TravelMuse for the undecided traveler
Posted by Jacque on June 10th, 2008
Want to get away but don’t have a particular trip in mind? TravelMuse, just launched in public beta, may provide inspiration.
Users are asked a series of simple questions and, using that input, TravelMuse suggests some places they might want to travel, says TechCrunch. The site also has weekly travel articles from 50 freelance writers.
At the “inspiration finder,” you enter your home airport (trips all seem to revolve around air travel, yuck) and the amount of time you expect to fly, the amount you want to spend, how long you want to be gone, the type of vacation you are interested in (i.e., beach, family, art/museum), and the class of accommodation you want.
The site then gives you eight matches, ranked by compatibility to your preferences. A strange thing – but perhaps inevitable given the limited responses the site gives - is that the number of hours you indicate you want to fly is not an “up to” thing, but a pretty exact number. For instance, I indicated flying for 6 hours from my home airport in the Northwest and got responses taking me to Hawaii, Florida, and similar far-flung places but not to points in between that would take fewer hours. The choices were nicely varied, though.
The travel suggestions consist of packages that you can select from, when available, and you can read up on local points of interest with the site’s comprehensive database. The site also facilitates group travel by allowing you to share travel ideas with friends.
Although Travelmuse may be a good place to help you get started with planning, it may not give you the best deal pricewise. Be sure to also check more comprehensive sites like Kayak and good old standbys, Travelocity and Orbitz.
