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Holidays are different from anything else we ever spend money on. You can never buy a holiday in the same manner that you buy a coat, a car or a washing machine. For a start, you can't have a free try-out before you agree to buy. And when you have bought the holiday and taken it and hated it, you can't take it back to the shop and ask if they can refund.

What do you want? The first rule for avoiding disappointments sounds obvious, but it is worth stating. Before you even open a brochure, you must ask yourself why you are going for this holiday.

People can have very private reasons for holiday. Couples sometimes book a vacation together in the hope that it will save their relationship. Other couples fly off to celebrate being together or because they plan to start a family. Singles fly off for two weeks because they wish to find a partner. We go off on vacation to help us recover from a broken romance or the death of someone we love, or to make us feel better when we been ill. Some people spend money on vacations because they like boasting about their exotic journeys and showing off their photos when they get back. And many of us go away every year because, when you can afford it, that's what you love to do every year - have a vacation!

List your preferences When you are looking around for holiday ideas, ask yourself what sort of holiday you really prefer. Make a list of all the things you want and those you don't want from your holiday. - Do you enjoy new experiences or are you prefer that your meals and your holiday places are just similar to home? - Is the place you stay when you are on vacation very important ? Or is your bedroom just somewhere to clean your teeth, hang your clothes and catch some sleep before the dawn? - Do you enjoy getting to know new people or do you prefer time to yourself and with the people you are holidaying with? Or put it another way - will you be able to bear the company of just your partner day in and day out for 2 weeks, or do you need the distraction of other faces? - Do you prefer to follow a tour's itinerary or do you want to organize your own itinerary and eat when and where you choose? - Are you glad to be responsible for buying and cooking food for the family, or do you prefer to holiday precisely to get away from all that?