After a whole year of earning our much deserved vacation money, out comes the requisite travel lists. Who will come along, what to bring, where to go, how much to spend, and specially which agencies to scout good deals from. Quite an overwhelming number of travel services have been made available through the Internet, making this business pleasantly competitive for the average consumer. I have list down a handful of travel portals known or not to help you cut down time in searching through the web.

Newcomer Kayak.com is not really a reservation site but a searchable portal similar to Google . This is a portal that is exclusive to hotels only. The downside is, you only get few choices. The directory seems to be insufficient and lacking. It's not massive or extensive in whatever sense.

Travelocity like Expedia is one of the leading reservation sites in the net. It has an easy to remember name which is a cross of travel and velocity. Like most travel portals, they have flight, hotel, and car reservation. However, I would suggest the following changes: first, when searching flights, it would be nice to be able to search multiple airports and multiple days. As it is now, you have to pick specific dates if you want to see fares for multiple airports, or pick one airport and select flexible dates. Second, it would be great if you did not limit the number of fare watches to five or so--I've had to set up duplicate accounts to encompass all the fares I want to keep track of. This defeats whatever purpose there was in limiting the numbers.

Another unknown and relative new to the reservation industry is Hotels-Search-Engine.org . They have a wide range of accommodation options, from budget-smart quality hostels to 5-star resorts of pure luxury. The site also offers travel tips and guides.

Now, you have a fairly good options, you can now proceed into making that reservation for your sabbatical. Don't forget to check for travel advisories and health warnings from your country. You may visit Lonely Planet's Travel Ticker .