The next steps

The fourth step is Applying - connecting the information to a task. In this case I'm going to have to say that my task is going to be finding out even more information. When researching Boston it quickly became clear that we would need to figure out where we would want to stay first. Before we decide anything else. The actual information I found is:

• Traveling to Boston itself will be easiest and cheapest if we fly there.
• At some point we will need to rent a car in order to make a day trip up to Salem. 
• The majority of the museums, libraries, shopping areas, etc are located within a dense area in downtown Boston.
• The hotels located within this downtown area range from very expensive to extremely expensive, but allow for easy walking or public transportation to the sights. 
• Hotels farther distant from the city center are more budget friendly but would require a rental car for the entire week in order to reach many of the sights.
• Boston streets are notorious for being tricky, narrow, and difficult to navigate. There is very limited and expensive parking downtown.

What this all adds up to is, I need to keep on researching. Are there methods of public transportation from farther out that could take us into the city without the added stress and expense of driving a rental car? Are there hotels within a reasonable walk that still fall outside the insanely expensive area?

A quest for information like this can be a very tricky and complex undertaking. It isn't like looking up a single, concrete fact  and being done. In this case the only thing I can do now, is, as seen above, take the information I've found and go back to the beginning. Compose a new list of questions that I need to find answers to and  begin the process all over again.