Last minute vacations can take you to virtually anywhere in the world, from sun-drenched resorts to ancient monuments and museums. You can generally find them through your travel agency, in print advertisements, online or with various travel clubs. You can definitely find good deals and cheap vacation packages, but this concept is not for everyone. Usually, a handful of different factors must fall into place for these types of holidays to go off without a hitch, and your personality must fall in line with the parameters of how they work.
The personality aspect may be the most important element, because if you really don't like the concept, you aren't going to use them regardless of what else is happening. There is always a predominant element of uncertainty involved and less control than many people are willing to have when booking vacation packages.
Basically, you aren't going to know for sure that you're going somewhere until a few days, couple days or even day before it's time to go. This element of not knowing ahead of time might conflict with your personality too much to make the time-off as enjoyable for you. As far as personality goes, if you really want to have a good time, you'll have to be at least a little carefree with a pretty big sense of adventure. If you usually want things planned out in detail ahead of time, then these types of vacations may not be for you.
Once you know that this concept is one that you can get behind, you'll have to figure out if your schedule lends itself to that form of travel. Obviously, last minute packages are spontaneous, so if you can't get away from work and other responsibilities, it doesn't make any sense to participate. That's not to say you need the whole year free to travel whenever necessary, but you will need some flexibility in your schedule to take advantage of the deals that are offered.
You'll also need to have some flexibility with regards to your destination to make your vacation work for you. Even if your schedule is relatively open, you will have some responsibilities and you may have to be open to a group of different destinations to make it more likely you'll find vacation packages you like. If you focus on a resort in the Dominican Republic and will only accept that, you may be waiting for an awfully long time to find vacations that match what you want. Expanding your options will enable you to grab packages that fall within the time period you want. Once you're sure last minute vacations are right for your personality and right for your lifestyle, you can contact your travel agent or start signing up for different clubs that offer them.