’ve begun to do to combat the issue and still keep alive the memories of our family trips:

• Gather our best digital photos from the entire year into one photo book. For longer trips with more photos, we make a separate book, so we can all enjoy it sooner.
• Visit a bookstore on our vacation and choose one children’s book about that area. In Phoenix, for example, we bought “The Tortoise and the Jackrabbit,” a unique version of the popular Tortoise and the Hare that describes and shows only animals found in the desert region. At the Jersey Shore, we picked up a fun, easy-to-read children’s story called “Beach Day.” When we read these books, we reminiscence about those particular trips.
• Limit souvenirs to only one—with the caveat that it has to be a really special item that we could never find in a local store at home.

What do you do when you travel a lot with children to help them remember special times and unique places without cluttering up your house?

Posted: June 11th, 2008 under Family Vacation, Travel.
Comments: none

I enjoyed talking about our site and the value of vacation homes to renters and property managers on Friday with the friendly hosts of Lakefront Radio. From their studios in Atlanta, Mary Thompson, Chuck Thompson and Lee Kantor profile lake and waterfront professionals weekly, providing insight around lakefront living, recreation, real estate and business.

Click the image below to listen to the LakeFront Radio show podcast, and thanks again to the Lakefront Radio team for visiting with PickPackGo!

Posted: June 9th, 2008 under Family Vacation, Property Management, Vacation Homes, Vacation Rentals.
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Although I lived in Indiana during four of my more formative years, I am not “from” Indiana. So when we traveled back there this past week, I was surprised to hear so many greetings that began “welcome home.”

But I probably shouldn’t have been. Warmth and generosity have always been native Hoosier traits, and no matter what part of the state we visited, the people were wonderfully friendly and helpful.

In much of Indiana, school is out and summer has arrived! We met families in South Bend packing up to leave for their Michigan City vacation homes. Their cars were loaded with beach toys and umbrellas, boards and bicycles, as well as the family dogs!

We spent time reminiscing with old friends and new as we played football in the warmth on the quad at Notre Dame. From there, we traveled south down Highway 31 to Indianapolis, reconnecting with our rural roots.

While in Indy, we spent an afternoon with knowledgeable guides touring us around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Although racing is definitely ‘big business,’ it was a treat to take a spin on the track and hear the personal stories of those who are there not just one weekend a year, but day after day, three hundred and sixty four days a year. (The track is only closed on Christmas Day!)

By the end of our stay, I have to say that it was really beginning to feel like home, back there in Indiana.

Posted: June 5th, 2008 under Family Vacation, Travel, Vacation Homes.
Comments: none

Memorial Day weekend typically marks the beginning of summer travel for many of us. And with all the rest and relaxation comes the cost of getting around. Whether you are flying to your desitnation and renting a car or driving to the coast, filling up the tank is going to sting a bit this season.

Enter our June PickPackGo Getaway Giveaway contest and …

Also congratulations to Joyce of New York, the winner of our May Getaway Giveaway contest and a new digital camera.

Enter today!

Posted: June 2nd, 2008 under Contest, Family Vacation, Travel, Vacation Homes.
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