Every year you sit and listen to your friends once they’ve come back from summer vacations that leave you drooling. Exotic destinations, five-star hotels and photos of adventures that leave you breathless have become par for the course.

Bora Bora

This year, it’s your turn to have the best vacation ever. You’ll have the amazing stories to tell and the near-award winning photos to prove them. You’ll be the center of attention and it will be their jaws on the floor. “How?”  you ask. The route to giving your friends vacation envy is easy. Simply follow these three steps.

1.  Take your vacation time

Those days that you’re saving and saving? It’s time to make a withdrawal.  Yes, it’s true that saving them all for one big blowout vacation is an option but it’s a risky endeavour. No one knows what life will bring down the road. Why not use them now while you are well enough to enjoy them to their fullest. You may be a skydiving grandmother but you may not be and who wants to live with the “what ifs” and “wish I hads?” When your grandkids gather around to hear your tales, make sure you’ll have a “best vacation ever” story to share of how you once rode in a hot air balloon,  visited an ancient tribe  or hiked the grand canyon.

hot air balloon

2. Book great vacations

You like that hotel in Florida. You like it so much you’ve been every year. Nothing wrong with that but even vacations can get in a rut. Shake it up a little. You can only tell the joke that concierge shared with you so many times before people start to laugh before the punchline. Pop onto Expedia.ca and search for a new hotel in that same area, or try one at another spot. Meet a new concierge. Learn a new joke.  Now’s the time. The Vacation Envy sale means you’ll find great deals at a fraction of the cost. Read the reviews and throw the dice.  Worst case scenario: Next year you go back to your tried and true. Best case: You come away with a new adventure to write home about

3. Reap your Rewards

Regular people simply book their trips. You’re not regular people.  You know that loyalty has its rewards. Sign up for your free Expedia+ account on Expedia.ca before you start searching for your best vacation ever and then collect points towards your gold status as you go. Members earn points on flights, hotels, select vacation packages, activities and select car rentals. Those points then get translated into vouchers that you can use for future hotel and package bookings. The benefits start as soon as you join and  continue as long as you stay active (earning or redeeming points at least once every 18 months).  Best of all, members enjoy access to an exclusive Extended Hotel Price Guarantee where Expedia.ca will match any better price all the way up until midnight before you check-in.  What does it all mean? It means that just by taking your vacation you’re earning a vacation.  Boom! Look who’s the star of the vacation after-party now.

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