Where do you look for travel advice? Planning a trip abroad, cross-country travel, or a great excursion into the city can be fun and more enjoyable if you have a plan. How will you figure out where to go with your kids, where to eat or how to navigate the number places you could visit?

Why not turn to social media to receive first-hand knowledge from people who live, work and play where you want to go?!

That’s just what I did when researching things to do in Hawaii…

And Twitter is one of the best places to request travel information and #traveltips from people on the streets.

You can directly search for bloggers and websites related to your travel destinations, or you can browse those all so popular hashtags such as #maui and scroll till you find something of interest. Asking questions on Twitter is a great way to meet new people, and part of the fun in it is that you never know who will answer back – some replies will help you plan your trip, others may just make you laugh, and on rare occasion there may be a chance to meet up in a new place.

What travel advice should you be asking for?

Well, you can ask/search for restaurant recommendations in a new-to-you city. Say you are looking for “gluten-free maui”, or a gluten-free place to eat in Maui. A quick search on Twitter and you come up with something like this:

Now you have some pre-existing options, as well as a wonderful pizza place to check out when you are in that part of the city.

You can also ask about parks and museums to visit with the kids, what beach is worth going to, what you must see and do in Maui… Just ask what is on your mind and go with the responses.

If you have ever received help on Twitter, it is great to give some of your best travel tips back in exchange when someone reaches out to you with a request – not only is it good karma, it feels good to help someone have happy travels, especially with children in tow.

Have you been to Maui? What were your favorite things to see and do there? Let us know in the comments below!