A sure-fire way to a traveler's heart is through his or her palate, and these two websites can serve up food to consider: Eats.com and Menupages.com.
Sometimes, all you need is a cheering section to get you going to your travel goal -- www.43things.com is such a site. It is a digital to-do list with people to encourage you to visit all 50 states, or whatever your heart's desire is.
For lovers of the City of Light, there is TheParisBlog.com, a cornucopia of info not only for travelers but also for those who want to tune in from afar.
We first stumbled on bootsnall.com when planning a hostel-hopping trip through New Zealand in 2003. But the site has transformed itself into a richer planning tool for independent (read: budget) travelers in the intervening years.
Let's share. Your trip tips, we mean. So head to www.tripwiser.com, a site where you can post your finds, itineraries and share with the world or just your close friends.
You just found a cool spot on your travels and want to share it with the world; www.wayfaring.com is one tool. What's hot: The site works with Google maps, and users can plot their favorite places on the maps with photos and notes. Want to know where libraries are in Los Angeles? Nightclubs in New York? One of the better maps was ''Stockholm, Sweden: A Frequent Visitor's Spots,'' by jnash.
With many of us on euro-watch asking, ''How low can the dollar go?'' I found roadtripamerica.com, a website that helps you plan a trip closer to home. So fuel up the Prius.
Camping season is upon us. ForestCamping.com may help you find your spot among the trees, birds and bees. What's hot: The site is researched by a husband-and-wife team who say they have visited most of the 168 national forests listed. You'll get just the facts: how many RV and campsites the campground has, whether they have flush toilets, campground elevation, directions, etc. It has a searchable database.
AvoidDelays.com makes it easy to plan flights based on statistics. The information comes from the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
Traveling can take a toll on your workout routine, and not all hotel gyms are created equal. So how can you find a place to burn some calories if you're on the road? GymTicket.com.
Flying is such an ordeal these days that it's better to be armed with information before you take your coach class seat. At AirlineQuality.com, the website of Skytrax, an air-transport industry research company based in Great Britain, you can find out how the airlines stack up.
Isn't it a hassle to have to type up an itinerary of your trip, add your contact info and then send it to your boss, your mom, the pet sitter and everyone else in your universe? Tripit.com can handle that, for free.
Part of the fun of traveling is joining in on celebrations and events at your destination, but how do you know what's going on before you go? Check out www.whatsonwhen.com.
If you're thinking about renting a home for your summer vacation, a relatively new site, www.pickpackgo.com, launched in September, may make the search easier.
If the outdoors beckons, bookmark localhikes.com, a website that will set you off on the right foot. What's hot: The site offers hundreds of hikes reported by volunteers in the United States with directions to trailheads, the difficulty rating, time, elevation gain and loss and more. You'll find topographical maps, photos and comments. Users can search for hikes by ZIP code or city. There's a robust list of hikes in the West.
Travelpost.com, acquired by Sidestep.com in 2006, is another entrant into the hotel review world. What's hot: It tries to do what TripAdvisor.com does: provide user reviews of hotels. But Travelpost adds profiles of the users, so you'll know the gender, age, the type of traveler (budget or luxury) and whether he or she was traveling for leisure or business.
JohnnyJet.com, a terrific resource for travel information, turned me on to WakerUpper.com, which will take the place of a hotel wake-up call, remind you of a meeting or tell you to pick up some milk.
Mizpee.com is a useful website that tells you where to go when you have to go. What's hot: Type in an address and the site will locate the closest public toilets, with distance, rating and whether a purchase is required. You can even get the info text messaged to you on your cellphone and add your own 2 cents by reviewing a facility. An alert reader points out Mizpee has listings in Europe, www.mizpee.eu.
As I write this, I am waiting to see if Extravigator.com has accepted me as a member. The site reserves itself for ''world travelers with discriminating taste'' (meaning with deep pockets) and screens would-be members by asking them for the name and location of their favorite hotel.
