Labor Day is almost here, so why not blow off a few extra days of work and take off to someplace amazing. Kayak.com can help the fruits of your labor go a little bit further with 4 trip ideas for less than a $1000. Maine events. The Old Port of Portland Maine has everything you could possibly want in a vacation. Long stretches of beautiful beaches, seaside haunts, fall foliage, quaint restaurants, shopping and charming bed and breakfasts. Art aficionado? Art Snob? Art Garfunkle? From 5-8pm every first Friday of the month you’ll find free self-guided walking tours of local art galleries, art studios, museums and hip art venues. For more free eye candy, hit the downtown district and browse the galleries, antique stores and scenic waterfront. Right now, somewhere at the bottom of the Atlantic, there’s a Maine Lobster with your name on it. Fresh blueberries and local fiddlehead ferns are also in season, so make sure to save room in your budget (and your stomach) for the local fare.

• Portland flights
• Portland hotels

Deals gone wild in Cancun. With the endless number of resorts, you can chill out in Cancun at a great place for a great price. Don your bikini or trunks (no man thongs please), hit Cancun’s beautiful beaches and lose that farmer tan. Got a bit of an Indiana Jones, um, jones? Explore the Mayan ruins and ecological parks of Xcaret and Xel-Ha. Or channel Cousteau at Garrafon where you’ll find great snorkeling and diving in amazing natural reefs. There are also great jungle tours and jeep tours in Cancun for you adventurous types. Want to see a guy fight an animal? No, it’s not a new show on Fox. We’re talking about checking out an authentic Mexican bullfight. And don’t forget to sample the tequila while you’re here. Just don’t eat the worm. Seriously, bad things happen when you eat the worm. Very bad things.

• Cancun flights
• Cancun hotels

Get more bang for your Baht in Bangkok. Bangkok, Thailand is a great city to do on the cheap. $50 a day goes a long way if you know what you’re doing. Can you live without turn down service and a Jacuzzi in your bathroom? Then chose local lodging and hostels over expensive hotels. Restaurants with English menus are for tourists. You’re a world traveler! Street vendors will give you a real taste of Thailand for just a few Baht. There are great views from the top of the 90-story Baiyoke Tower II. And you can work your bartering magic at the floating market and Chatuchak Weekend Market. You can even get your groove on for free; local parks hold free concerts on the weekend.

• Bangkok flights
• Bangkok hotels

Yellowstone for less green. Why stay in a 4 star hotel when you can sleep under a trillion stars camping in Yellowstone National Park. Just make sure you call ahead and reserve a space or you’ll end up pitching a fit instead of a tent. The amazing views of Montana’s Mountains don’t cost a thing, neither do hiking, biking, fishing, or checking out the local wildlife. Be sure to see Old Faithful, a natural wonder that is as amazing as it is punctual. And go all wild west at Fort Yelllowstone Bannock Indian Trail and Tower Roosevelt Buffalo Ranch. After a few days living the cowboy way in Yellowstone, you’ll be saying “Why can’t I quit you?”

• Jackson, WY flights

Get the Fare Buzz for these Labor Day vacations from your home airport.

Yours in the labor of love that is finding your great Labor Day travel deals,
Steve and Paul, Kayak.com co-founders

A hobby is something you do enjoyably. A pastime is an amiable way to spend an afternoon. Neither term could possibly describe the amateur pursuits of golf, fishing, poker or watching baseball. If you’re afflicted by any of these sicknesses we can only sympathize. And while we may not have a cure, we can offer suggestions on where to get treatment.

• “A good walk spoiled” is how Mark Twain referred to the game of golf and it’s been ruining days, weekends and more than the odd marriage ever since. If you long for nothing more than chasing a small white ball through the undergrowth then St. Andrews is for you. The Old Course at St. Andrews, where the modern game was invented in the 1700s, is open to the public for play year-round. Book early and bring your Mashie Niblick to break into two.
  • Flights to St. Andrews
  • St. Andrews hotels
• As the comedian Steven Wright once remarked there’s a thin line between fishing and standing on the river bank looking like an idiot. Or even more pithily; a jerk on one line waiting for a jerk on the other. The folk round these parts like to fish using Kayaks, naturally. Try it for yourself at the Alaska Kayak School in Homer where they give lessons (almost) all year round.
  • Flights to Homer
  • Homer hotels
• And then there’s America’s favorite pastime: baseball. The sport was invented in 1845 when Alexander Cartwright published the first rulebook. Inventing the game didn’t, however, save him from the bad luck that can plague even the most illustrious players – in the first recorded baseball game in history, in Hoboken’s Elysian Fields, his team lost. Only a small part of the field remains, marked by a plaque, but baseball nirvana Yankee Stadium is just a short hop across the Hudson. The truly dedicated can head 200 miles north to Cooperstown for the Baseball Hall of Fame.
  • New York Flights
  • New York Hotels
  • Cooperstown Hotels
• The international origins of poker are a bit fuzzy – some argue it’s based on a Persian card game, others bet on a French ancestry – but its American roots go straight back to the Mississippi River. Introduced in New Orleans, the game’s popularity spread north on riverboats and west with Gold Rush pioneers. Go back to the source in New Orleans, where a variety of operators can arrange riverboat cruises from as short as hour-long dinner excursions to cruises that last several days.
  • New Orleans Flights
  • New Orleans Hotels

Get the Fare Buzz to the birthplace of these hobbies from your home airport.

Yours, at the 19th hole,
Steve and Paul, Kayak.com co-founders

Check your emotional baggage and travel to a different state of mind. These spiritual retreats will bring peace, serenity and give you a ‘holy’ new perspective. Whether you’re looking for an awakening, ultimate Zen or just the chance to see some sacred ruins, we have the perfect trip for your inner being.

• The Dalai Lama says to visit one new place a year, and Kayak.com can’t help to think this is sage advice indeed. Many Tibetan exiles, including His Holiness, have relocated to the Dhauladhar, India mountain region. First stop on this spiritual journey: Tsug-Lag-Khang, where you can see the residence of the Dalai Lama. Next, take refuge at the Tsug-Lag-Khang. Find your Zen at Kunal Pathri, a formation of rock temples and when your spirit is full, take advantage of the Tibetan Institute of Performing Arts and the bustling bazaars scattered throughout the region. As the valley girls say, ‘Ommmmmmmm-mi-god!’
  • Delhi flights
  • Delhi hotels
• Perhaps the most sacred spot in South America, the ancient city of Machu Picchu was built by Incan ruler Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui between 1460 and 1470 AD. Tour the 200 mortarless stone buildings of temples, residences, baths and public buildings. Start your pilgrimage with a stop at The Tower of Three Windows and marvel at the trapezoidal-shaped windows where the sun illuminates the sacred plaza. Your trip won’t be complete without a glimpse of Intihuatana Stone, the Incas sundial and astrological calendar.
  • Lima flights
  • Machu Picchu hotels
• The ancient Navajo region of Sedona, Arizona is a mecca for tourists seeking out beauty, rustic travel and spiritual awareness. Take pause at the vortex meditation sites where you can tap into the energy of the earth. Once your spirit is one with the earth, take a journey to Chapel of the Holy Cross, built right into the red rocks. Next, drive through Sedona Oak Creek Canyon where you’ll find breathtaking views. And don’t forget to check out Montezuma’s Castle and Montezuma’s Well. Although it’s not a castle and Montezuma never lived here, it is a 20 room cliff-dwelling built into a limestone recess by the Sinagua Indians over 600 years ago. Watch out for Montezuma’s revenge.
  • Phoenix flights
  • Sedona hotels
• * The sovereign city-state of Vatican City has its own independent postal system, government offices, army and radio station. First stop: St. Peter’s Basilica. This enormous church houses endless statues, art and the sacred Michelangelo’s Pieta. Go to the lower level of the Basilica to see where each of the popes is buried. Next, spend a day wandering through the Vatican Museum, which holds the Sistine Chapel; the pope’s personal chapel. Why not rent a room at a convent during your stay to make your spiritual journey complete? The nuns welcome everyone, but be respectful and expect to have a curfew enforced. And no jokes about penguins.
  • Rome flights
  • Vatican City/Rome hotels

Get the Fare Buzz for these spiritual vacations from your home airport.

Peace be with you,
Steve and Paul, Kayak.com co-founders

Got a little bored with the beach boys (and girls)? Got those cruise blues? Looking for a little more R&B with your R&R? Then follow our notes and score yourself a music-themed holiday. There’s no better way to celebrate the diversity and history of our great country (and western) than by going on your own tour. Don’t forget your air brushed t-shirt.

• Too young for Woodstock? Too spaced out to remember it? The answer, my friends, is Bob Dylan’s American Journey Exhibit at the Rock Hall in Cleveland, Ohio running through September 7th. Missed it? Don’t worry, you can still see Ricky Nelson’s exhibit. Check him out in the days before his son became a heavy metal rocker and star of Celebrity Fit Club. Roy Orbison haunts the halls until December 31st and The Clash come calling in October.
  • Cleveland flights
  • Cleveland hotels
• There are more music venues in Austin than you can shake a drum stick at. Throw on your David Lee Roth-inspired buttless spandex pants and swagger down to 6th Street for all the rock, jazz, blues, folk, arts, tattoo parlors, restaurants and bars you could ever get through in one trip (unless you’re Tommy Lee). Speaking of alcoholics, you should also check out the Gruene Wine and Music Fest - Oct. 6th, 7th, & 8th. For something a little more rock and roll, check out The Austin City Limits Festival September 15th - 17th with Tom Petty, The Flaming Lips, The Shins, Willie Nelson, Ween and many others on a billboard that’s as broad as it is long.
  • Austin flights
  • Austin hotels
• We can’t promise class, but we can orchestrate something more classical. Czech out the Prague State Opera, The Prague Philharmonic, and Radio Symphony Orchestra; they all offer spectacular shows. The celebrated Prague Autumn Music Festival runs September 12th through October 1st. Whenever you visit, you’re bound to stumble on a dozen music festivals, concerts, or shows. But get there before winter sets in, once fall passes the temperatures are a-changing.
  • Prague flights
  • Prague hotels
• The weather maybe in the 80s at Anguilla’s Tranquility Jazz Festival, but the hep cats are cool, man. The festival takes place November 9th - 12th so while everyone else is preparing for Thanksgiving you’ll be listening to the legacy of another Bird entirely (that’s Mr. Charlie Parker to you). Another bonus: you’ll find a better deal on airfare and hotels during this off-season travel time.
  • Anguilla flights
  • Anguilla hotels

Get the Fare Buzz for these music vacations from your home airport.

Yours, sitting on the dock of the bay,
Steve and Paul, Kayak.com co-founders

First Heiress Nicky Hilton announces plans to open Nicky O Hotels in Miami and Chicago. Then her sister Paris announces that she too is going to put the ho in hotel with a property in Vegas. Although the girls like to think they’re original, celebrities have been buying hotels for years. No need to risk a restraining order when you can legally stay at the following celebrity-owned digs:

• Welcome to the Hotel California - Clint Eastwood’s Mission Ranch Resort in Carmel, California. It’s such a lovely place, such a lovely place. Stay in the historic farmhouse or, for more privacy, one of the surrounding suites. Use the hotel as your homebase but spend your days exploring Carmel’s quirky shops, dramatic landscape and excellent restaurants. Go ahead, make his day and book now.
  • San Francisco flights
  • Carmel hotels
• The hills are alive with the sound of snoring. Touted as a little bit of Austria in Vermont, the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont is no generic ski resort. This 2,700 acre idyll, owned by the von Trapp family of Sound of Music Fame, has been delighting families and couples since 1950. The main Lodge is accented by hand-carved balustrades, steeply pitched gables and a cedar shake roof with an Austrian bell tower. Year-round recreational activities include the usual winter sports plus hiking, tennis, maple sugaring and music lessons (remember to wear your favorite draperies to music class).
  • Burlington flights
  • Stowe hotels
• As a child, Michael Douglas spent summers in Bermuda at Ariel Sands. He loved the intimate resort so much that he bought and renovated the property with a group of investors in the 1990s. Today, 46 salmon-painted cottages cover 14 hillside acres with direct access to a private beach on Bermuda’s South Shore. The resort’s stunning interiors are traditional colonial Bermuda style meets Connecticut country-club. One week of vacation here and you too will have the confidence to marry a person twice as good looking and half your age.
  • Burmuda/Hamilton flights
  • Bermuda Hotels
• Francis Ford Coppola first fell in love with Belize while searching for the same jungle paradise he enjoyed while shooting Apocalypse Now. No Hanoi Hilton, Turtle Inn, located in the southern coastal town of Placencia Village, is one of the most luxurious resorts in Belize. The property holds a special place in Coppola’s heart as the Godfather personally supervised the resort’s reconstruction after a hurricane leveled the property. The one and two-bedroom Balinese-inspired cabanas boast artisan-crafted furnishings, large decks, and spacious bathrooms that open onto private rock garden and open-air showers.
  • Placencia flights
  • Placencia hotels
• Still haven’t found what you’re looking for? Look no further than The Clarence in Dublin, Ireland, owned by U2’s Bono and The Edge. Located in the heart of the city on the famous River Liffey, the hotel is the personal vision of the legendary owners. Like the band, each room is original, in fact no two rooms or suites are alike. Unwind with a drink at the trendy Octagon Bar and then dine at the classic Tea Room restaurant. After a few cocktails, trash your room — rock star style — the owners will understand.
  • Dublin Flights
  • Dublin hotels

Get the Fare Buzz for 25 celebrity-owned hotels from your home airport.

Yours, on the D-list,
Steve and Paul, Kayak.com co-founders