Online Road Trip Planning: The Best Holiday is one click away!

“Happiness is only a click away!… Plan the holiday of your dreams…” I`d heard the advertisements before that memorable day and, working in publicity myself, the line had already become obsolete: more than that, annoying and deceitful, even. “Yeah, go sell your shiny fantasies elsewhere”, I whispered to myself, “I`m a dream-seller myself and I know all about it…”

Yet there was something about the color and sparkle of that page I bumped into – maybe the luring invitation that seemed to stretch beyond the words, or maybe the almost painful shine of the computer screen after a couple of sleepless nights – that seemed to pull me into the “story”, to make me curious. So I Googled randomly, searching for something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

And then I found this website, Voyajo, which captured my attention: it introduced itself as an “online trip planner”, some online program that was supposed to help you create your own itinerary and also get inspiration and information from the thousands of routes already designed by other users and travel experts.

I`m not what you’d call a computer nerd, but the process seemed easy enough; so I signed in and started imagining my dream holiday. Departure from… home, of course; which is Amsterdam in my case. Ok, first goal reached, where am I going from here? As far away as humanly possible, came the quick reply of my talkative mind. Somewhere sunny and warm and… fun… Italy!

Yes! Once the decision was made, the whole trip just started inventing itself before my very eyes: a European road trip through Germany, Austria, Slovenia and finally reaching my destination: Italy. The planner helped me organize convenient lodgings and plan the itinerary in detail.

A trip… In the given conditions, it was probably the least indicated train of action. Good thing I had not read my Horoscope that day. Because the next day, I jumped behind the wheel of my Volkswagen Beetle and, boyfriend-less, jobless and clueless, I set out on “the holiday of my dreams”.

In retrospect, I only regret not having made a “bucket list”, because I would have checked most of my dreams and added: in Germany, I danced and yodeled, I visited Vienna and admired its beautiful architecture. Oh, did you know there are dragons in Ljubljana? Then a flat tire in Milan reminded me not all hope is lost in the land of “amore”…

Would you believe me if I told you reality beat my wildest dreams? In fact, I’m not even asking you to believe me: question it and set out on your own adventure! An online road trip planner was an unexpectedly good start for me: maybe it will inspire you too.

Bon voyage!