My Dream Getaway Destinations + 3 Tips For Making Yours A Reality

travel-dream-destinationAs you guys already know, anytime I head on a fun trip whether it’s to Palm Springs for Coachella, to Barbados for #CaribbeanCrawl or to South America for a week-long excursion in Ecuador, I come right back here and tell you guys all about it. Just this past weekend, I went on Part of #CaribbeanCrawl and spent a fun weekend in Paradise Island, Bahamas. Travel – both domestic and international- has been a passion of mine for years. Ever since I spent a semester of college abroad in Europe traveling to multiple countries, interacting with people from different cultures, eating food I’ve never tried, and shopping for unique items – travel has been a true passion of mine. I plan to visit as many places as possible before I leave this earth. You learn SO much from getting out of your comfort zone and experience new places, people and things.

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With that said, I’m super excited to partner with Capital One’s #YesMiles campaign this summer. The campaign is all about saying “Yes” to those fun travel excursions you’ve been putting off, and taking those trips you’ve been dying to book but haven’t been able to. As much as I love fashion and beauty and all things pretty, travel is where I’ll always invest my money because shoes get old and clothes go out of style, but your travel experiences live with you forever. Capital One is making it easier for frequent travelers to get the most out of spending with their new Capital One Venture Rewards card. It allows you double the miles for every dollar you spend on the card and you can use your miles ANYWHERE and for ANYTHING related to travel. No blackout dates, no restrictions, no expirations. It’s kind of amazing.

My Dream Destination

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As part of the #YesMiles campaign I was asked to share with you all what my next Dream Destination locale is. And undoubtedly that would be Thailand. I’ve been dreaming of visiting this beautifully immense Southeast Asian destination for years.  Maybe it was after reading Eat, Pray, Love. Perhaps it was after seeing Cycle 6 of America’s Next Top Model and imagining myself swan-like atop an exotic elephant (don’t judge me). Or perhaps it was after having my first taste of Thai food and falling it love with it. I’m not sure when my obsession with Thailand began but it is at the top of my bucket list of destinations.

I really believe that everyone should have a dream destination. Some place on your vision board that you want to experience at least one time in your life. It may surprise you, but dream destinations are easier to get to than you think these days. With resources like travel booking websites, flight price calculators and even rewards cards like the Capital One Ventures card, you can really get to these places much easier than you think. Based on my personal experiences, here are three quick tips for getting to your personal dream destination:

3 Tips For Making Your Dream Destination A Reality

 1. Travel in a Group!

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The majority of my recent travel excursions (and the ones that were most memorable) were trips I took with my girlfriends. There’s nothing like a great group trip and the beauty of it is that not only do you share amazing experiences together, but you also SAVE by splitting costs for everything from accommodations to car rental fees to appetizers at a local restaurant! On Part 1 of the #CaribbeanCrawl in Barbados, I went with my three blogger friends Jessica of Glamazons Blog, Lexi of LexiWithTheCurls and Danielle of TheStyleandBeautyDoctor. Traveling in a group is a great way to save money and still get to your dream destination. Also, penthouse suites and 2-3 bedroom villas can easily be split and can cost you less than an individual hotel room. The more the merrier!

2. Book A Getaway (Flight + Hotel Together)

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Booking both your flight and hotel through the same service definitely has its advantages price-wise. Jet Blue, for example has specific Getaways packages that can save you major bucks simply because you book the flight and hotel stay all in one. Simply plug in your destination and a host of flight and hotel deals will be available to you. Using a rewards card like the Capital One Venture Rewards Card give you the flexibility to book travel on any of these websites, whether it’s airline-specific like Jet Blue or general like Expedia.com. There’s no limit as far as the number of miles you must have to use your rewards, and what’s even better is that if you’re planning to travel internationally (outside the USA), there are no foreign transation fees. #winning

3. Check Last Minute Flight Deals

cc-recap-4This weekend I went to Paradise Island, Bahamas and my flight was less than $400 round trip! I booked my flight super last minute (less than 2 weeks before traveling) and I was able to get a really amazing deal. If you’ve been dying to go to a Caribbean destination like Puerto Rico, the Bahamas or Mexico (for example) and you happen to have a little extra money in the bank one weekend – check flights! Don’t be scared to book last minute travel because often when airlines don’t sell out of a flight and have available seats, the prices drop down super low. This is especially true for times of the year when people typically don’t travel like March and September.

I hope these travel tips help! Stay tuned as I’ll be doing research on my dream destination – Thailand- and telling you guys all about what I plan to do when I make it there.

What’s your dream destination? What exotic place have you always wanted to travel to? Leave a comment below and let me know!

This post is sponsored by Capital One as part of their #YesMiles campaign program. All opinions expressed herein are my own and not those of the company.

Christina Brown

Lifestyle influencer and digital mompreneur Christina S. Brown is a New York native, LA resident, and the founder of LoveBrownSugar.com and BrownGirlsLove. She's an award-winning storyteller, a motivational speaker and an advocate for confident millennial black women.

8 Comments
  1. I’ve been looking to travel because, embarrassingly enough, I haven’t gone out of the States and I’m 24 years old! My destination trip would be the Bahamas, somewhere warm and tropical-like for a week-long vacay.

    Regarding your tip to travel in a group, what do you recommend if you’re someone like me who’s sort of a loner by nature and doesn’t have anyone to travel with? The few friends that I do have either: a) have no extra money to travel or b) are not reliable enough to split costs with. I wanted to go to the Essence Fest this year, but backed out because I didn’t have anyone to go with. ;/

    1. That is a great question. Honestly I think there are so many ways to find cool people to travel with. I know of this one group called Nomadness Tribe that travels together regularly and they are all pretty much strangers! Just a bunch of urban professionals who enjoy exotic travel. Definitely check that out. Also there are tons of travel enthusiasts on social media, from Facebook groups to Twitter pages and IG hashtags you can find people interested in going where you’d like to go. Good luck! Also, here’s the link to Nomadness: http://www.nomadnesstv.com/

  2. My dream destinations would either be California, England, or Italy. I can relate to Drea, as I don’t know many people who I’d be able to travel with. My workplace also constantly needs me. Maybe someday…