"Day Trip to the Travel Show" a California Travel Page by AdHocTravel

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What to do on a rainy Sunday?

It's been raining a lot this winter in Los Angeles (at least a lot by our standards, I understand our worst winter is a walk in the park for most anyone else) so this past Sunday I was wondering what to do with myself that didn't involve being outside and settled on going to the Los Angeles Times Travel Show at the Long Beach Convention Center.

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Aisles and Aisle of Brochures

I've never been much on trade show events so I'll admit to being a bit skeptical upon arriving. The good news was the admission price was only $5 (parking costs $7!) so the monetary investment was not significant in the event that the whole thing felt like bust.

What I encountered on entering the exhibit hall was mostly what I expected- aisles and aisles of smiling folks, some wearing really bad costumes, hawking their particular desitinations or travel wares.

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If you just can't wait to get on board

So you've always wondered what it would be like to take one of those bus tours but weren't sure about the bus? No problem, they let you climb right on board to see for yourself.

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Virtual Snow Boarding

One of the more interesting booths featured virtual snow boarding. On with the goggles, strap on the board and away you went down an imaginary slope. Compared to the "Visit Oxnard" booth, this was pretty fun.

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Meet the experts!

The highlight of my visit to the Travel Show was the Budget Travel Tips panel discussion. Rudi Maxa, host of the Savvy Traveler, Ed Perkins (author of OnLine Travel), Joe Cummings (author of several Lonely Planet Guidebooks) and Joel Widzer (author of the Penny Pincher's Passport to Luxury Travel) gave their hints and suggestions for getting more for your travel buck.

After the session I met Rudi.

All in all, not a bad afternoon for $5!