Infographics are an increasingly popular way to display some cool information in a visual way. While sometimes the visual effect can be cluttered and confusing, when done right it’s a very effective way to communicate a message. They’re especially cool when they present facts about travel (or whatever the subject matter) that are unique, odd, funny, or just plain entertaining.

Here are some of my favorite travel infographics I’ve seen to-date – I’ll be sure to keep this updated as I find more that I like. If you’ve created a travel or hospitality related infographic, contact me and let me know!

1. Pigs, Planes & Urine – this infographic by TravelMatch.co.uk sums up some pretty crazy stats about the travel industry, and then presents those stats by relating them back to some pretty funny analogies & comparisons.

2. Mr X Goes on Holiday – here’s another cool one from travelmatch, which describes how the typical British family goes on vacation (holiday). Scroll below and you can see a similar one for US travelers as well!

3. How America Spends Travel & Leisure – this one from Bundle.com shows some trends for US travelers – while it’s not as nice as the UK one above, it’s still a nice & to-the-point infographic on how Americans travel.

4. The Social Travel Revolution – this is a cool infographic (to me, anyway) from Tripl.com because it shows how people use social media to make travel plans. I know I personally lean on friends for advice & suggestions on where to go & what to see, but its mind-blowing to see the aggregate numbers & just how influential social media is for making travel plans!

 4. 50 Most Popular Tourist Destinations – this one is simple yet really useful, made by luggagepoint.com. It lays out the top 50 travel destinations worldwide. I’d love to make this my “bucket list” of places I’d like to see before I die – I can cross off all of the ones in the US already, but very few of these internationally.

 5. How Do You Plan & Pay for Vacation Travel – here’s a great one from Ally Bank describing how people plan vacations & how they pay and budget for them. A cool take on the travel infographic idea that relates back to Ally’s core business of banking & finance.

6. Your Seat Prices Explained – here’s a funny one from comedy site Cracked.com explaining the differences in seat prices on an airplane. It really goes to show how much a ticket on the same plane can vary in price!

7. Travel Rudeness – this infographic is from Travelocity.com, which explains all of the different kinds of rude travelers you might encounter. It’s pretty funny and oh-so-true about all of the annoying types of people you might encounter in an airport!

I hope you enjoyed this post! As I said earlier, if you know of any that didn’t make the list, feel free to contact me or leave a comment below and I’ll give it a look!

This month’s featured travel deal is the very affordable, very enticing discount cruises offered at DiscountCruises.com. I just discovered this site recently, and I have to say, well done. They offer cruises to the Caribbean, Europe, Alaska, Bermuda and a few other locations. You can sort by cruise line, duration of trip, location, and several other metrics, so it’s pretty easy to find a cruise to suit your taste. They feature reviews, planning tips, and all sorts of other useful info as well, so that should help you make your decision if you’re indecisive like me.

Personally, my pick would be the Eastern Caribbean Cruise – it’s a 7-day cruise that visits Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas,  and Half Moon Cay. I’ve been to Grand Turk before and it’s absolutely incredible, with some of the most unbelievably pristine beaches you’ll ever see. This package also comes with a $125  on-ship credit, so for $599 total for 7 days that sounds like a bargain to me.

And last, but not least, I went for a nautical themed vacation package for this month because I just bought a new pair of deck shoes, and they’re begging to be in a more tropical territory. Something about boat shoes in the Arizona desert isn’t quite the same :)

Got any suggestions for the next edition of Nick’s Travel Picks? Send me an email with your recommendations!

PS You can buy deck shoes like the ones to the left on Amazon by clicking here.