Don't depart without consulting the Web

JAKARTA (JP): It has never been easier to prepare for a vacation.

Today, it would be ridiculous to arrive at your destination after a 12-hour flight without carrying the right type of clothes, for example, as you could have easily found out what the local weather would be like before you even started packing your suitcase.

Not only that, a slew of travel websites, which have been sprouting like fresh political controversies in Indonesia, provide all kinds of travel information. Best of all, their services are usually free of charge.

And, unlike at your travel agency where the agent gets more and more impatient as you keep asking questions, you can collect as much information about as many resorts as you wish at your own pace and time at these travel websites. There is also no pressure to buy any of the packages the websites are offering.

Two of the most popular travel sites are Travelocity (www.travelocity.com) and Expedia (www.expedia.com). They do not only help you plan your next trip, find you the best bargains for flights, rooms, rental cars etc., but also offer useful advice on the dos and don'ts when you visit a particular place.

What about local travel websites? We have some, too.

Indo.com (www.indo.com) is certainly a must-visit website for serious vacationers. It provides a lot of information that might help you in planning your holiday in Bali or Jakarta -- well, perhaps nobody would really want to spend their time vacationing in Jakarta! If you have never been to Bali, Indo.com also provides a 360-degree panoramic view of popular places on this heavenly island such as Tanah Lot, Ubud, Kintamani and Bedugul. Try them out and you will be surprised to see the responsiveness of this website.

If you want to visit other places in Indonesia -- particularly if you are thinking of going further up to Northern Sulawesi, your best bet will be goIndo.com (www.goindo.com). Currently it features destinations such as the Bunaken sea garden and Thalassa diving center. The sites still need a lot of work, though. Another travel website for Indonesia is access bali online (http://baliwww.com).

By the way, as to finding out what the local weather is like at the place you are heading, you can even check the Webcam sites at a number of places. Just download Gazer from Crescent Vision Interactive (CVI) (www.crescentvision.com/download.html), and you can access dozens of recent pictures taken with Web cameras in various places like downtown Santa Cruz, Amsterdam and even the island of Madeira. You can add more Webcam sites to Gazer's collection as you come across good ones.

Keep in mind, though, that as of today, you will have a lot of problems visiting Maui from the comfort of your living room, as the connection still times out all too often. However, as the technology matures and broadband connections become more widely available, you may not even need to leave your computer to embark on your travels. (Zatni Arbi)