You're Going Places

And We Have Tips On How to Make Those Trips Better

When we published our shout-out to readers last month offering to plan their 2008 vacations, we learned two things very fast:

1. You really, really love to travel.

2. You really, really want help figuring out how to get the most bang for your rupee (peso, euro, pound, shekel). Not to mention how to make the most of your precious vacation days.

And okay, 3. You're amazingly persuasive. It was hard winnowing down your hundreds of heartfelt pleas to just six. But we ended up choosing a cross section of readers whose trips are both interesting and inspirational. A recent widower in Reston wants to take his two college-age boys to Hawaii. A young District couple's fondest wish is to celebrate their third wedding anniversary with a romantic week in Lisbon. Down in Fredericksburg, a mom and two kids waiting for Dad to come home from Iraq are plotting to surprise him with a trip to Disney World. A woman in Falls Church dreams of exploring the Croatian coast. Over in Edgewater, two couples are planning a tour of the Amazon. And in Waldorf, four "girlfriends" near retirement age want to ride camels in Morocco. We tell them how to make it happen, starting on Page P4. And we've got planning tips and hot lists on Pages 4 and 7.

We hope it all inspires you to plot your own dream trips. No matter how many dinars (dollars, rials, loonies, krona) you have to shell out.