Itching to travel but don't know exactly where to go?

Well, planning your dream vacation is about to get a lot more fun.

Sometimes you know exactly where you want to go and when you want to be there. But maybe your fantasy vacation is just that – a bit of a fantasy. Using a tool like Kayak Explore will turn it into a reality, with just a few clicks.

Kayak Explore helps you find the cheapest flights from your starting point. The reason it’s so fun (and so useful) is that you can discover a cheap flight by telling it things like what time of year you want to travel and what type of weather you’re looking for, rather than by typing in a specific end point.

It’s pretty awesome.

Let’s take a look at how the tool works, and then look at a few examples. Before you know it, you’ll be booking a flight for the dream trip you never imagined!

How To Use Kayak Explore

First, head to Kayak.com and click the grid in the upper right corner of the screen. Then click the Explore option.

Next, you’ll see a large map with prices listed for different destinations. You can choose your home airport and the time of year you’d like to travel (Summer 2016 or Winter 2016, for example).

Below that, you’ll see a row of choices, each with a sliding scale that lets you customize your trip.

You can choose:

• Price
• Weather
• Where
• Flight Time

There is also a Reset button, and the option to choose only nonstop flights.

You can see on the screen above that you choose your starting destination and a time of year. If you want to travel to Central or South America in the winter, somewhere warm, for a certain price, Kayak Explore will show you several airfare options that match your criteria.

Then you can click on the destinations.

This search found a cheap deal to fly to Morelia, Mexico from Los Angeles. The fun part is that if you get a result that you’ve never heard of, you can Google it and see if it actually might be a great place to travel. You’re literally exploring.

And guess what? Morelia looks like a pretty cool city.

Once you have your results you’ll still have to search for the most recent fares, since rates change so often. But it’s still a great way to find a customized dream trip for very little money.

Let’s take a look at a few more examples.

New York, NY to Europe

You're about to enter another snowy winter in New York and you’re fantasizing about a beautiful fall trip, somewhere in Europe.

Let's take a look at our options.

As you can see you can get to London for only $449, or Copenhagen for only $350 or even cheaper why not check out Oslo for only $321 round trip!!

Now it’s up to you to explore.

Let’s pick Oslo. Once you click the price tab, more info will appear.

Then you click Find Flights, and you’ll be directed to Kayak’s list of all possible flights and fares for your trip. You can buy on the spot or reset and explore some more.

Now let’s look at another example.

Chicago To Sunny Costa Rica

Maybe you live in the midwest and winter is starting to set in! Your boss just told you that if you don't take your vacation it won't roll over until next year.

Using Kayak Explore we're able to find a round-trip ticket from Chicago to Costa Rica for just $350. Without this tool, we may have settled on a trip to Mexico for 2X that price!

Sounds like a pretty awesome trip, and you might not have ever thought of it without Kayak Explore.

So check it out next time you’re looking for a dream vacation, and see where you end up.

Like this post? Comment below and let us know !

About Scott Grimmer:

This blog post was created from an Interview with Scott Grimmer, an airline miles expert and avid traveler who has been featured on Forbes and Huffington Post. Scott has just released his first digital course Fly Free in First which shows you how to collect, redeem miles and book your first flight for free in the next 60 days.