Using Pinterest for Travel Inspiration

On a long flight, some passengers may have something more in mind than just finding a seat mate who is a quiet and polite neighbor. Some may want to flirt. But travelers who have chemistry with each other may find it awkward to take the next step. What if you get off the plane without swapping numbers? Stepping in to the breach is new website We Met on a Plane (wemetonaplane.com), which is like the "Missed Connections" section of Craigslist. Plug in your flight information and post a message that you're looking for someone. If the person also come to the site and posts a message, the two of you may connect with each other via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. The service is free. Yes, love truly can be made in economy class. Last summer, 31-year old Australian Will Scully-Power was flying back to Sydney from Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, and shared a seat with a young woman named Maia. The woman was on her way to her home in New Zealand. They began chatting, and hit it off with each other, even watching a movie together, according to The Australian. She gave her e-mail address to him before they parted ways, and he followed up with her afterward. Fast forward a bit, and they were married. This month, Scully-Power launched wemetonaplane.com as a tool to help people re-connect if that precious e-mail address for phone number wasn't exchanged. It isn't a dating site, per se, according to CNN Go, which broke the story. It's more of a site for reconnecting people who have already met and struck romance in mid-air—admittedly, heavily pressurized cabin air. Scully-Power claims there are roughly 4,000 Internet searches each month by people trying to find fliers they found romantically interesting. He hopes that advertisements on search engines and other online marketing techniques will help direct many of those lost souls to his website, where they may have a better chance of finding their better halves. SEE MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL Would You Use Social Media to Find A Better Seatmate? How to Avoid Airport Taxi Scams New Trend: Booking "Afternoon-Only" Rooms at Luxury Hotels

Whenever I reach a new city, finding authentic restaurants and food carts is one of my top goals as a tourist. Sorry, Golden Gate Bridge. I’ll get to you after my sixth San Francisco–style burrito. But I’ve learned not to always trust guidebooks (which often miss the most authentic and offbeat places in favor of more tourist–friendly picks) and concierges (some of whom have been known to take kickbacks for their recommendations). So just how do you find the best quirky spots? Here are a few rules I’ve learned to incorporate into my routine: Follow the taxis: If you’re walking past a restaurant and the street in front is lined with yellow cabs, you’ve probably stumbled upon a foodie goldmine. Taxi drivers from across the globe will often eat out during their shifts and will almost always congregate at only the most authentic restaurants for a taste of home. Find an obsessive foodie blogger and pick her brain: These days, everyone with a camera phone and an opinion can become a food blogger. But with this massive number of blogs comes a great consequence. There are hyper–specific food blogs dedicated to almost every food you can imagine. Not just cuisines, but specific dishes, like French macarons and New Mexican green chile. These people are experts on their micro–specialties. Google a dish before you go, send a note with questions, and listen to the blogger’s advice. Chances are your taste buds will thank you later. Visit tvfoodmaps.com: One of my new favorite tools for restaurant picks is a website called tvfoodmaps.com, which curates recommendations from television shows like Man vs. Food, Top Chef, Throwdown with Bobby Flay, and Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. No need to grab a pen and a pad every time you see a great place on the Food Network late at night. This site has you covered. Even better, you can search by zip code and find any nearby spots that were featured on any show. Rely on friends—you never know who’s been to the city before you: Any time I’m traveling somewhere, I’ll mention my vacation in a Facebook status and reach out to friends with a line like, “Help! Going to Santa Fe. Where should I eat?” You never know who might have lived there as a kid, had a college boyfriend from there, went there every summer to visit a favorite great–aunt. Most people are so proud of their foodie finds that they’ll want to respond with a suggestion—even if you haven’t seen them since third–grade Little League. So how about you? Do you have any must-try tips for finding the best off-the-beaten path eats while traveling? MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL America's Best Food Regions Confessions of...A New York Street-Food Vendor A Tour of New York's Best Street Food

Skiing has a reputation as a pricey, perhaps even snobby sport. But even if some skiers seem to have their noses raised in the air, there's no reason to pay through the nose to ski. Here are four easy strategies to keep the costs of skiing in check: SKI PACKAGES Ski resorts and mountain towns hate for precious winter weeks to pass by while area hotel rooms remain empty. To attract skiers and boarders to the slopes, not to mention nearby restaurants and hotels, just about every resort offers a constantly shifting roster of hotel-lift ticket packages. They're often terrific values, especially during midweek and early- and late-season periods when hotels struggle to fill rooms. Sometimes, the price you'll pay for lodging and a lift ticket is nearly as cheap as what it'd cost just to buy a lift ticket on the spot. To scope out packages, check out ski resort websites, specialists like Ski the Rockies, state ski association sites such as Ski Utah, and, of course, Budget Travel's Real Deals. DISCOUNT LIFT TICKET SITES Before embarking on any ski trip in which lift tickets aren't included, take a moment to visit a website such as Liftopia or LiftTickets.com. These sites sell lift passes at dozens of North American resorts for a fraction of the price you'd pay at the mountain-side ticket counter. Discounts start at around 15 percent, and range as high as 70 percent, with the bigger discounts available for off-peak times paid for well in advance. The one catch with discounted tickets purchased at such sites is that they must be paid for ahead of time, and cancellations or changes are not allowed. It's also worth looking into lift ticket discounts provided by resort websites; some mountains will likewise knock off a few bucks, especially for multi-day passes, for visitors who buy online ahead of time. LIFT PACKS, SKI CARDS Consider packs of four or six passes and frequent-skier cards as the equivalent of a "buy in bulk" discount. For the former, a resort (or perhaps several resorts) sells a packet of lift tickets that can be used throughout the season for a price much less than it'd cost to buy tickets individually. Frequent-skier cards, by contrast, are sold for a flat fee (perhaps $50 or $75), and then grant the holder discounts on every day skied that season (perhaps 20 percent off weekends, 50 percent off weekdays). The main downside for these packs and passes is that they limit where you ski. Also, in many cases, these options are often ?src=blgrc">only available for sale early in the season. This isn't always the case, though. For example, in New Hampshire, Cannon Mountain's 10 Pack can be purchased at any time: $579 for 10 fully interchangeable adult lift tickets, giving a discount of more than $10 per ticket off the usual price ($68). GOING AGAINST THE GRAIN It's hard to say which is worse about an overly crowded ski resort. The masses of people clogging up cafeterias, lift lines, and narrow ski trails are bad enough. Then, there's the knowledge that you're paying top dollar to boot. With some flexibility, careful planning, and a small degree of sacrifice, though, there's a solution for beating skiing's big crowds and bigger prices. The solution boils down to: Go where the crowds aren't, and go when they aren't there. After skiing during a blissfully empty midweek, non-holiday period, it's hard to go back to elbowing for space (and usually, paying extra) on a peak weekend. So take a day (or three) off from work; you won't regret it. Also, consider going against the grain by picking an off-peak peak. Rather than sticking solely with the Vails and Big Skys of the skiing world, check out smaller B-list mountains like Montana's Bridger Bowl and Colorado's Wolf Creek, where the terrain is superb, the atmosphere is not remotely stuff, and lift tickets top out at $48 and $54, respectively. MORE FROM BUDGET TRAVEL: Where to Go for Snow It's Ski Season! Check Out Strategies for Cheaper Lift Tickets Ask Trip Coach: Ski Vacations

It's a known fact that Americans just aren't as good at taking time off as, say, their European or Aussie counterparts. According to a recent study by Expedia, the U.S. ranks among the most vacation deprived nations in the world along with countries such as Canada, Japan and South Korea. First off, we are only given on average 14 vacation days. The only countries with fewer vacation days are Japan, with an average of 11, and South Korea with an average of 10. Furthermore, we leave an average of 14.3 percent of our vacation days, or two days, unused. There are other countries that leave more days on the table (perhaps surprisingly, Italians only use on average 21 of their 28 vacations days). But why do we have any unused days at all, especially when we already get so many fewer days than most other countries? According to Expedia’s Vacation Deprivation study, based on a survey of 7,083 employed adults in 20 countries that took place between September and October 2011, 34 percent of Americans said that a possible reason for not using all their vacations days was because they couldn't afford it. Another 15 percent said they don't plan far enough in advance, and 15 percent said that "work is my life." Interestingly, while there is a stereotype that vacation is somehow frowned upon in the U.S., a surprisingly high number of U.S. respondents (73 percent) said that their boss is actually supportive of them taking vacation time. Only 8 percent said that their boss is not supportive of vacation time, and 19 percent said they weren't sure. Part of the problem is that there is no law guaranteeing paid vacation leave in the U.S. In fact, Americans have the fewest guaranteed vacation days and holidays of any major industrialized country, according to an Economic Policy Institute report cited by the Chicago Tribune. "By law, workers in Britain are guaranteed at least four weeks' paid vacation. The industrious Germans get the same, plus 10 paid holidays. The Japanese, famous for their work ethic, have a statutory minimum of two weeks' paid vacation. We Americans: zero," the Tribune reminds us. Mull that one over next time you’re lounging on the beach, trying to resist the urge to check your smart phone. More from Budget Travel: 3 New Ways to Locate Hotels Based On Travel Time To Major Attractions Lessons Learned From a Vacation Without Reservations Are you Less Likely to Cruise?