Top destinations for vacationing NJ residents this year

New Jerseyans are still dealing with winter, but many are thinking ahead to some leisure travel. There are some mainstay destinations in the trends, such as Florida, but some new destinations.

"California is big this year," Tina Ozelas of Adventure Travel in Red Bank. "A lot of people are looking to stay within the United States, and also the west coast of Florida."

She says Garden Staters are looking at the Naples area, Captiva Island and Sanibel Island in Florida.

Ozelas says a lot of New Jerseyans want to stay in the country, but they want to do "relaxing in the sun."

"Once the cold weather starts setting in, the snow, the rain, the wind, they start looking to try to get away. Warmer weather, the sun, beautiful beaches. So that is where we send them."

And that warm weather vacation trend was reinforced by the AAA, which says people are looking for an "experience."

AAA says 42 percent of Americans are planning to take a vacation in 2017.

According to the AAA/Mid-Atlantic, their travel experts say the top international destinations are:

1) Cancun/Riviera Maya, Mexico
2) Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
3) Dublin, Ireland
4) Rome
5) London

And on the domestic travel list, AAA says it is:

1) Orlando, Florida
2) Anaheim, California (Disneyland)
3) Las Vegas
4) Honolulu
5) Anchorage, Alaska

Jennifer MacPherson, of AAA Travel in Lawrenceville, mentioned a new place that seems to be growing more popular.

"Iceland is getting to the point where it has kind of become a new bucket list destination," she says.

Joe Cutter is the afternoon news anchor on New Jersey 101.5