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The web has been a boon for the travel industry -- in fact sometimes it seems like the web is little more than travel advice and porn.
From discount airfare searches to travel guides, the internet is overflowing with useful travel information.
But don't just limit yourself to Orbitz and the Lonely Planet forums, with a little creativity web can offer a myriad of other ways to plan a trip.
Here's out roundup of the best tips and tricks for planning your next travel extravaganza.
== Google Earth ==
It's not just eye candy, Google Earth can actually give you all sorts of useful information. Just plug in your destination and do a fly-over, not only is it cool way to see just how far away you're going, you can get a feel for the terrain -- is that two minute walk to the subway straight up hill?
For photo nerds Google Earth also offers an easy way to preplan the best picture taking spots. What's the best place to go for that perfect sunset shot? Just hind the highest point with good westerly lines of sight.
== Flickr ==
Sure it makes a great way to post your travel photos, but it can be helpful for planning too. If you're tired of seeing the same thing as the rest of the tourists, plug your destination into [http://www.flickr.com/places/ Flickr Places] and hunt around for some unusual, less visited sights -- find obscure parks, museums no one visits and architecture marvels the guidebooks miss.
Also be sure to check out any groups listed under your destination. The groups are generally made up of locals who know their locations hidden secrets and can be a wealth of information.
Another trick: plugin in your travel dates, but restrict the results to the year before (use Flickr's [http://www.flickr.com/search/advanced/ advanced search] to get date-based results). Check the resulting photos for cloudy days versus sunny. The results can help give you some idea of just how wet the "wet" season really is.
== Twitter ==
The microblogging service, [http://twitter.com/home Twitter] can act as a great lazyweb resource. Put out some random queries for the best place to eat or something unusual to do in your destination city. With any luck locals can offer insights your fellow guidebook carrying travelers will miss. Thanks to Twitter's built-in limitations, answers will be short and to the point.
Of course you're probably not the first person headed to where ever you're going so use Twitter's new [http://search.twitter.com/ search engine] to mine queries from those who came before. Many users encode their tweets with "hash tags" so try searching, for example, both "paris" and "#paris." Also keep in mind that Twitter is limited to 160 characters so abbreviations are common, rather than searching sanfrancisco, just search sf.
== Yelp ==
It might be the most opinionated site on the web, but with a little work you can find the best eats in town by pouring through [http://www.yelp.com/ Yelp reviews]. And unlike your guidebook, you'll know if that tiny, hole-in-the-wall taqueria is out of business before you walk twenty blocks to find it.
== The iPhone/iPod ==
First off, if you're headed out of the country with an iPhone, turn off the automatic updates function so you don't end up with outrageous roaming charges. See the [http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Travel_Tips_for_Globetrotting_Geeks Travel Tips for Globetrotting Geeks] for details.
But it's more than just a phone, use it download some music podcasts from local radio stations. Not only is there the potential to discover new bands it can also help find clubs and other music venues to check out while you're in town -- beats watching TV in your hotel room.
There are also hundreds of city guide walking tours you can download for most major metropolitan areas.
The iPhone/iPod is also great for maps. Sure there's the built-in Google maps on more recent versions, but even if you don't have the latest and greatest iPod, you can still download subway maps and other images guides to most major cities.
If you're headed abroad, consider buying one of the many foreign language dictionaries available through the App Store. It isn't the babelfish by any means, but little language knowledge goes a long way.
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