Visit the odd yet beautiful at least once in your lifetime.  This is an advice shared not just by travel & tour operators but travelers themselves who have experienced the best of both worlds – the simple jarring city streets alongside the most fabulous remnants of history and fascinating works of architecture and enjoyable nature trips. The destination: far-flung places where authenticity is the credo and where the wanderlust will not likely say “been there, done that.” Think Botswana, Pattaya, and Ho Chi Minh City, or all the way to Catalonia, Spain — all interesting exotic travel options which have drawn the interest of a growing number of travelers & adventure-seekers from all over the world.

If your heart has been won over by Thailand, you are in for a wonderful exotic travel destination that you can enjoy to the hilt with your spouse or friend.  There are elephant rides, floating markets, and water sports and unique Thai massage & cultural shows that can add to an unforgettable trip. For accommodations, Pattaya has hotels that offer first class accommodations at a rate that won’t break the bank.

Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon, another great exotic travel option, is a place that remains rooted in ancient culture while also displaying a reasonably modern metropolis. Every avenue in downtown Ho Chi Minh has restaurants and shops. Art shops carry remarkable reconstructions of the world’s most famous paintings. Must-see attractions are the tunnels that show visitors how Vietnam endured one of the most horrid wars in Asia. A controversial museum also depicts Vietnam’s violent past and showcases airplanes, helicopters, tanks, and artillery form a bygone era. After taking in the sights of Saigon, relax in one of the hotels brimming with character and charm, situated in the heart of Saigon. Ho Chi Minh has several hotel options that can cater to the requirements of international travelers at reasonable cost. Some are also a stone’s throw from the city’s business, entertainment and shopping districts.

Another exotic destination which has impressed many travelers with its famous landmarks, great climate, beautiful beaches and tasty delicacies is Barcelona, capital of the autonomous region of Catalonia. Before hoeing off to the modernist city which counts among its most famous landmarks Antoni Gaudi’s Basilica of the Holy Family, you can book yourself in one of the hip boutique-style hotels in the city center.  Some rooms overlook Gaudi’s Casa Mila, the residential apartment building-turned-museum dedicated to the famous artist. Other alternative hotels include those which are part of a worldwide hotel chain and provide convenient access to the city’s architectural wonders, museums and eateries. Some hotels have spacious upper floor suites offering lovely views of the city. Off-season rates may be obtained. Also worth checking out is a stunning 124-room hotel housed in a 19th century palace structure whose rooms are adorned with original Egyptian, Roman and Hindu art. A trip to exotic Spain will not be complete without savoring the local produce, so enjoy dinner in the hotel cloister or dining room of the hotel where you’re staying which offers a whiff of the past.

With the vacation rentals market today, you want to be picky about who you rent through and why.  There are too many sites out there that will take your information – yes, your financial info too – and use it to their advantage, not just to help you really rent a nice vacation home rental for your family vacation.  And, with more and more people booking vacation rentals instead of hotel rooms, it can sometimes be hard to find the perfect vacation home rentals when you really want one.  So how do you pick a site that will allow you the best possible choices, keep your information safe, and really hook you up with the vacation rentals of your dreams?  Well, you simply need to know where to look first.

Believe it or not, there are thousands of different vacation home rentals sites out there.  Some are much better than others, such as Vacation Rentals by Owner (or VRBO) and ReserveMy Home.  These sites offer you thousands of wonderful vacation rentals at your fingertips without the worry of them taking your information and selling it or using it in the wrong way.  They have been accredited by several different top travel sources all around the web to ensure that your privacy is the top priority and that what you book is what you get.

When you start looking at a site that you can rent vacation homes from, you want to immediately check to see if they have red flags that pop up.  These can be things like bad reviews on other sites, odd looking or broken English on their site, or links that always pass you off to “unverified” sites.  These warning signs should mean that you pass on this site and head to another asap before you do any damage to your computer.

When you find a site that doesn’t fly the red flag of death at you, you want to make sure that they are really offering you what they say they are.  They should have different guarantees that help ensure your money and information are safe, that they verify their rentals, and that they truly are there to help you find the perfect vacation rentals – instead of just taking your vacation cash.

You will easily see the differences in the sites that aren’t that great to work with, and those that are.  The ones that are good vacation rental sites will offer you thousands of different vacation home rentals all over the US and areas of the world, they will offer to provide specialized information on that area of the US or globe to help you in planning your travel, and they will go out of their way to ensure that you only get the very best in quality service when you book through them.

So before you sit down with your credit card and book any vacation home rental, make sure that you know the site you’re going to use and know that they are a good site to use by researching them online and getting a good overview of what they can offer you in the area where you want to vacation.  Don’t get caught when it’s too late with a vacation home rental that is less than what it was touted to be.