Thanks to Disneyland and other family destinations, Orange County is now a hotbed for vacationers. Like any tourist destination, the prices have risen along with the number of attractions, but it’s definitely possible to fund an Orange County vacation without breaking the bank.

Before you get started planning your vacation, it’s best to set a budget. This way you know exactly how much you have to spend, and how much you need to save in order to go on vacation. When you have a budget, it becomes easy to make choices on where you should save and where you should pay full price. For example, if you can save money by driving to Orange County, rather than flying, it will allow you spend more on accommodations or vice versa.

One of those important choices is which amusement park you are going to visit, and how much money you plan to spend at each. With Disneyland, California Adventure, LegoLand, Magic Mountain, Knottsberry Farm and several other smaller parks within driving distance, trying to hit them all will cost you a lot of time and energy. It’s best to choose one or two. That way you can really enjoy each park and not stretch your budget too far. Some parks even offer 2-for-1 deals, such as Disneyland and California Adventure, which allow you to visit two parks for one price.

Check for discount tickets for tours and attractions before you go. You may be surprised at the discounts available for savvy travelers who check around for prices online ahead of time. You may also consider purchasing an Entertainment coupon book for the zip code you plan to visit. That will save you on dining, and it may save you on lodging and attractions as well. If you belong to AAA or other groups, check the group’s website before you go to see if showing your card will save you money on attractions.

If your vacation time is flexible, consider traveling in the fall or the early spring. Crowds tend to be thinner during these times of year, and the weather is still nice enough that you’ll enjoy your stay. The prices drop around these times of year as well, so you’ll pay less than you would if your visit were during peak times. The large travel sites may, throughout the year, offer various coupon codes for their more popular destinations, such as Orange County, so get on the email list of your favorite sites so you can monitor any new deals.

There are a wide variety of hotels and motels surrounding the major Orange County attractions. You can stay at a smaller motel with fewer frills and be within the same traveling distance as you would if you stayed at a high priced hotel. If you plan early and travel in the off-season, staying at the Disneyland Hotel is very reasonable. You’ll also save money on travel because there are free tram services to and from the park.

Balance your visit to an amusement park with some free activities, such as visiting the beach or strolling down some of Orange County’s beautiful parks and natural areas. Since the weather is pleasant during most of the year, take advantage of simply being outdoors and taking in some nature during your visit. The beach and mountains are within driving distance of most Orange County towns and Southern California boasts some of the country’s most gorgeous national parks.

Traveling to Orange County doesn’t have to cost as much as you may think. With a budget in hand, a plan for your activities and an open mind to taking in some of the natural beauty in the area, you’ll be able to travel without spending your entire savings account.

If you’d like to know what travel accessories are available to make your trip easier, safer, and more comfortable, here are some great products.   These items should be available at most luggage and travel accessories oriented stores.

What are compression bags and can they save a lot of space when you pack your luggage?

If you use space saving clear plastic compression bags when packing your clothes, you can save up to a whopping 80% more space in your luggage.   They can be used over and over again for many years of very easy packing.

What is a non-slip security wallet and how does it work?

One accessory you should consider buying is the non-slip security travel wallet.   It is about the same size as a regular wallet but it has non-slip rubber on one side which will rub against and catch on the inside of your pocket if it accidentally slips out of your pocket, or if someone tries to pick your pocket.   Always put your wallet in your front pocket.   Under no circumstances should you ever carry your wallet in your back pocket.   Professional thieves the world over call it “the sucker pocket”.

Here’s a neat trick!  You can convert your wallet into a non-slip one by putting a few wide rubber bands around it.   Another solution that will help with the pickpocket problem is a chain-equipped travel wallet which you can attach to your belt.

The secret waist wallet is a wallet that compliments the non-slip travel wallet.   It fits nicely under your shirt or blouse, but is still easily accessible.   It is not a good idea to lift your shirt or blouse up and open this wallet in public as you never know who is watching, like a would be pickpocket, or robber.    It is best to open it discretely where no one can see you doing it, such as in a public washroom stall.

A leather money belt that has a zippered, concealed pocket on the inner side of it, is a great security travel product.   You can hide a key, paper money, or small foldable documents in the secure, zippered pocket.

There are stay-up, elastic security socks that have a concealed, zippered pocket on the inside of each one of a pair of these socks.    These socks would be extremely difficult for a pickpocket to get at.

Another unique accessory is the RFID blocking passport document holder.   This radio frequency identification holder helps to protect your passport and other documents that can be electronically compromised from snooping data-stealing hackers.

A combination and key accessible combo luggage lock makes it possible for the custom’s officials to unlock your checked luggage for inspection with a special skeleton key, then lock your luggage up again.   You can then dial the combination and you can open your luggage.   This can save you a lot of time and money replacing regular locks that custom’s agents would normally have to break to gain entry to inspect your luggage.   Another real plus with these combo locks is that you do not have any keys to worry about losing or replacing.

You can carry a personal, battery-operated security alarm that emits a loud, piercing sound that may help ward off a robber or mugger.   Another product that is inexpensive and that will produce the same effect is a referee’s whistle, which you can hide under your shirt or blouse, attached to a string and hung around your neck.

A battery-operated hotel room intruder alarm is a great hotel room safety device.   There are two types of these alarms.   One alarm hangs on the room’s door knob.   Any slight movement of the door knob or door will trigger the alarm.   Another alarm is the doorstop kind which you can push under the door’s bottom edge.   If someone tries to open the door, the alarm will go off.

Women travelers can buy an innovative security purse that has a steel cable sewn in the strap.   This will foil a thief who makes an attempt to cut through the strap and run away with their purse.

Easy to inflate, easy to carry, the pocket pillow measures approximately 6″ x 4″ x 1″.   It inflates to about 19″ x 15″, and makes a comfortable pillow when you need to rest your head or sleep.

Make sure that you protect your eyes when traveling in sunny climates by wearing sunglasses that carry both a UVA as well as a UVB certified protection label.

A handy little book light that clamps on to the edge of your book enables you to conveniently read in dim light or total darkness.   It also allows you to read in the dark without disturbing your sleeping travel companion.

If you are backpacking you should consider wearing a steel-mesh equipped backpack.   These great backpacks have a security steel mesh sewn into the bottom and sides, the most vulnerable places where a thief could slash it with a knife.   When this happens, everything tumbles out, and the thief and his accomplices grab anything of valuable and run away in different directions.

You should keep in mind that you will probably need adaptor plugs and converters if you are traveling to certain countries.

One large travel accessories store, Magellan’s, has an award-winning catalogue that has everything for travelers from adaptor and connector plugs to secret security wallets.   You can order a catalogue online, at Magellans. com

Tilley Endurables, a legendary manufacturer of sun-protective travel clothing and accessories,created the world-famous Tilley Hat.   They specialize in making stylish, comfortable, and practical outdoor hats and travel clothing.   Most fabrics they use in manufacturing their hats and clothing carry a certified UPF 50  rated label, which is the highest rating for sun protection available.   You can get their sun-protective clothing and accessories catalogue by going to their website, at Tilleys. com.

Let’s say you have all the time in the world, you don’t mind a couple headaches, and you want to plan a full vacation yourself without any help from a travel agent. Sometimes, you actually don’t need a travel agent. If you need a ticket on short notice, if you’re making a very short trip and you don’t really need to make a big production out of it, etc…

However, there are a number of things that a travel agency can offer you that you won’t be able to get anywhere else. The reason for this is simple: travel agencies are offered a lot of great deals.

The reason for travel providers to offer great deals through travel agents is that it is simply in their best interests to keep these agencies in business. When the travel agencies are offering great deals, they stay in business, when the travel agencies stay in business, the travel companies’ stay in business. It’s really as simple as that.

A travel agency collects commission out of the actual cost of the tickets and reservations and so on, and does not charge an additional fee for their services. And so, you can expect a fair deal with nothing tacked on.

What you will find almost exclusively through travel agencies would be…

Customized Vacation Packages

This is the main draw, to be honest. A good travel agency will provide you with hotel, dinner reservations, a rental car and even some live entertainment in an all-inclusive package. And of course, this is all offered at a hefty discount (again, it’s the discounts that keep travellers coming back to their favorite travel agencies).

Even if you’re only saving, say, five percent here, ten percent there, twenty percent in the other place… it adds up. Say a general package would normally have you paying two hundred for a hotel, five hundred for airfare, and three hundred for a rental car. Well, twenty or so percent off of a thousand dollars is a couple hundred bucks, and that’s something of a conservative estimate. By knowing when to book and how to get great discounts, you might be surprised just how much you can save by booking a full package with a travel agency.

For corporate accounts, many travel agents will maintain a customer profile for individual travelers that are customized to the company’s travel policy to manage compliance with the corporate rules and to streamline expense reporting. The individual also benefits because they can save to their profile a preference for seats, hotel and car rental, corporate discount numbers, airline frequent flyer numbers and other pertinent information to assist with the booking process.

A Well Advised, Well Planned Trip

A good travel doesn’t just hold your tickets til you need them. A good travel agent will recommend a number of vacation options to you advising you on which hotels come recommended, places to avoid (because of crowding or crime, etc. ), and even, on certain occasions local customs. The best travel agents aren’t just travel agents, they’re also travel experts, and can help you get the best trip, and get the most out of that trip.

Many traditional bricks-and-mortar travel agencies now have full-service web sites so that you can get the best of both worlds: convenience of self-serve online booking with the benefit of walking into the office or talking to a real person on the phone when you need it. Each trip is unique and there are times when you may want to sit face to face with a knowledgeable travel consultant (like when you are planning you’re once-in-a-lifetime dream vacation). For the standard weekend or business overnight, you may want the ease of online ordering.

Exclusive Reservations

Not always, but sometimes, a travel agent can actually score you discount tickets for sold out live shows, famous restaurants, and exclusive resorts, which may have been all but impenetrable were you to just show up with a suit and tie and ask to be let in. It sounds snooty, but some resorts don’t even accept unsolicited telephone calls. A travel agent may serve as your foot in the door for the most exclusive of exclusive destinations. Plus, getting tickets or reservations at an exclusive spot at a discounted price; that’s nothing to complain about, either.

The main thing about going through a travel agency is that they make everything a lot easier, and sometimes, they make things that seemed impossible into something that becomes completely accessible and well within your means. The very best travel agencies should dazzle you with their near magical ability to produce great deals seemingly from thin air. Of course, more realistically, you can expect them to save you a lot of money and get you where you want to go!