I’m a big believer in vacations. Family law attorneys need a good vacation more than some other kinds of lawyers. In fact, my wife and I are headed for the Caribbean on Saturday for a trip without our kids. This will be our longest kid free trip since they were born. I’m giddy.

My advice to you is to always have a vacation scheduled. I’ve said that here before.

Yesterday I was chatting about vacations with my friend Erik Mazzone. He mentioned an idea I hadn’t previously considered. He suggested using YouTube as resource for planning a vacation.

I spend considerable time reviewing vacation planning sites. I read the reviews on TripAdvisor and other sites. There are lots of great reviews, but it’s tough to judge the reliability of differing opinions online since I don’t really know the people writing the reviews. One person, having never stayed in anything nicer than a Motel 6 might be thrilled with a Hampton Inn. The next person, having spent their life staying in the Four Seasons Hotel might think the Hampton Inn is a dump. It’s very difficult to know what’s what when sorting through the differing opinions.

YouTube, on the other hand, provides objective information. Searching on a destination frequently provides results showing you exactly what you want to see. I did some searching last night and found video of restaurants, hotels and beaches that I’m considering visiting. The videos are all user submitted and aren’t biased like commercials. These are real people doing their thing on vacation. I can’t think of a better way to gather objective information.

YouTube is good for more than picking the hotel and restaurants. It’s also great for previewing the sites available at your vacation spot. You can spend a few minutes figuring out whether you want to invest the time to go visit a park, a volcano, an art gallery or whatever is of interest to you. With the help of YouTube you can be sure to get the most out of your trip.

Thanks to Erik I’m suddenly seeing YouTube in a whole new way.