I am sure you that many of you have the same problems that we do when we try to make travel plans – finding the time in our crazy, hectic schedules to go somewhere! We generally have a couple of ‘bigger’ trips each year, or at least we try to, but for the most part our weekends away are what we are looking forward to.

Another problem closely related to this is how do you make the most of your weekend breaks? That is the subject of this article because if you carefully plan out your weekend trips, you will be surprised at the amount of things you can do and the money you can save by just following these tips:

Decide when you want to leave

Our weekend breaks would always begin after 5:00PM on Friday when we finished work. The problem with this is that the majority of Friday is gone and then looking forward to a 3-4 hour drive depending on where you are heading could in theory make it very tiring and also a waste of money for a hotel stay (I just cannot justify spending money when it may be 11:00PM or later before you can check-in to the hotel!).

If you are planning on going somewhere in that vicinity (3-4 hours), consider going to sleep a little earlier at home on Friday and then waking up around 4:00AM on Saturday morning and heading out. Not only will you avoid the Friday rush hour traffic, but you will also be refreshed and ready for the day ahead. Whenever we go to Nashville or St. Louis, we leave around 4:30AM and arrive around 8:30-9:00AM just in time for breakfast!

Consider booking your hotel using Priceline

Whenever Heather and I take a road trip to Nashville or St. Louis for the weekend, we have a tendency to either book in the Embassy Suites if we are wanting to ‘splash out’ and enjoy our hotel stay or take advantage of the auction on Priceline. Of course, when you ‘name your price’ on Priceline, you have no real idea where you will be staying; the only control that you do have is to set your preferences in terms of city location and hotel star rating.

If you are satisfied by just controlling these two variables, you can certainly get a great deal. One of the last times we stayed in Nashville, we used Priceline to name our price and fortunately we earned a Saturday night stay at the Embassy Suites in Franklin, just outside of Nashville for $45. Given that paying directly on Embassy’s site or through Expedia was $119 per night, this was a great saving.

Check out www.priceline.com and take a risk or two when bidding for your hotel stay. For the most part, our philosophy on hotels is as long as they are comfortable and clean, we are generally satisfied. I think Heather may have a little higher standard and of course it is nice to stay in the luxury hotels every now and again, but if you can save a few extra dollars go ahead and take advantage of this opportunity!

Plan out your attractions

Just as we have discussed with several other posts regarding travel plans, it is imperative when you are heading away on a short weekend trip that you have your planned attractions pre-determined so that you are not wasting precious time figuring out exactly what you want to do. If you are familiar with the location that you are heading, this of course makes it a little easier especially if you do not want to do all the same ‘tourist’ spots each time.

There are so many great apps out there such as Yelp, Trip Advisor etc. if you have a smartphone and are willing to do some research. We always take our ‘smart’ devices such as iPhone and iPad with us so that we are always connected online to find out the best spots to make random trips. But if you don’t have the core of your trip planned, it can quickly become a disastrous weekend.

We all want to be able to keep our website updated as much as possible, or keep our social media ticking along with latest updates on what we are doing, what is trending in the world or what our favorite celebs are up to! But the million dollar question is, what devices are we using to best meet these needs in a rapidly changing technological whirlwind.

I decided to write this post not only to help others decide or consider what devices they should use to meet their specific needs, but also to help myself as I am currently in the market for a new laptop which is proving to be a more difficult decision that I initially imagined. Let’s start out with the devices that we currently do have and use for our travel and then we will move on to what options are currently out there and where we see the future moving in technology.

Review of our Devices

1. Phone – iPhone 5

In terms of travel, this is the perfect companion for updating your Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare or Pinterest accounts. One of the great aspects that I like about this phone is your ability to take a picture and quickly make this available on your social media fronts. We live in a world where everyone needs to see your favorite images instantaneously and I can’t think of a better device than the iPhone 5 to meet this need.

2. Tablet – iPad

We also both have an Apple iPad, though I have the 2nd Generation and Heather has the slightly newer 3rd Gen. I like to see the iPad as the ‘big brother’ of the iPhone as it pretty much does the same but the bigger screen is much better for doing minor blogging or researching the web. I find the iPad great whenever you are waiting in the airport or are on a short flight and you want to pass the time by watching a short movie or playing a game.

3. Laptop – HP Laptop

This is what I am looking at purchasing next! I have a relatively old HP machine which performance wise is still pretty solid (Intel i5 processor) but with a screen size of 14″ and pretty heavy, it’s not the perfect travel companion!

The Future and Our Next Purchase

I am pretty happy with both my phone and tablet but I am definitely in the market for a new laptop. There are so many devices to choose from and so many different options available in terms of laptop style. I have a wish-list which in reality is not too specific and ‘should’ (being the operative word!) make life a little easier when deciding what machine to purchase. My list includes the following features:

(a) Processor – I want at least a i5 (or equivalent) processor given that my current laptop has this. I am intrigued by Intel’s new Haswell processor which is apparently providing much longer battery life and reducing the weight on machines, both of which are key features for any traveler!

(b) Screen Size – I really think I want a 11.6″ display though I am not completely opposed to a 13.3″ if the machine meets all my other criteria!

(c) Touch Screen – Is this a necessity? Well, given that I really don’t enjoy the Mac OS and I will likely be purchasing a Windows 8 machine, I have to say that yes, it probably is a requirement! Obviously I will ‘never say never’ but it is likely my next purchase will have touch screen capability.

(d) Price – I am sure that this is probably top the list for most people in the market for a new laptop and I am no different. I am completely turned off by the price of Apple laptops (along with the fact I mentioned I don’t like the OS), so I am considering spending in the region of no more than $600-700.

So….I have my criteria and here are some of the options that I am considering to meet this:

1. Ultrabook

I am a frequent daily visitor to Slick Deals which if you are not familiar is a great website providing the greatest and latest best deals out there on the web. It is a great way for me and you to go on there and let everyone else know about the best deals that are available. There has been a great deal advertised on there for a while for the ASUS Vivobook X202E which is available on the Microsoft store for $359 (as long as you have a .edu e-mail address which fortunately I do!). This is a tempting purchase but the processor is the downfall for myself right now as I would be moving from an i5 to the i3 Ivy Bridge predecessor.

Yesterday I was looking around Best Buy and saw a pretty good deal on a Lenovo Yoga 11.6″ Ultrabook for $799 which is a little out of my price range but it had everything that I wanted (except price!) in my criteria. It looks great, it turns into a tablet as the screen rotates all the way over locking the keys when they sit flush on a surface and has a pretty solid processor and components inside.

2. The Convertible

I like the appearance of many convertibles especially the HP Envy x2 which is available on Amazon for a reasonably priced $611. Whether I can justify spending this when there may be more powerful ultrabooks available for the same price, I am not sure but it is worth the consideration!

What devices do you use when traveling?

What laptop would you recommend purchasing in today’s market?