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General Discussion => Post-FIRE => Topic started by: deborah on April 02, 2015, 05:21:53 AM

Title: Where would you travel?
Post by: deborah on April 02, 2015, 05:21:53 AM
For someone who spent her working life complaining bitterly about the number of work trips I had, I seem to be metamorphosing now I have been FIRE for a few years. Before FIRE I had been overseas on no more than a few occasions, and on one of these trips I was representing Australia, so it could be removed from the count of trips purely for pleasure.

This year was always going to be one where I traveled overseas - once. But in the past few weeks, this has become as many trips as I have ever had overseas, which will all be undertaken within the next year, and all for a couple of months. I am currently a pincushion - rabies, typhoid, hep C... and I have a brand spanking new passport. SO is not going to see much of me this year - especially as I am also going to be wandering around Australia for a few months. I am beginning to wonder where else I should travel, and then I realised there are an enormous number of mustashians who really WANT to travel...

So where do you want to travel in FIRE, and what do you want to see there?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dude on April 02, 2015, 05:55:14 AM
The list is too long to list, but Mexico (lots of it; I've been to several places on many occasions, but want to travel the country extensively), Patagonia (I am a climber, and those granite towers beckon like a Siren's song), Thailand (been a couple times, want to do more exploring), Vietnam, the European Alps, the Greek Islands (have visited three, and they were all magical), Borneo, Tahiti, India (specifically the Punjab and Himalayan foothills), and on and on and on . . .
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: RunHappy on April 02, 2015, 06:15:07 AM
It would be easier for me to tell where I don't want to travel:  any war zone.  Other than that I want to go everywhere and see as much as I can.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Exflyboy on April 02, 2015, 03:06:25 PM
For someone who spent her working life complaining bitterly about the number of work trips I had, I seem to be metamorphosing now I have been FIRE for a few years. Before FIRE I had been overseas on no more than a few occasions, and on one of these trips I was representing Australia, so it could be removed from the count of trips purely for pleasure.

This year was always going to be one where I traveled overseas - once. But in the past few weeks, this has become as many trips as I have ever had overseas, which will all be undertaken within the next year, and all for a couple of months. I am currently a pincushion - rabies, typhoid, hep C... and I have a brand spanking new passport. SO is not going to see much of me this year - especially as I am also going to be wandering around Australia for a few months. I am beginning to wonder where else I should travel, and then I realised there are an enormous number of mustashians who really WANT to travel...

So where do you want to travel in FIRE, and what do you want to see there?

I didn't know there was a vaccine for Hep C??

For me.. wow.. where wouldn't I go if I had enough money.. everywhere...:)

And thats coming from someone who has been almost everywhere for business..:)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: deborah on April 02, 2015, 11:01:25 PM
I didn't know there was a vaccine for Hep C??
Well, I looked it up - Hep A, Hep B, Typhoid, Rabies, Meningococcal, and something else - at least I already had Tetanus. I was wrong, no Hep C.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJo on April 03, 2015, 10:52:59 AM
Here's my plan for the first 4 years of retirement:
Travel down entire western Africa by truck
South Africa & Lesotho
Madagascar
Reunion
Mauritius
Seychelles
India
Nepal
Indonesia
Mexico to Panama
All of eastern Europe, from Estonia down to Greece
Hiking the entire Camino de Santiago
Portugal
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Capsu78 on April 03, 2015, 12:40:14 PM
Just returned from Ecuador and had a great time.  Many backpackers and European visitors seen. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: YK-Phil on April 03, 2015, 02:51:55 PM
I already lived on four continents and traveled pretty much everywhere for work and pleasure, and my wife and I intended just a few months ago to continue traveling during retirement, but in a different way, staying extended periods of time in one spot as a home base, working as an ESL or scuba diving instructor, and exploring neighbouring regions. However, while my wife still wants to travel, I have almost lost that desire and would rather stay closer to home in the Gulf Islands where we plan to build our retirement cabin this summer. There, the scenery is breathtaking, I am filled with awe when I look at the ocean and the teeming wildlife, and I simply want to spend my waking hours outdoors to hike, sail, kayak, surf, scuba dive, etc. I am not entirely sure why I am no longer inclined to travel so this is something the wife and I will have to discuss.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Cookie78 on April 05, 2015, 05:21:14 PM
Travelling in FIRE, my favorite topic!

Current places at the top of the list:
all around Canada and the USA - I still need to make a list of parks, cities, and other places to see
Alaska to Argentina - Planning to do this in about 5 years. Hopefully including Antarctica and Galapagos
Cairo to Cape Town, and/or some other variation of overlanding Africa
Vietnam
Cambodia
Thailand
Indonesia
Malaysia
Mauritius
Ireland
Iran
Jordan
Turkey
Greece

Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Punxsyboy on April 05, 2015, 09:08:13 PM
Just FYI. 
There is NOT a Hep. C vaccine.  (not yet anyway) . 
Hep B is a series of 3 shots.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: deborah on April 08, 2015, 05:09:15 AM
In a few days I'm traveling to Turkey for two months. But before that is Ocean Grove.

Turkey is one of the few things on my bucket list - the last will be crossed off when I go to New Zealand in January. But Turkey has been a dream. Because so many of the men in my family went to the first world war, I wanted to go to the Dawn Service at Galipolli in 2015 for a number of years. I also wanted to see the archeology and textiles of Turkey, as it is the source of the Euphrates and was thus part of early civilization. The Australian Government held a ballot (raffle?) for the dawn service this year, and about 10 times as many people in the ballot as there were places (about 10,500 will be at the dawn service). I was lucky to get one. So I am doing everything I have dreamed of doing there. It is terribly unmustachian as the dawn service will be one long queue - you have to arrive at the first check point by 2:00am to get through, and there are several check points. I guess they are really worried about terrorists, and Turkey has been having more of late than previously. It will be tourist high season in Turkey (possibly the peak of 20 years) as an enormous number of Australians and New Zealanders will be there (huge numbers of people are going even without tickets to the service itself, and many tours are putting together their own service for those who missed out on the real one) - so everything will be more expensive than usual.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Cookie78 on April 08, 2015, 08:08:47 AM
Wow Deborah, that sounds like a really amazing experience. I'm looking forward to hearing about it after you get back.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: mrshudson on April 08, 2015, 05:03:24 PM
It would be easier for me to tell where I don't want to travel:  any war zone.  Other than that I want to go everywhere and see as much as I can.

Yep. Me as well.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: flyingaway on April 08, 2015, 10:12:32 PM
I have visited all 50 US states and more than 20 countries and areas. We travelled to at least one new country each year. Since my younger son goes to college this year, we plan to travel to at least two new countries, starting this year. Our goal is to visit all convenient countries in the world (at least those without visa requirements) in retirement. So, this year will kick off our pre-retirement travels. Current on our list are: Dominican Republic, Spain, Cambodia, and most countries in South America and Europe.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: soccerluvof4 on April 09, 2015, 09:30:22 AM
Wow i envy so many of you! I have been to all of US except Alaska and have been to Canada a few times as well as Mexico BUT a lot was Military or Soccer with Kids so really didnt "visit" them. So now that I am recently retired we are planning our first family trip in 16 years which we will head down to northern florida (daughter has a 3 days soccer event and work our way about into SC, NC, VA and head home. As much as I want to go over seas i have so much of my homeland i want to see first and right! and that will take me quite a while.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Shenzhenigans on April 22, 2015, 01:53:12 AM
I'm currently teaching ESL in Shenzhen, China, but I think I'd like to continue traveling around Asia. We recently took a trip to the Huangshan mountain range. It was amazing. I think I'd enjoy climbing some more mountains. Hoping to make it to Danxia mountains in a couple weeks!

Iceland and Egypt are also high on my list right now. Iceland will happen soon (especially with Wowair!), but I'm waiting for Egypt to calm down a bit. I'd love to learn some arabic .
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Minion on April 22, 2015, 07:31:28 PM
Hop on ozbargain and cruise the discount flights :)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: sequim on April 23, 2015, 08:34:06 AM
Even though we're not FIRE quite yet, I'm very excited about finally having the freedom to travel.  We had many years of not being able to arrange it with work and family matters.  Because our passions are mountain biking, skiing and food, these interests are what will dictate where we go.  Some countries high on the list are Iceland (outdoor activities in general and such a fascinating country), New Zealand for the same reason, the Alps (skiing!), Italy, France and Spain (the food!), Scandinavian countries (biking). 

Soon to be moving to Utah, we're really looking forward to all the skiing and biking opportunities in the state and the four corners region, especially the desert red rock areas.  Would love to do constant short road trips this year with our bikes.  And then to branch out and seek out cool biking areas within the country.  Bike magazine always features interesting places to ride so I've been collecting some of those issues.

Also on our list as foodie destinations would be Mexico (love Mexican culture and food), Chicago and New Orleans.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Aussiegirl on April 23, 2015, 12:38:24 PM
Fantastic Deborah!  Can think of nothing more amazing than listening to that bugle at Gallipoli tomorrow morning!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Adventures With Poopsie on March 07, 2016, 02:33:08 PM
Great thread, I have really enjoyed reading it and gotten some awesome inspiration.

My mum did the Camino two years ago (and during it, had some sort of epiphany and two weeks after she got back, she retired at the age of 54!). That inspired Poopsie and I to do the same and that will probably be the first thing we do when we retire (ala arebelspy).

After that, we intend to slow travel for a number of years. The list of destinations is endless.

We want to make sure we travel in the interim 8 years before ER though. We're off to the USA in August and somewhere in Europe next year (probably France).

Travel is our reason for striving toward FIRE.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Parizade on March 07, 2016, 02:43:50 PM
I already lived on four continents and traveled pretty much everywhere for work and pleasure, and my wife and I intended just a few months ago to continue traveling during retirement, but in a different way, staying extended periods of time in one spot as a home base, working as an ESL or scuba diving instructor, and exploring neighbouring regions.

I'm thinking along these lines as well. I want to spend winters in a warmer place, just not in the same place every year. The first few years will look something like this:

Killarney Ireland
Botswana
The Yucatan peninsula
India
The Azores


Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: 2Birds1Stone on March 07, 2016, 02:50:34 PM
Right after FIRE

Flip Flop Thru-hike the Appalachian Trail
Move to Poland for 5-6 months (Have dual citizenship and parents have paid off apartment there)
Travel Around Eastern/Central Europe from Poland
Move back to USA and Spend a year car camping/RVing around North America
Slow Travel through Central/South America for 6-9 months
Bicycle Across the USA
Move to Portugal for 6-9 months and travel around Western Europe using that as home base.
Slow Travel SE Asia
Learn How to Sail
Sail Around the Caribbean for 3-6 months

The list goes on and on from here =D
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: flyingaway on March 07, 2016, 07:22:52 PM
It is interesting this thread came back. We are going to Costa Rica on Sunday. Went to Dominican Republic, Canada, Mexico, China, since the last post.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Abel on March 07, 2016, 08:02:10 PM
A few years ago I bicycled across the Americas with my two brothers. Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina. Bikepacking so we had the tent and stove and everything we needed, but happily accepted the frequent invitations of strangers to sleep in their home or barn and made a lot of memories. Once you travel in this manner (very mustachian by the way! I've never had more frugal adventures) I don't think any other method measures up.

My bikepacking shortlist of places I have never been:

Italy
Norway
The Himalayas

Places I will never get tired of returning to:

Ecuador
Colombia
Bend, Oregon
White Mountains, New Hampshire
Anywhere in California
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Classical_Liberal on March 07, 2016, 08:57:36 PM
I didn't know there was a vaccine for Hep C??
Well, I looked it up - Hep A, Hep B, Typhoid, Rabies, Meningococcal, and something else - at least I already had Tetanus. I was wrong, no Hep C.
I had a Hep C vaccination a few years ago. It's a series of 3 shots done over a year. Probably not something a person travelling overseas would get along with the other vaccines.

So Deborah - where and when are you going? Enquiring nosey minds want to know :-).

The three shot series is Hep B, not yet a Hep C vaccination that I know of on the market.  Although there is a VERY expensive Hep C "cure" that works in the most common infection types. Also, those Hep B vaccinations dont always work, make sure you get a titer if you are concerned.

Oh, and I REALLY want to travel more.  A year road tripping across the US, a year in SE Asia, a year in central and S America and maybe 6 mos in Europe....
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: deborah on March 08, 2016, 02:07:24 AM
Looking at this thread, I never really responded to:
So Deborah - where and when are you going? Enquiring nosey minds want to know :-). 
I did say:
In a few days I'm traveling to Turkey for two months. But before that is Ocean Grove.

Turkey is one of the few things on my bucket list - the last will be crossed off when I go to New Zealand in January. But Turkey has been a dream. Because so many of the men in my family went to the first world war, I wanted to go to the Dawn Service at Galipolli in 2015 for a number of years. I also wanted to see the archeology and textiles of Turkey, as it is the source of the Euphrates and was thus part of early civilization. The Australian Government held a ballot (raffle?) for the dawn service this year, and about 10 times as many people in the ballot as there were places (about 10,500 will be at the dawn service). I was lucky to get one. So I am doing everything I have dreamed of doing there. It is terribly unmustachian as the dawn service will be one long queue - you have to arrive at the first check point by 2:00am to get through, and there are several check points. I guess they are really worried about terrorists, and Turkey has been having more of late than previously. It will be tourist high season in Turkey (possibly the peak of 20 years) as an enormous number of Australians and New Zealanders will be there (huge numbers of people are going even without tickets to the service itself, and many tours are putting together their own service for those who missed out on the real one) - so everything will be more expensive than usual.
WOW! Everything about that post! The draw for who gets to go, the 2am check-point, your big dream coming true!!!

I never "get" people wanting to go far away to "see" something, because my body doesn't care about that, but I 100% get the desire to stand in places one's ancestors stood, touch the things they touched, etc. That, my body/mind/soul totally grasps, and it's the one element remaining that still gets me interested in travel. (Previously it was learning languages, immersing for months in any one culture, etc.)

Congrats, deborah!!! I'm really excited for you!
Wow Deborah, that sounds like a really amazing experience. I'm looking forward to hearing about it after you get back.
But I never reported back. And I've done more travel since.

Turkey was just amazing. I did a battlefield tour (you had to be in a tour group to go to the Galipolli commemoration), and it was really good. We went to where the British and French battleships were sunk by the Turks (this preceded the land campaign) and had maps that showed us exactly how it happened. We went to many of the war cemeteries, the landing sites and the sites of major battles. One of my relations was in charge of the withdrawal when they left, and I saw where all of my different relatives had fought (there were about 20 of them). Then I went to the tourist spots in central Turkey - and underground city, the churches carved into the rocks (a UNESCO heritage site), the fairy floss Roman health resort, and Ephesus (another World Heritage site). Then I went to South East Turkey - and it was absolutely AMAZING - the enormous stone heads at Mt Nemrut, Gobelki Tepi, Mount Ararat,  all the places around Van, Ani... and I left just two weeks before places I had been started to have bomb attacks, after being at peace for about 10 years.

Then I came home, went to Perth for a week and visited the Pinnacles, the beaches, the caves and forests of south east Western Australia and the stromatolites, went to Victoria, and then on my second overseas trip. LA, the canyons and Indian sites (including Mesa Verde), and Ecuador - Andes, Amazon, Galapagos, Quito including a few Inca and pre-Inca ruins.

I am soon going to western Canada and Alaska for a couple of months, but in about a week, I will be going to Alice Springs, and will hopefully visit some of Uluru, Watarrka, Kata Tjuta, Lake Eyre (which has water in it again) and Anna Creek Painted Desert.

My New Zealand trip is actually next year rather than this.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: happy on March 08, 2016, 02:15:34 AM
You've been busy! Sounds like you've had some great trips.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: rockstache on March 08, 2016, 08:50:29 AM
I already lived on four continents and traveled pretty much everywhere for work and pleasure, and my wife and I intended just a few months ago to continue traveling during retirement, but in a different way, staying extended periods of time in one spot as a home base, working as an ESL or scuba diving instructor, and exploring neighbouring regions.

I'm thinking along these lines as well. I want to spend winters in a warmer place, just not in the same place every year. The first few years will look something like this:

Killarney Ireland
Botswana
The Yucatan peninsula
India
The Azores

I love Botswana so much. It was my first international trip ever and will always have a special place in my heart.

Deborah your Turkey trip sounds like it was amazing!

On my list is (in no particular order)

-Thailand
-South Korea
-Israel (again)
-Italy
-Scotland

Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Parizade on March 08, 2016, 09:16:51 AM

I love Botswana so much. It was my first international trip ever and will always have a special place in my heart.


THANK YOU rockstache, most people give me a quizzical look when I say I want to spend 3 months in Botswana, but I think it looks like a completely amazing place.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Cookie78 on March 08, 2016, 09:59:32 AM
A few years ago I bicycled across the Americas with my two brothers. Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina. Bikepacking so we had the tent and stove and everything we needed, but happily accepted the frequent invitations of strangers to sleep in their home or barn and made a lot of memories. Once you travel in this manner (very mustachian by the way! I've never had more frugal adventures) I don't think any other method measures up.


That sounds absolutely incredible!! I will do that route some day, but not likely by bicycle. :)

Looking at this thread, I never really responded to:

Thanks for the update!!


I love Botswana so much. It was my first international trip ever and will always have a special place in my heart.


THANK YOU rockstache, most people give me a quizzical look when I say I want to spend 3 months in Botswana, but I think it looks like a completely amazing place.

I haven't been to Botswana yet, but it's been on my list for years. I just finished reading 'White Dog Fell from the Sky' which was set there. Great book, imo.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Abel on March 08, 2016, 04:43:07 PM
You're living my dream! I have a dog who doesn't like biking much but follow some long distance biking blogs on crazy guy on a bike (some from MMM forums) as well as long distance solo female cyclists.  Some day I hope to do the same.

Spartana - Crazy Guy on a Bike stuff is great. My personal favorite is While Out Riding, writing and photography by an amazing man named Cass Gilbert out of Santa Fe, NM. He and his wife have taken their two year old on bicycle tours in the Andes. Inspirational. And the photography and stories is really out of this world. Enjoy!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Jeremy E. on March 08, 2016, 04:48:46 PM
I've been looking at low cost of living places, as these are the places I will go to first, I learned about most of these from retire early lifestyles blog
Panajachel, Guatemala
Antigua, Guatemala
Chapala, Mexico
Chiang Mai, Thailand

I also really want to go to New Zealand, as well as the great barrier reef, but I assume you've already been to both
I also want to go to all of the national parks in the United states
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dude on March 09, 2016, 07:12:15 AM


Soon to be moving to Utah, we're really looking forward to all the skiing and biking opportunities in the state and the four corners region, especially the desert red rock areas.  Would love to do constant short road trips this year with our bikes.  And then to branch out and seek out cool biking areas within the country.  Bike magazine always features interesting places to ride so I've been collecting some of those issues.


Recently returned from a week in Utah.  Spent 2 days at resorts (Sundance and Solitude), and 4 days in the Wasatch backcountry -- and OMFG was it fucking fantastic.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Dee18 on March 09, 2016, 01:56:48 PM
+1 on Guatemala.  I'm finally going there in November after having it on my list for years.  A safari  in Africa is also on the short list, although I'm not quite sure which country.  My favorite animals to see are elephants, zebras and giraffes.  I welcome suggestions for those.  Went to Kenya years ago...it was great but I'd like to go elsewhere.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJo on March 09, 2016, 02:13:42 PM
Just booked my next trip: 2 weeks in Cuba in November.  $488 US from Vancouver, BC to Havana.

Not post FIRE yet but this might be my last big trip before (hopefully) FIRE next year.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Cookie78 on March 09, 2016, 02:17:37 PM
+1 on Guatemala.  I'm finally going there in November after having it on my list for years.  A safari  in Africa is also on the short list, although I'm not quite sure which country.  My favorite animals to see are elephants, zebras and giraffes.  I welcome suggestions for those.  Went to Kenya years ago...it was great but I'd like to go elsewhere.

I've only been to serengeti and a few other parks nearby, so I can't compare, but it was wonderful and had plenty of elephants, zebras and giraffes.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: YK-Phil on March 09, 2016, 02:31:29 PM
+1 on Guatemala.  I'm finally going there in November after having it on my list for years. 

We will be leaving in the fall on a road trip from Western Canada, along the Pacific route to Panama, via Mexico (Leon, Potosi, San Miguel de Allende and Merida areas) Belize, Guatemala (Antigua area), Honduras and Nicaragua.  Has anyone driven to Panama recently who could share their experience about safety and security along the way?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Eric on March 09, 2016, 02:37:34 PM
+1 on Guatemala.  I'm finally going there in November after having it on my list for years. 

We will be leaving in the fall on a road trip from Western Canada, along the Pacific route to Panama, via Mexico (Leon, Potosi, San Miguel de Allende and Merida areas) Belize, Guatemala (Antigua area), Honduras and Nicaragua.  Has anyone driven to Panama recently who could share their experience about safety and security along the way?

These guys made it to Costa Rica (from California) before heading back up towards Nova Scotia (at the moment):

http://freedomwithbruno.com/

Good tips about overland border crossings and such, along with general cool travel stuff.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJo on March 09, 2016, 02:43:46 PM
+1 on Guatemala.  I'm finally going there in November after having it on my list for years.  A safari  in Africa is also on the short list, although I'm not quite sure which country.  My favorite animals to see are elephants, zebras and giraffes.  I welcome suggestions for those.  Went to Kenya years ago...it was great but I'd like to go elsewhere.

I've only been to serengeti and a few other parks nearby, so I can't compare, but it was wonderful and had plenty of elephants, zebras and giraffes.

For those of you interested in longer term in Africa, look into "Overlanding"   I did a 10 week trip there 12 years ago and it's quite cheap compared to the typical safaris.  It involves alot of camping.  I'm thinking about doing a trip down the entire west coast of Africa the year after I retire.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Cassie on March 09, 2016, 02:54:19 PM
WE have been to Europe 4x's but only 2 countries so I would like to see the rest of the countries. The next 2 will be Ireland & Scotland. we are going to Alaska this summer.  Canada, Japan, and some states on the EAst Coast that I have not seen yet. What I learned from going to Thailand is that I don't like going where it is hot and poor. We went in Nov and it was still 90 with a ton of humidity.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JLR on March 09, 2016, 07:30:07 PM
I'm so glad to hear an update, Deborah.

Was it you who was taking their niece (??)  to LA? How did it go?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: deborah on March 09, 2016, 08:58:55 PM
It went OK. She can't navigate. The GPS (which I had updated with US maps) died on the second day. I think we should have been killed several times that day, but the LA drivers are pretty good, even if they do honk you. We ended up spending 4 hours getting home that night because we went in the wrong directions. Unfortunately, I never saw a shop during that memorable part of the trip.

But it was good. She hadn't done any research, and didn't get out of bed until noon, but we saw a lot (since I had worked out things I wanted to see, and how to get to some of the places she had mentioned), and if I hadn't had her, I would never have gone to all the canyon parks and the Pueblo Indian sites I saw after she went home, and they were worth everything I went through in LA. It was a wonderful trip.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JLR on March 12, 2016, 07:43:25 PM
I'm glad it was a wonderful trip overall. :)

We had a GPS in the car on our trip last year, but only had a car for 3 days out of 5 weeks. Instead my husband downloaded some maps to his phone before we left. Apparently by downloading them to his phone there were no data charges to use them as a GPS?? Let me know if you are interested in that for a future trip and I will ask him the name.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Villanelle on March 12, 2016, 08:08:23 PM
 I used to have an extensive list, but having been fortunate enough to live in Europe and Asia, I've been to far more places than I ever would have dreamed I'd make it in a lifetime.

I'd like to return to:
Scotland (especially Skye and the Highlands)
Venice
Iceland (in the summer next time(

I'd also love to see more of Italy than the few parts we managed.

And I'd love to dive the Great Barrier Reef, see New Zealand, visit Brazil, see Machu Pichu, do a trip with Vietnam and Cambodia, go to China, see more of Africa (only been to Morocco), and probably many others, if I really sat down to think about it. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on March 16, 2016, 11:03:41 AM
Have you ever thought about just up and moving to another country?  I love wandering, but sometimes it's nice to find one good spot and stay there long enough to really understand the place.  We're considering moving to Ecuador or Mexico. 

I want to do some serious roaming the world, too, though.  I really want to go just about everywhere, but the some of the ones that stand out aside from Ecuador and Mexico are:

Thailand
Kerala
Sri Lanka
Rajasthan
Sichuan
Nepal
Rwanda
Cameroon
Malawi
Brazil
Spain
Hong Kong
Bangladesh
Colombia
Netherlands

I could just go on and on.  I know I'll probably never get to half of these places, though, and I'm fine with that because it's much better to pick a few and slow down to really get to know them.  Plus some of those are such huge amounts of territory.  Brazil could mean the Nordeste, or Sao Paulo, or Rio, or the south, or the Amazon or so many other regions, then do you mean rural, small town, or big city.  All of those could each make for its own trip with a completely different experience. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Villanelle on March 16, 2016, 11:29:44 PM
Have you ever thought about just up and moving to another country?  I love wandering, but sometimes it's nice to find one good spot and stay there long enough to really understand the place.  We're considering moving to Ecuador or Mexico. 



Having done it twice (for DH's work), I don't think I am likely to ever become a long-term ExPat.  I loved our experiences, and I've given a lot of thought to what makes me hesitant to ever do it permanently.  I think it's that I am someone who loves words, and communication.  Operating in a language that will never be like my first, which means so much nuance is missed, I don't have the vocabulary to pick the absolute best word for a given situation, and I think I would always feel like I was less understood and connected that I would be if I had my the full language abilities of my native language--it just feels somewhat isolating. 

Of course, there are countries other than my own where English is the primary language, but certainly that narrows the options. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Miss Prim on March 17, 2016, 07:28:50 AM
My husband and I spent 2 weeks in St Thomas and St. John USVI in January.  It was the most beautiful and amazing vacation I have ever had and I've been a lot of places!  The weather was in the 80's F during the day and 70's at night.  On St. John, we would get up in the morning and have a leisurely breakfast in our rented apartment and then head out for some hiking.  After we hiked, we would head to a different beach everyday and hang out, swim in the warm water, snorkel and than head back to Cruz Bay for happy hour.  There were a lot of bars on both St. Thomas and St. John with happy hour specials and food specials.  After that, we would head back to our place and hang out on the deck overlooking the car ferries and watch what we called car ferry TV.  Than watch a little real TV, or read and hit the hay and started all over again.  It was both active and relaxing.

I know you are in Australia and it may not be easy to get to from there, but I would definitely put it on any list of places to go.

                                                                                          Miss Prim
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: ol1970 on March 17, 2016, 08:10:08 AM
When I first "FIRED", I didn't really think I was going to stay retired...I negotiated a nice exit package along with selling my business interests that had a non-compete for a couple of years tied to it.  I left the next week and spent a month driving all through Costa Rica & (attempting) to surf in the pacific.  3 weeks visiting expat friends in China, a week snowboarding in Japan, a couple months in the U.S. & British Virgin Islands, visited most of the national parks out west.  Snowboarded about a month in Utah and Colorado, & learned to sail here in the Great Lakes. 

During all of this I asked myself since I was not tied to my home here, and you could do anything you really want, what would make you the happiest.  Perpetual slow travel on the water kept rising to the top of the list...so now after taking time to really make sure it is what I want to do I'm selling my embarrassingly un-mustacian too large of home (paid for) and buying a sailboat to go see the world.  It will actually be less expensive than living on land (a lot of that has to do with the expensive area where I live) if you can believe that.  I'm not sure how long I will do it for, but I'm under no misconception that it will be without significant headache...I'm giving it 2 years & then see what I think.  That will give me enough time to sail the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, from there who knows, but at least I will have done it.  If I were to guess, I find it hard to imagine not wanting to continue to immerse myself in new locations and adventures vs. living in cornbread suburbia for the next 30 years.

My advice, travel a bunch of places & see what you like, something just might grab a hold of your imagination and not let go!  I have had the feeling of euphoric happiness about 10 times in the last 14 months, each time was setting out on an adventure where I didn't know the outcome or where it would take me.  Honestly I'm a pretty darn happy person in general, but not sure I've felt that alive 10 times in the previous 10 years...sort of like I woke up out of the Matrix.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Cookie78 on March 17, 2016, 09:04:50 AM
When I first "FIRED", I didn't really think I was going to stay retired...I negotiated a nice exit package along with selling my business interests that had a non-compete for a couple of years tied to it.  I left the next week and spent a month driving all through Costa Rica & (attempting) to surf in the pacific.  3 weeks visiting expat friends in China, a week snowboarding in Japan, a couple months in the U.S. & British Virgin Islands, visited most of the national parks out west.  Snowboarded about a month in Utah and Colorado, & learned to sail here in the Great Lakes. 

During all of this I asked myself since I was not tied to my home here, and you could do anything you really want, what would make you the happiest.  Perpetual slow travel on the water kept rising to the top of the list...so now after taking time to really make sure it is what I want to do I'm selling my embarrassingly un-mustacian too large of home (paid for) and buying a sailboat to go see the world.  It will actually be less expensive than living on land (a lot of that has to do with the expensive area where I live) if you can believe that.  I'm not sure how long I will do it for, but I'm under no misconception that it will be without significant headache...I'm giving it 2 years & then see what I think.  That will give me enough time to sail the Mediterranean and the Caribbean, from there who knows, but at least I will have done it.  If I were to guess, I find it hard to imagine not wanting to continue to immerse myself in new locations and adventures vs. living in cornbread suburbia for the next 30 years.

My advice, travel a bunch of places & see what you like, something just might grab a hold of your imagination and not let go!  I have had the feeling of euphoric happiness about 10 times in the last 14 months, each time was setting out on an adventure where I didn't know the outcome or where it would take me.  Honestly I'm a pretty darn happy person in general, but not sure I've felt that alive 10 times in the previous 10 years...sort of like I woke up out of the Matrix.

This is extremely exciting and inspiring to me! Keep us posted on the sailing adventures, ya? Thanks for sharing. :)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: MishMash on March 17, 2016, 09:14:01 AM
I already lived on four continents and traveled pretty much everywhere for work and pleasure, and my wife and I intended just a few months ago to continue traveling during retirement, but in a different way, staying extended periods of time in one spot as a home base, working as an ESL or scuba diving instructor, and exploring neighbouring regions.

I'm thinking along these lines as well. I want to spend winters in a warmer place, just not in the same place every year. The first few years will look something like this:

Killarney Ireland
Botswana
The Yucatan peninsula
India
The Azores

Having been to Botswana might I suggest Etosha National Park in neighboring Namibia?   It was freaking AWESOME...better then the delta when I was there (although the bat caves in Botswana were pretty cool)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on March 17, 2016, 10:50:27 AM
Have you ever thought about just up and moving to another country?  I love wandering, but sometimes it's nice to find one good spot and stay there long enough to really understand the place.  We're considering moving to Ecuador or Mexico. 



Having done it twice (for DH's work), I don't think I am likely to ever become a long-term ExPat.  I loved our experiences, and I've given a lot of thought to what makes me hesitant to ever do it permanently.  I think it's that I am someone who loves words, and communication.  Operating in a language that will never be like my first, which means so much nuance is missed, I don't have the vocabulary to pick the absolute best word for a given situation, and I think I would always feel like I was less understood and connected that I would be if I had my the full language abilities of my native language--it just feels somewhat isolating. 

Of course, there are countries other than my own where English is the primary language, but certainly that narrows the options.

I think I come at that from the exact opposite side of the coin.  I definitely understand what you're saying, but I personally absolutely love learning languages.  On top of being a language geek, I also feel like I really get a better experience of something completely different if I can connect with somebody that doesn't speak English, even if the communication isn't perfect.  It is definitely isolating at first when you're still in the baby talk phase, but so much of nuance is context and body language anyway.  It really comes down to which side of that coin you like better.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on September 06, 2018, 04:21:40 PM
Indonesia looks really interesting.

(Old thread needs a bump.)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: sanderh on September 06, 2018, 11:16:42 PM
Iceland
Hawaii
+1 for "anywhere except a war zone".
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Hula Hoop on September 07, 2018, 04:49:53 AM
Since you're in Australia, I'd say Asia.  I've always wanted to go to Japan, Vietnam and China. 

In the rest of the world, my bucket list in includes:  roadtrip in the Southwest of the US ie. New Mexico, Arizona, parts of California, Nevada, Utah- I've already been there but I want to go again as I loved it so much - the Dolomites here in Italy, Ethiopia, Iceland, Kakadu NP in Australia, the Caribbean - particularly Puerto Rico and maybe some smaller islands like St. Thomas, Mexico.  I kind of want to go back to India too.  But I'm not FIREd yet so I have to squeeze trips home to see my family into my vacation time.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dude on September 07, 2018, 12:58:12 PM
Iceland
Hawaii
+1 for "anywhere except a war zone".

Be ready to max out your credit card in Iceland! Egads, is that place expensive! Really enjoyed visiting, but am in no hurry to go back and pay $15 for a beer, and $25 for a hamburger . . .
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Cassie on September 07, 2018, 01:45:17 PM
We want to go to Ireland, Scotland, Germany and England. Have been to Europe 4x’s and love it. We are taking a Caribbean cruise in February.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: jim555 on September 07, 2018, 03:49:19 PM
Iceland
Hawaii
+1 for "anywhere except a war zone".

Be ready to max out your credit card in Iceland! Egads, is that place expensive! Really enjoyed visiting, but am in no hurry to go back and pay $15 for a beer, and $25 for a hamburger . . .
I saw that on a Youtube video, the food prices are INSANE in Iceland.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: markbike528CBX on September 07, 2018, 09:01:32 PM
Bucket list item: go see favorite band in some obscure place well off the beaten path.
Solution: Mudhoney in Zagreb, Croatia, near my birthday for the win.
Thanksgiving (US) week is definitely offseason most places in Europe..
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Exflyboy on September 08, 2018, 05:58:05 PM
This month we head (from West coast USA) to the UK then to Ukraine, Slovenia, Croatia, UK again, Scotland possibly, Ireland.

We are taking the train all the way from Split in Croatia to Sutton on Sea, UK where my Parents live.. We will spend a night in a hotel (Holiday Inn points) in Paris cus I'm a romantic..:)

Should be a blast assuming all the connections work out..:)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Villanelle on September 08, 2018, 11:25:28 PM
Brazil (including to Sao Paulo to visit friends), Mongolia (on my mind because we had a 5 day trip booked and had to cancel 3 days out due to a work emergency for DH.  Sigh), French Polynesia, Vietnam and Cambodia (and maybe Laos if we can squeeze it in; in process of planning this for Christmas time).  Off the top of my head, that's the list of places I still want to see. 

For return trips, I will always love Venice, Skye in Scotland is my heart's home, and I'd like to see Iceland in summer (we were there in winter to see the aurora). 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: MrThatsDifferent on September 09, 2018, 02:33:35 PM
My plan is to spend 10 years traveling everywhere that isn’t a hot zone of death and destruction.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Hula Hoop on September 10, 2018, 05:32:06 AM
MrThats - I would love to go full on nomad once we hit FIRE but, unfortunately, our kids will probably be in high school and there is no way in hell we're home schooling them.  I guess we will just have to fit our travels into the school summer holidays.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on September 10, 2018, 11:00:18 AM
My plan is to spend 10 years traveling everywhere that isn’t a hot zone of death and destruction.

"Hot Zone of Death and Destruction" sounds like a tourism slogan gone terribly wrong. 

It seems like a lot of places that are billed as hot zones of death and destruction aren't as bad as their reputation or their reputation is outdated.  From what I can tell, you will die if you visit Mexico. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on September 10, 2018, 11:09:03 AM
Since you're in Australia, I'd say Asia.  I've always wanted to go to Japan, Vietnam and China. 

In the rest of the world, my bucket list in includes:  roadtrip in the Southwest of the US ie. New Mexico, Arizona, parts of California, Nevada, Utah- I've already been there but I want to go again as I loved it so much - the Dolomites here in Italy, Ethiopia, Iceland, Kakadu NP in Australia, the Caribbean - particularly Puerto Rico and maybe some smaller islands like St. Thomas, Mexico.  I kind of want to go back to India too.  But I'm not FIREd yet so I have to squeeze trips home to see my family into my vacation time.

I really want to see more of India.  I went to Hyderabad several years ago and it was so fascinating.  India is more like a continent than a country, though.  I want to see the rest of it like Kerala, Rajasthan, etc. etc. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: YK-Phil on September 10, 2018, 12:06:54 PM
My plan is to spend 10 years traveling everywhere that isn’t a hot zone of death and destruction.

"Hot Zone of Death and Destruction" sounds like a tourism slogan gone terribly wrong. 

It seems like a lot of places that are billed as hot zones of death and destruction aren't as bad as their reputation or their reputation is outdated.  From what I can tell, you will die if you visit Mexico.

As part of my semi-retirement plan, my wife, the cat and I have been overlanding (travel by land and camping) 6 months of the year in Mexico, generally from October to April, camping freely on beaches, sierras, deserts, small pueblos, etc. The past few years, we were very spartan and used a rooftop tent, but this year we are moving up on the comfort scale and upgrading to a slide-in truck camper. If I took the advice of the State Department, I'd never leave home. In reality, Mexico has been the greatest country I ever visited, and Mexicans are by far the most gracious people on the planet. I'm getting ready for our annual migration and can hardly stay still.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Cookie78 on September 10, 2018, 01:24:28 PM
My plan is to spend 10 years traveling everywhere that isn’t a hot zone of death and destruction.

"Hot Zone of Death and Destruction" sounds like a tourism slogan gone terribly wrong. 

It seems like a lot of places that are billed as hot zones of death and destruction aren't as bad as their reputation or their reputation is outdated.  From what I can tell, you will die if you visit Mexico.

As part of my semi-retirement plan, my wife, the cat and I have been overlanding (travel by land and camping) 6 months of the year in Mexico, generally from October to April, camping freely on beaches, sierras, deserts, small pueblos, etc. The past few years, we were very spartan and used a rooftop tent, but this year we are moving up on the comfort scale and upgrading to a slide-in truck camper. If I took the advice of the State Department, I'd never leave home. In reality, Mexico has been the greatest country I ever visited, and Mexicans are by far the most gracious people on the planet. I'm getting ready for our annual migration and can hardly stay still.

Are you back in Calgary the other 6 months? Or NWT?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: YK-Phil on September 10, 2018, 01:43:34 PM
My plan is to spend 10 years traveling everywhere that isn’t a hot zone of death and destruction.

"Hot Zone of Death and Destruction" sounds like a tourism slogan gone terribly wrong. 

It seems like a lot of places that are billed as hot zones of death and destruction aren't as bad as their reputation or their reputation is outdated.  From what I can tell, you will die if you visit Mexico.

As part of my semi-retirement plan, my wife, the cat and I have been overlanding (travel by land and camping) 6 months of the year in Mexico, generally from October to April, camping freely on beaches, sierras, deserts, small pueblos, etc. The past few years, we were very spartan and used a rooftop tent, but this year we are moving up on the comfort scale and upgrading to a slide-in truck camper. If I took the advice of the State Department, I'd never leave home. In reality, Mexico has been the greatest country I ever visited, and Mexicans are by far the most gracious people on the planet. I'm getting ready for our annual migration and can hardly stay still.

Are you back in Calgary the other 6 months? Or NWT?

Leaving Yellowknife for Calgary on September 30, DW is going to Japan all of October while I cat-sit, so I'll wait for her return to start our southern migration early November. Counting the days :)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: nkt0 on September 10, 2018, 01:45:40 PM
I would like to do the Pacific Coast Trail, the Ice Age Trail, and maybe the Appalachian Trail. Plus i would like to spend a minimum of 3 months traveling various parts of Europe. And then Australia and New Zealand.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Cookie78 on September 10, 2018, 02:03:54 PM
My plan is to spend 10 years traveling everywhere that isn’t a hot zone of death and destruction.

"Hot Zone of Death and Destruction" sounds like a tourism slogan gone terribly wrong. 

It seems like a lot of places that are billed as hot zones of death and destruction aren't as bad as their reputation or their reputation is outdated.  From what I can tell, you will die if you visit Mexico.

As part of my semi-retirement plan, my wife, the cat and I have been overlanding (travel by land and camping) 6 months of the year in Mexico, generally from October to April, camping freely on beaches, sierras, deserts, small pueblos, etc. The past few years, we were very spartan and used a rooftop tent, but this year we are moving up on the comfort scale and upgrading to a slide-in truck camper. If I took the advice of the State Department, I'd never leave home. In reality, Mexico has been the greatest country I ever visited, and Mexicans are by far the most gracious people on the planet. I'm getting ready for our annual migration and can hardly stay still.

Are you back in Calgary the other 6 months? Or NWT?

Leaving Yellowknife for Calgary on September 30, DW is going to Japan all of October while I cat-sit, so I'll wait for her return to start our southern migration early November. Counting the days :)

I bet! Buen Viaje
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on September 10, 2018, 03:52:54 PM
My plan is to spend 10 years traveling everywhere that isn’t a hot zone of death and destruction.

"Hot Zone of Death and Destruction" sounds like a tourism slogan gone terribly wrong. 

It seems like a lot of places that are billed as hot zones of death and destruction aren't as bad as their reputation or their reputation is outdated.  From what I can tell, you will die if you visit Mexico.

As part of my semi-retirement plan, my wife, the cat and I have been overlanding (travel by land and camping) 6 months of the year in Mexico, generally from October to April, camping freely on beaches, sierras, deserts, small pueblos, etc. The past few years, we were very spartan and used a rooftop tent, but this year we are moving up on the comfort scale and upgrading to a slide-in truck camper. If I took the advice of the State Department, I'd never leave home. In reality, Mexico has been the greatest country I ever visited, and Mexicans are by far the most gracious people on the planet. I'm getting ready for our annual migration and can hardly stay still.

I went to Mexico City in 2009, and I'm planning to go again next year.  I'd really like to see somewhere new, but it's such an interesting place with really good food.  Mexico is a big country, anyway, so I can get my "somewhere new" in with a side trip to Guanajuato. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Hula Hoop on September 15, 2018, 01:51:07 AM
I need to add Mexico to my bucket list.  I went there as a kid but nothing since.  I got extremely sick as a kid though with a horrible stomach bug in Mexico City.  Have things improved since?  I remember a Mexican guy telling me that people are sick all the time in Mexico even the Mexicans.


Exflyboy - Slovenia is meant to be amazing.  I have a lot of Italian friends who go there on vacation and they LOVE it.  I've been to Ukraine and I recommend visitig L'viv.

Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: nnls on September 15, 2018, 02:04:08 AM
I need to add Mexico to my bucket list.  I went there as a kid but nothing since.  I got extremely sick as a kid though with a horrible stomach bug in Mexico City.  Have things improved since?  I remember a Mexican guy telling me that people are sick all the time in Mexico even the Mexicans.


Exflyboy - Slovenia is meant to be amazing.  I have a lot of Italian friends who go there on vacation and they LOVE it.  I've been to Ukraine and I recommend visitig L'viv.

I had no problems when I went to Mexico in 2013, I traveled around for about 5 weeks and ate pretty much everything, including a few things that looked questionable but smelt and tasted delicious.

In saying that I went to the USA in 2016 and had an upset stomach the whole time which settled as soon as I got to Mexico and was fine in Cuba and the Bahamas and then went bad in the USA again, so maybe my stomach is just weird
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: kei te pai on September 17, 2018, 02:01:55 AM
Before its underwater? Ask them if they think climate change is fake news.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on September 17, 2018, 11:03:43 AM
I need to add Mexico to my bucket list.  I went there as a kid but nothing since.  I got extremely sick as a kid though with a horrible stomach bug in Mexico City.  Have things improved since?  I remember a Mexican guy telling me that people are sick all the time in Mexico even the Mexicans.


Exflyboy - Slovenia is meant to be amazing.  I have a lot of Italian friends who go there on vacation and they LOVE it.  I've been to Ukraine and I recommend visitig L'viv.

I had no problems when I went to Mexico in 2013, I traveled around for about 5 weeks and ate pretty much everything, including a few things that looked questionable but smelt and tasted delicious.

In saying that I went to the USA in 2016 and had an upset stomach the whole time which settled as soon as I got to Mexico and was fine in Cuba and the Bahamas and then went bad in the USA again, so maybe my stomach is just weird

I talked to one long term traveler who said he gets the ten-day illness.  If he goes to a different part of the world and stays enough time, he gets sick on the 10th day.  He said it even happens when he goes back to the US

I rarely get sick traveling (knock on wood).  I accidentally had Indian tap water once and had no ill effects.  I backpacked Central America for a month several years ago.  I was just fine with Nicaraguan street food, but the salad on the flight home is was what gave me digestive difficulty on that trip.  It was a US carrier, too. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: frugledoc on September 17, 2018, 12:24:47 PM
Just FYI. 
There is NOT a Hep. C vaccine.  (not yet anyway) . 
Hep B is a series of 3 shots.

But at least hep c is generally pretty easy to cure these days
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: ian055 on September 17, 2018, 01:17:17 PM
For sure, Colombia. I want to spend a few months in a Spanish speaking country so I can become a fluent (or close to it). I also plan to spend extended time in Southeast Asia. I love the food and every where I've been there the people have been great overall. Plus it's super cheap compared to the US. Those beginning years of FIRE are financially crucial.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Bendigirl on October 03, 2018, 03:15:08 PM
We have a huge list..
This year was a train trip across Canada and a road trip in the Maritime provinces (just home two days..)
In November we pack up again for a trip to India and Nepal.  Very excited about the Pushkar camel fair, tiger safari, hot air balloon over Jaipur and exploring Kathmandu and surrounding areas.
In 2019 we will go to Mexico to get warm, likely the end of January.  We have a big one planned for September....a trip to Zimbabwe.  Will be in elephant heaven...lions too.  May plan stop off in Holland at the same time, will depend on flights
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: cap396 on October 04, 2018, 08:11:06 AM
We have a huge list..
This year was a train trip across Canada and a road trip in the Maritime provinces (just home two days..)
In November we pack up again for a trip to India and Nepal.  Very excited about the Pushkar camel fair, tiger safari, hot air balloon over Jaipur and exploring Kathmandu and surrounding areas.
In 2019 we will go to Mexico to get warm, likely the end of January.  We have a big one planned for September....a trip to Zimbabwe.  Will be in elephant heaven...lions too.  May plan stop off in Holland at the same time, will depend on flights

Wow, those are some great trips planned.  You will have some amazing experiences.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on October 04, 2018, 10:22:50 AM
We have a huge list..
This year was a train trip across Canada and a road trip in the Maritime provinces (just home two days..)
In November we pack up again for a trip to India and Nepal.  Very excited about the Pushkar camel fair, tiger safari, hot air balloon over Jaipur and exploring Kathmandu and surrounding areas.
In 2019 we will go to Mexico to get warm, likely the end of January.  We have a big one planned for September....a trip to Zimbabwe.  Will be in elephant heaven...lions too.  May plan stop off in Holland at the same time, will depend on flights

Me=jealous.  We're planning to go to Mexico in February.  I've got a whole long list for post-FIRE, though. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Exflyboy on October 05, 2018, 03:48:26 PM

Exflyboy - Slovenia is meant to be amazing.  I have a lot of Italian friends who go there on vacation and they LOVE it.  I've been to Ukraine and I recommend visitig L'viv.

We spent a few days in Kiev.. wonderful people!

Then a few days in Kranjska Gora in Norther Slovenia. The scenery is simply breath taking. If you ever wondered where the inspiration for the "Sound of music" came from.. This is it!

We are now down in Croatia.. Another awesome place
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: markbike528CBX on October 07, 2018, 12:02:40 PM

Exflyboy - Slovenia is meant to be amazing.  I have a lot of Italian friends who go there on vacation and they LOVE it.  I've been to Ukraine and I recommend visitig L'viv.

We spent a few days in Kiev.. wonderful people!

Then a few days in Kranjska Gora in Norther Slovenia. The scenery is simply breath taking. If you ever wondered where the inspiration for the "Sound of music" came from.. This is it!

We are now down in Croatia.. Another awesome place
If you have any tips about Zagreb, we'd appreciate it, as we'll be there in November.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: jim555 on October 08, 2018, 06:01:27 PM
I headed out today for what I hope to be a long van camping trip around the US (combined with checking out new places to live) followed by a long bike tour overseas. Hope to stay in various areas for longer periods of time (month or longer) in cheap rentals and camp in between places or stay in hostels. No plans for specific places and no time limit though so will see how it goes. Hoping to keep expenses around $1500/month (single person) but that's very flexible too. Sold my house last year and recently broke up with BF and elderly pup passed so have nothing thing me to any particular place other than sis and friends in SoCal.
When do you start the Youtube channel?  Seems like FI celebs can make some nice change.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Hula Hoop on November 15, 2018, 07:04:07 AM
The beauty of living in Europe is that we're going on a last minute trip to Ireland to visit friends in December.  4 tickets for less than 200 Euro round trip and around 3 hours flying time.  I also want to take my kids to visit a friend in London soon.  And we are planning to go for a bit less than a week in and around Naples also in December.  Train tickets are cheap and hopefully we can find some decently priced accomodation.  We'd like to go to Paestum, the Flagrean Fields, Salerno and just spend some time in Naples soaking up the Christmas cheer.  We've already been to Pompei, Ischia and Capri.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: deborah on November 16, 2018, 01:46:20 AM
It’s interesting to see this thread again!

I started it with a brand new pristine passport. A few days ago, I came back after three months away. And the thread had started again.

One customs person said I’d been everywhere, and quoted some of the stamps on my passport. But some places I’ve been don’t stamp your passport. Greenland. Easter Island.

I haven’t been to Africa, or anywhere in Europe or Asia except Turkey and Iceland. (Greenland is part of North America according to the travel agents). Or Antarctica. So I can’t have been many places.

But every trip has been amazing. This last trip was to Canada (the Maritime provinces) and Chile (Atacama desert, central coast and Santiago, Lakes district, Patagonia...). It’s funny what I find to be highlights - being told I was at the Straight of Magellan and the island opposite was Tierra del Fuego was astounding. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would actually stand on that shore, when I learnt about it at school. Seeing the autumn colours in Quebec. The astounding colours of the Atacama desert, and the complete lack of plants. The fossil sites in the Maritimes. The ferry up the coast of Labrador. The peaks of Patagonia. A lecture by an acclaimed archeologist about his finds this past summer.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJo on November 16, 2018, 09:24:33 AM
My next adventure starts today, a 2-week cruise followed by 7 weeks of van camping (with some stays with friends sprinkled in there).
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Kakanui on November 17, 2018, 03:22:49 PM
Before its underwater? Ask them if they think climate change is fake news.

I'm volunteering in Kiribati this year. Is an interesting place and yes sea level rise is an issue, when you are 1m above high tide mark strong winds + king tide= flooding.

However sea level rise is an issue outside the locals control, one thing they could control and which underlies many of the problems facing this country is population growth. Betio in South Tarawa is about 3km2 and has about 20,000 people living on it on and this is increasing. it is very densely populated and lots of problems resulting from too many people for the very limited infrastructure. Lack of land to grow crops means most foods are imported. Kiribati at wrong end of many stats in the Pacific but still is a fascinating place to be.

Most visitors here are working for NGOs, consultants, industry experts assisting local gov't departments to overcome issues facing islands, High Comm staff, mormon missionaries or volunteers like me- very few tourists and definitely not set up for mass tourism. Outer islands are awesome and really is an experience like no where else I've been.

Kakanui

Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Mrs. Rocker on November 17, 2018, 03:47:30 PM
We just spent six weeks In Utah exploring and hiking eight national parks and monuments. The scenery and natural beauty of the area is incredible and we look forward to returning. Highly recommend this amazing experience to anyone looking for a get away location.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Villanelle on November 17, 2018, 06:30:08 PM
Heading to Vietnam and Cambodia in December.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on November 19, 2018, 10:56:05 AM
It’s interesting to see this thread again!

I started it with a brand new pristine passport. A few days ago, I came back after three months away. And the thread had started again.

One customs person said I’d been everywhere, and quoted some of the stamps on my passport. But some places I’ve been don’t stamp your passport. Greenland. Easter Island.

I haven’t been to Africa, or anywhere in Europe or Asia except Turkey and Iceland. (Greenland is part of North America according to the travel agents). Or Antarctica. So I can’t have been many places.

But every trip has been amazing. This last trip was to Canada (the Maritime provinces) and Chile (Atacama desert, central coast and Santiago, Lakes district, Patagonia...). It’s funny what I find to be highlights - being told I was at the Straight of Magellan and the island opposite was Tierra del Fuego was astounding. I never in my wildest dreams thought I would actually stand on that shore, when I learnt about it at school. Seeing the autumn colours in Quebec. The astounding colours of the Atacama desert, and the complete lack of plants. The fossil sites in the Maritimes. The ferry up the coast of Labrador. The peaks of Patagonia. A lecture by an acclaimed archeologist about his finds this past summer.

That sounds amazing.  I hope to get to some of those places post-FIRE.  What's even better is the idea of having the time to stop and spend a week or two in the best spots. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJoP on November 26, 2018, 07:21:40 PM
We travel tons!  The 2019 schedule of trips planned (so far!):

Christmas holiday: Morocco and Spain
February:  Baja California, Mexico
March:  India
May: South of France
July: Kenya

 Have you heard of the app called "Been"? As in... where you have been to.
I use the "Been" app to keep track/keep score on my countries and USA states visited.  So far, 27 states and 41 countries. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: markbike528CBX on November 26, 2018, 07:58:42 PM
...snip....

 Have you heard of the app called "Been"? As in... where you have been to.
I use the "Been" app to keep track/keep score on my countries and USA states visited.  So far, 27 states and 41 countries.

Great Circle Mapper makes maps for every airport code/name you put in.
http://www.gcmap.com/

a "Great Circle" is the shortest distance on a sphere, not the shortest distance on a flat map.

Mine. http://www.gcmap.com/mapui?P=MDT-ORD-PHX-LAX%0D%0AMDT-ORD-SEA%0D%0AMDT-ATL-SLC-PSC%0D%0AMDT-CVG-SLC-PSC%0D%0APSC-SLC-CDG%2C%0D%0APSC-SEA-MSP-GRB%0D%0APSC-SLC-SYR%0D%0APSC-SLC-PSP%0D%0APSP-LAX-SEA-psc%0D%0APSC-SLC-SJC%0D%0APHL-MCO%0D%0AMDT-CLT-MBJ%0D%0APSC-SLC-PIT%0D%0APSC-SLC-CVG-CLE%0D%0APSC-SLC-ATL-CLT%0D%0APSC-SLC-ATL-CAE%0D%0APSC-SLC-IAH-BTR%0D%0ABTR-PIT%0D%0APSC-SLC-ATL-HSV%0D%0APSC-SLC-ATL-MDT%0D%0APSC-SEA-NRT-TPE%0D%0ASEA-JFK-SVO%0D%0ASVO-ATL-SLC-PSC%0D%0ADME-KJA%0D%0APSC-SEA-LAX-MBJ%0D%0AMBJ-ATL-SLC-PSC%0D%0APSC-SLC-ATL-DUB%0D%0ADUB-IOM%0D%0APSC-SLC-ATL-AMS%0D%0APSC-DEN-ICT%0D%0APSC-DEN-DAL-ABQ%0D%0APSC-SLC-CVG-MEM%0D%0APSC-SLC-PSP%0D%0APSC-PDX-SFO%0D%0AGEG-MSP-MDT%0D%0APSC-SEA-SAN%0D%0ASEA-HNL-LIH%0D%0APSC-SEA%0D%0ASEA-HNL-ITO%0D%0APSC-SEA-AMS-LUX%0D%0APSC-MSP-ORF%0D%0AMDT-DTW-PSC%0D%0APSC-MSP-OMA%0D%0APSC-SLC-LAS%0D%0ALNK-MSP-PSC%0D%0APSC-SLC-ATL-ILM%0D%0APSC-MSP-ATL-ILM%0D%0APSC-SEA-AMS-FRA%0D%0AFRA-MSP-PSC%0D%0APSC-DEN-CLT-MDT%0D%0AMDT-PHL-SEA-PSC%0D%0APSC-MSP-AMS-zag%0D%0Azag-AMS-MSP-psc&PM=-&MS=wls&MP=o&MC=SEA&DU=mi

Edit:, coming home from the Zagreb trip, great time!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: deborah on November 27, 2018, 11:03:52 AM
I think I haven’t been to many places. And I haven’t. I suspect that I’ll never hit 41 countries. But where I’ve been appears to amaze people - maybe they have different tiers for places. Do you have tiers of places? For instance, for those from the US, anywhere in North America (apart from Greenland) might be in the bottom tier, and the top tier might include exotic places like Greenland. What do you think?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: LifePhaseTwo on November 27, 2018, 12:22:32 PM
I haven’t been outside North America / Caribbean for many years. Now I have an opportunity to go to a family reunion in Ireland in April and am currently mulling it over.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJoP on November 27, 2018, 04:17:31 PM
I think I haven’t been to many places. And I haven’t. I suspect that I’ll never hit 41 countries. But where I’ve been appears to amaze people - maybe they have different tiers for places. Do you have tiers of places? For instance, for those from the US, anywhere in North America (apart from Greenland) might be in the bottom tier, and the top tier might include exotic places like Greenland. What do you think?

 People definitely have all kinds of ideas about what's exotic, but Greenland doesn't have a huge influx of tourists, compared to say, Las Vegas or London. In terms of sheer numbers, not many people will go or know someone who went.   I would say Greenland is exotic, or, since it shares a European settlement history and thus has deeply rooted similarities with North America, maybe not so much exotic but at least offbeat. 

Yes, I have tiers.   I've hit nearly all of my first tier places, with still maybe 8-10 to go.  I'm now working on second and third tiers that are fairly easy to get to, like India.  The lower tiers are rising up  the list as I tick off the priorities.   Some of the first tier places still left on my list haven't been visited partially because they can be hard to/ or very expensive/ very time consuming to get to, like  Antarctica; Easter Island; Churchill, Canada or northern Norway for the Polar Bear migration; the Okavango Delta; and some other ones, for instance.  I may never get to those places, but that's ok too.  There are plenty of amazing places on my other tiers. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: smoghat on November 28, 2018, 08:11:49 PM
Greenland is on my list and we even have a close Greenlandic-born friend who is a travel agent specializing in the island, albeit from her Copenhagen base. But it’s CRAZY non-mustachean expensive. As in way way crazy.

If you want a nice city to explore that’s off the beaten track and conforms to MMM ideals, try Vilnius, Lithuania. I’m biased since I’m Lithuanian-American. But I HATED nationalism as a kid (into my 30s) so it’s own me over. Great restaurants, great beer (as in GREAT beer. It’s like Belgium for unknown IPAs or rather LPA I guess?), cool museums, laid back lifestyle. You may find it’s not very friendly, but that’s not really the case, people are just different. When I ask my friends there “How are you?” I hear the truth, which may not be pretty, not “Hi, How are you?” People are genuine and you’ll make fast friends once you get to know a few. How good is it for us? Well, an insanely good meal (with wine tasting) with 16 tiny courses, where you may be the only person there that night is $80. In NYC that same meal would be $400+ (It’s Blue Hills quality). A perfectly good meal out would be $10-12 with beer. And if you go to the right places, the food is fresher than anything you’ll get in the US. The supermarkets in Vilnius are way better than what we have.

If you can figure out a way to stay, a friend of mine told me how he was having knee surgery. He was going to wait five weeks (yeah, right, as if in the US you won’t? He was perfectly ambulatory, just in some pain, but you wouldn’t know it) but if he wanted it in a week he could’ve paid a few hundred. He was going to hold off because it was only $37. For knee surgery. BTW he makes around $30,000 a year now and is really happy. He was born and raised in Australia and was a professional there, could have made the equivalent of US $150k and up if he’d stayed. Travel may be hard, but then again, people find cheaper places to go to.

Ok, rant off! Sorry!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on November 29, 2018, 01:00:35 PM
I think I haven’t been to many places. And I haven’t. I suspect that I’ll never hit 41 countries. But where I’ve been appears to amaze people - maybe they have different tiers for places. Do you have tiers of places? For instance, for those from the US, anywhere in North America (apart from Greenland) might be in the bottom tier, and the top tier might include exotic places like Greenland. What do you think?

 People definitely have all kinds of ideas about what's exotic, but Greenland doesn't have a huge influx of tourists, compared to say, Las Vegas or London. In terms of sheer numbers, not many people will go or know someone who went.   I would say Greenland is exotic, or, since it shares a European settlement history and thus has deeply rooted similarities with North America, maybe not so much exotic but at least offbeat. 

Yes, I have tiers.   I've hit nearly all of my first tier places, with still maybe 8-10 to go.  I'm now working on second and third tiers that are fairly easy to get to, like India.  The lower tiers are rising up  the list as I tick off the priorities.   Some of the first tier places still left on my list haven't been visited partially because they can be hard to/ or very expensive/ very time consuming to get to, like  Antarctica; Easter Island; Churchill, Canada or northern Norway for the Polar Bear migration; the Okavango Delta; and some other ones, for instance.  I may never get to those places, but that's ok too.  There are plenty of amazing places on my other tiers.

One thing about counting countries is that individual regions of some bigger countries are really worth as much if not more than smaller countries in terms of different travel experiences.  Take India vs. Germany+Switzerland+Liechtenstein+Austria.  Germany and Austria are somewhat different from each other, but Sikkim and Kerala are as different from each other as Bosnia and Ireland if not more.  Visiting all the states of India might give you a more varied travel experience than all the countries in Europe.  Counting countries isn't a bad thing in and of itself.  I just think it's a negative if it really starts driving the way you travel. 

I'd say people definitely categorize countries and places by what they think a visit would be like.  Some major categories would be cool, boring, dangerous, and "where?"  Each one of those gets a different reaction.  Unfortunately a lot of places get miscategorized or at least oversimplified.  Saying you went to Nicaragua is usually going to get "Did you feel safe?" before "Did you try volcano boarding?"  Saying Paris gets "Did you go up the Eiffel Tower?" much more than "How could you stand the smell?" It is perverse fun, though, when people think you're super adventurous just for going somewhere that had a civil war decades ago or has a name they've never heard. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Villanelle on November 30, 2018, 01:17:12 AM
I suppose I mentally have some version of tiers in that some countries are more interesting and exciting to me than others.  Been to Mexico?  While I'd still love to hear about your trip, especially if it's to a region I haven't yet traveled, it's not going to get my heart racing quite like someone who says they went to Mongolia.  (I'm also just bitter because I had a Mongolia trip planned and booked and had to cancel three days out due to some work stuff with DH.)

Also, having been to Germany is different than having traveled around Germany, but that's harder to quantify.  I've been to 46 countries.  Some of those, I barely scratched the surface.  (In Romania, for example, I've been to one city for about 8 hours.  I don't count something at all unless it meets the "bite, site, or night" rule--eaten a real meal, visited a tourist site, or spent the night.  And airports don't count at all.)  Others, like Germany where I lived for 3 years, I've been fortunate enough to get to see a lot of, though of course there are still many parts of Germany I didn't explore, in part because I want to 31 other countries during those three year, some of them multiple times.  So I can say I've been to both Romania and Germany, but they way I visited was clearly very different. 

If having "seen" Germany means you went to Oktoberfest in Munich for 2 days, that's like saying someone has been to the US because they went to Disneyworld.  It's not untrue, but it's also not the same has having slowly explored, hit some slightly less touristy places, visited different regions, etc. 

DH and I have set a "50 by 50" goal--50 countries together by the time we are 50 years old.  We are at 44, with two more booked for December.  But in general, most of the easy and obvious places are checked so it does get a bit more challenging.  We've never been to South America together though, and strangely we've never been to Canada together (each of us has been separately, but that doesn't count).  Once we move back to the States next year, Canada will become an easy weekend trip. So I'm optimistic we will make 50b50, but we may be cutting it close.  (We are both 43.)  We've also talked about whether we want to make sure that number 50 is somehow extra special, though I'm not sure what new places there are that would feel perfect as we've already visited most of the priorities on the list. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: deborah on November 30, 2018, 02:03:04 AM
I found Greenland was reasonable - not cheap, but cheaper than Iceland - and Iceland didn’t cost as much as people said.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Villanelle on November 30, 2018, 03:58:13 AM
I found Greenland was reasonable - not cheap, but cheaper than Iceland - and Iceland didn’t cost as much as people said.

I felt the same about Iceland, and ours was somewhat last minuted and a bit of a splurge so we didn't do it as cheaply as we otherwise might have.  Sure, it cost more than Eastern Europe or SE Asia.  But buying some of our meals in grocery stores saved us a lot. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on November 30, 2018, 04:04:31 PM
I suppose I mentally have some version of tiers in that some countries are more interesting and exciting to me than others.  Been to Mexico?  While I'd still love to hear about your trip, especially if it's to a region I haven't yet traveled, it's not going to get my heart racing quite like someone who says they went to Mongolia.  (I'm also just bitter because I had a Mongolia trip planned and booked and had to cancel three days out due to some work stuff with DH.)

Also, having been to Germany is different than having traveled around Germany, but that's harder to quantify.  I've been to 46 countries.  Some of those, I barely scratched the surface.  (In Romania, for example, I've been to one city for about 8 hours.  I don't count something at all unless it meets the "bite, site, or night" rule--eaten a real meal, visited a tourist site, or spent the night.  And airports don't count at all.)  Others, like Germany where I lived for 3 years, I've been fortunate enough to get to see a lot of, though of course there are still many parts of Germany I didn't explore, in part because I want to 31 other countries during those three year, some of them multiple times.  So I can say I've been to both Romania and Germany, but they way I visited was clearly very different. 

If having "seen" Germany means you went to Oktoberfest in Munich for 2 days, that's like saying someone has been to the US because they went to Disneyworld.  It's not untrue, but it's also not the same has having slowly explored, hit some slightly less touristy places, visited different regions, etc. 

DH and I have set a "50 by 50" goal--50 countries together by the time we are 50 years old.  We are at 44, with two more booked for December.  But in general, most of the easy and obvious places are checked so it does get a bit more challenging.  We've never been to South America together though, and strangely we've never been to Canada together (each of us has been separately, but that doesn't count).  Once we move back to the States next year, Canada will become an easy weekend trip. So I'm optimistic we will make 50b50, but we may be cutting it close.  (We are both 43.)  We've also talked about whether we want to make sure that number 50 is somehow extra special, though I'm not sure what new places there are that would feel perfect as we've already visited most of the priorities on the list.

Mexico is super awesome. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJoP on November 30, 2018, 09:00:53 PM
I suppose I mentally have some version of tiers in that some countries are more interesting and exciting to me than others.  Been to Mexico?  While I'd still love to hear about your trip, especially if it's to a region I haven't yet traveled, it's not going to get my heart racing quite like someone who says they went to Mongolia.  (I'm also just bitter because I had a Mongolia trip planned and booked and had to cancel three days out due to some work stuff with DH.)

Also, having been to Germany is different than having traveled around Germany, but that's harder to quantify.  I've been to 46 countries.  Some of those, I barely scratched the surface.  (In Romania, for example, I've been to one city for about 8 hours.  I don't count something at all unless it meets the "bite, site, or night" rule--eaten a real meal, visited a tourist site, or spent the night.  And airports don't count at all.)  Others, like Germany where I lived for 3 years, I've been fortunate enough to get to see a lot of, though of course there are still many parts of Germany I didn't explore, in part because I want to 31 other countries during those three year, some of them multiple times.  So I can say I've been to both Romania and Germany, but they way I visited was clearly very different. 

If having "seen" Germany means you went to Oktoberfest in Munich for 2 days, that's like saying someone has been to the US because they went to Disneyworld.  It's not untrue, but it's also not the same has having slowly explored, hit some slightly less touristy places, visited different regions, etc. 

DH and I have set a "50 by 50" goal--50 countries together by the time we are 50 years old.  We are at 44, with two more booked for December.  But in general, most of the easy and obvious places are checked so it does get a bit more challenging.  We've never been to South America together though, and strangely we've never been to Canada together (each of us has been separately, but that doesn't count).  Once we move back to the States next year, Canada will become an easy weekend trip. So I'm optimistic we will make 50b50, but we may be cutting it close.  (We are both 43.)  We've also talked about whether we want to make sure that number 50 is somehow extra special, though I'm not sure what new places there are that would feel perfect as we've already visited most of the priorities on the list.

If you set that 50 by 50 as a goal, I'm sure you'll achieve it!

I getcha about what counts as a visit.  If I were a person who goes on cruises, I think I could hardly count the ports as a visit.   I don't count airports or super brief stays either.   We often travel to off the beaten path destinations.

 I like slow travel when possible, but, on the other hand, having just spent 5 weeks in a relatively small area of Greece, I'd say that was enough.    I traveled about 1/3 (110-120ish days)of the past couple of years.   I can't see the whole world in slo-mo, and living abroad has no appeal to me at this point in my life.  I spent many of my younger days imagining living abroad, but now I just love the life I have and wouldn't want to leave it.  I like visiting--savoring a place-- and try to just go slow enough to see the things that interest me without blazing around trying to see everything. I'd rather see less then to rush around.  But, on the other hand...Sometimes it's better just to lay eyes on a place, or have a quick visit,  than to pass it up in favor of a longer visit that may never happen.
 Carpe diem, FIRE crew!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: nnls on December 20, 2018, 02:30:39 AM
I suppose I mentally have some version of tiers in that some countries are more interesting and exciting to me than others.  Been to Mexico?  While I'd still love to hear about your trip, especially if it's to a region I haven't yet traveled, it's not going to get my heart racing quite like someone who says they went to Mongolia.  (I'm also just bitter because I had a Mongolia trip planned and booked and had to cancel three days out due to some work stuff with DH.)

Also, having been to Germany is different than having traveled around Germany, but that's harder to quantify.  I've been to 46 countries.  Some of those, I barely scratched the surface.  (In Romania, for example, I've been to one city for about 8 hours.  I don't count something at all unless it meets the "bite, site, or night" rule--eaten a real meal, visited a tourist site, or spent the night.  And airports don't count at all.)  Others, like Germany where I lived for 3 years, I've been fortunate enough to get to see a lot of, though of course there are still many parts of Germany I didn't explore, in part because I want to 31 other countries during those three year, some of them multiple times.  So I can say I've been to both Romania and Germany, but they way I visited was clearly very different. 

If having "seen" Germany means you went to Oktoberfest in Munich for 2 days, that's like saying someone has been to the US because they went to Disneyworld.  It's not untrue, but it's also not the same has having slowly explored, hit some slightly less touristy places, visited different regions, etc. 

DH and I have set a "50 by 50" goal--50 countries together by the time we are 50 years old.  We are at 44, with two more booked for December.  But in general, most of the easy and obvious places are checked so it does get a bit more challenging.  We've never been to South America together though, and strangely we've never been to Canada together (each of us has been separately, but that doesn't count).  Once we move back to the States next year, Canada will become an easy weekend trip. So I'm optimistic we will make 50b50, but we may be cutting it close.  (We are both 43.)  We've also talked about whether we want to make sure that number 50 is somehow extra special, though I'm not sure what new places there are that would feel perfect as we've already visited most of the priorities on the list.

If you set that 50 by 50 as a goal, I'm sure you'll achieve it!

I getcha about what counts as a visit.  If I were a person who goes on cruises, I think I could hardly count the ports as a visit.   I don't count airports or super brief stays either.   We often travel to off the beaten path destinations.

 I like slow travel when possible, but, on the other hand, having just spent 5 weeks in a relatively small area of Greece, I'd say that was enough.    I traveled about 1/3 (110-120ish days)of the past couple of years.   I can't see the whole world in slo-mo, and living abroad has no appeal to me at this point in my life.  I spent many of my younger days imagining living abroad, but now I just love the life I have and wouldn't want to leave it.  I like visiting--savoring a place-- and try to just go slow enough to see the things that interest me without blazing around trying to see everything. I'd rather see less then to rush around.  But, on the other hand...Sometimes it's better just to lay eyes on a place, or have a quick visit,  than to pass it up in favor of a longer visit that may never happen.
 Carpe diem, FIRE crew!

I dont generally say I've been to a place unless i was there at least 48 hours, and then I usually say it like "I had a brief stop in Paris" not that I've been to France for example. I figure I should have visited at a few places in a country to say I've been there, unless its a tiny country (like for example if I went to Liechtenstein and spent 3 days in Vaduz I would probably just say Liechtenstein as the other towns are small from what I can gather)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: ol1970 on December 20, 2018, 01:59:44 PM
This has truly been an amazing year travel wise:
-Costa Rica 9 days
-The Big Island 8 days
-FL to visit the in-laws at the beach 3 long weekends
-Hong Kong/Shenzhen/Guangzhou for a week to visit
-Northern Michigan for 4th of July week on one of the top 3 lakes in the world
-Living on the lake all summer long (surf/sun/sandbar/repeat)
-Denmark and Sweden for 2 weeks (including 4 days sailing the archipelago)
-Captained our own sailboat from St. Vincent through the Grenadines then over an active underwater volcano to Grenada
-Shanghai and Beijing to explore for a week
-Long weekend in Napa/SF to check out the area
-4 day hiking trip to Yosemite
-Week in Maui (got engage on top of Haleakala, yay!)
-Wrapping up the year with a couple of days in London to check things out then the Ice Hotel north of the Artic circle in Sweden for New Years.

FIRE life is great!  Only thing we didn't get in was a snowboarding trip...

Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Cassie on December 20, 2018, 03:12:19 PM
We spent a month traveling by car and visiting friends and family with our dogs.  In February we go to New Orleans for 4 days and then hop on a 8 day Caribbean cruise. We are taking 2 big trips a year. We also spent 4 days in placerville which is very beautiful.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on December 21, 2018, 11:46:06 AM
This has truly been an amazing year travel wise:
-Costa Rica 9 days
-The Big Island 8 days
-FL to visit the in-laws at the beach 3 long weekends
-Hong Kong/Shenzhen/Guangzhou for a week to visit
-Northern Michigan for 4th of July week on one of the top 3 lakes in the world
-Living on the lake all summer long (surf/sun/sandbar/repeat)
-Denmark and Sweden for 2 weeks (including 4 days sailing the archipelago)
-Captained our own sailboat from St. Vincent through the Grenadines then over an active underwater volcano to Grenada
-Shanghai and Beijing to explore for a week
-Long weekend in Napa/SF to check out the area
-4 day hiking trip to Yosemite
-Week in Maui (got engage on top of Haleakala, yay!)
-Wrapping up the year with a couple of days in London to check things out then the Ice Hotel north of the Artic circle in Sweden for New Years.

FIRE life is great!  Only thing we didn't get in was a snowboarding trip...

All in one year?  Holy crap. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on December 26, 2018, 10:11:55 AM
I headed out today for what I hope to be a long van camping trip around the US (combined with checking out new places to live) followed by a long bike tour overseas. Hope to stay in various areas for longer periods of time (month or longer) in cheap rentals and camp in between places or stay in hostels. No plans for specific places and no time limit though so will see how it goes. Hoping to keep expenses around $1500/month (single person) but that's very flexible too. Sold my house last year and recently broke up with BF and elderly pup passed so have nothing thing me to any particular place other than sis and friends in SoCal.
When do you start the Youtube channel?  Seems like FI celebs can make some nice change.
Ha ha. I just found this (again) and the van road trip is currently stalled a bit by weather (temporarily) but bike touring overseas starting in Spring is  looking good.  No YouTube though ;-).

China?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on December 26, 2018, 10:20:41 AM
I headed out today for what I hope to be a long van camping trip around the US (combined with checking out new places to live) followed by a long bike tour overseas. Hope to stay in various areas for longer periods of time (month or longer) in cheap rentals and camp in between places or stay in hostels. No plans for specific places and no time limit though so will see how it goes. Hoping to keep expenses around $1500/month (single person) but that's very flexible too. Sold my house last year and recently broke up with BF and elderly pup passed so have nothing thing me to any particular place other than sis and friends in SoCal.
When do you start the Youtube channel?  Seems like FI celebs can make some nice change.
Ha ha. I just found this (again) and the van road trip is currently stalled a bit by weather (temporarily) but bike touring overseas starting in Spring is  looking good.  No YouTube though ;-).

China?
No. Will start in Europe and visit some family in Sweden...then head north ;-).

I thought you meant you were going somewhere were you wouldn't be able to get to Youtube. 

Sounds nice.  I've got a long list of destinations for FIRE. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Villanelle on December 28, 2018, 05:07:21 AM
Just got back from 13 days in Vietnam and Cambodia. I am a little in love with Hoi An, wish we'd had at least one more day in Hanoi (saw tons of sites but didn't have much time to wander and just soak it in), and want to go back to see more of Cambodia than just the Siem Reap area. But it was a marvelous trip and much needed as it's been the only long break from work for Husband all year.  Now I'm home and have to scramble for an international move in less than three weeks!  Eek!!!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: YK-Phil on December 29, 2018, 10:33:07 AM
I suppose I mentally have some version of tiers in that some countries are more interesting and exciting to me than others.  Been to Mexico?  While I'd still love to hear about your trip, especially if it's to a region I haven't yet traveled, it's not going to get my heart racing quite like someone who says they went to Mongolia.  (I'm also just bitter because I had a Mongolia trip planned and booked and had to cancel three days out due to some work stuff with DH.)

Also, having been to Germany is different than having traveled around Germany, but that's harder to quantify.  I've been to 46 countries.  Some of those, I barely scratched the surface.  (In Romania, for example, I've been to one city for about 8 hours.  I don't count something at all unless it meets the "bite, site, or night" rule--eaten a real meal, visited a tourist site, or spent the night.  And airports don't count at all.)  Others, like Germany where I lived for 3 years, I've been fortunate enough to get to see a lot of, though of course there are still many parts of Germany I didn't explore, in part because I want to 31 other countries during those three year, some of them multiple times.  So I can say I've been to both Romania and Germany, but they way I visited was clearly very different. 

If having "seen" Germany means you went to Oktoberfest in Munich for 2 days, that's like saying someone has been to the US because they went to Disneyworld.  It's not untrue, but it's also not the same has having slowly explored, hit some slightly less touristy places, visited different regions, etc. 

DH and I have set a "50 by 50" goal--50 countries together by the time we are 50 years old.  We are at 44, with two more booked for December.  But in general, most of the easy and obvious places are checked so it does get a bit more challenging.  We've never been to South America together though, and strangely we've never been to Canada together (each of us has been separately, but that doesn't count).  Once we move back to the States next year, Canada will become an easy weekend trip. So I'm optimistic we will make 50b50, but we may be cutting it close.  (We are both 43.)  We've also talked about whether we want to make sure that number 50 is somehow extra special, though I'm not sure what new places there are that would feel perfect as we've already visited most of the priorities on the list.

Mexico is super awesome.

I couldn't agree with you more about Mexico. I've been to most countries in Asia, Europe, and South America, including some of the less popular places like Mongolia and some of the less-traveled "stans", and Mexico is by far my favorite due to its diversity in terms of landscapes, cultures, environments, weather, etc. I am going back there camping for the winter, for the third year in a row. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I am overlanding there, instead of flying like I did in my other travels. Never been to Africa although I am born on that continent, but I reserve this one for the end.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: lovegoodyu on December 30, 2018, 04:17:53 PM
Here's my plan for the first 4 years of retirement:
Travel down entire western Africa by truck
South Africa & Lesotho
Madagascar
Reunion
Mauritius
Seychelles
India
Nepal
Indonesia
Mexico to Panama
All of eastern Europe, from Estonia down to Greece
Hiking the entire Camino de Santiago
Portugal

Lesotho is definitely worth the trip!! I loved it when I went there to see the Malytsunian fall!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Threshkin on January 02, 2019, 03:36:45 PM
We are going to Northern China for a month this year for CNY.  Cold but the food is amazing!

We got our visas straightened out last year so traveling to China is easy now.

Additional travel plans are not finalized yet but central and southern Europe are high on the list.  Scandinavia is also a strong possibility.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Rimu05 on January 04, 2019, 01:46:49 PM
+1 on Guatemala.  I'm finally going there in November after having it on my list for years.  A safari  in Africa is also on the short list, although I'm not quite sure which country.  My favorite animals to see are elephants, zebras and giraffes.  I welcome suggestions for those.  Went to Kenya years ago...it was great but I'd like to go elsewhere.


I've lived in South Africa and Kenya is my home country but you can definitely get a glimpse of most of these animals on any of the countries on the Eastern side of Africa, south of the equator. South Africa is your best bet if you want something different but still want to go on Safari.

My only con for South Africa is that it's pretty much like America or Europe but with the wildlife. If that's what you are seeking, go.

I'd also recommend Tanzania from what I've heard.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: itchyfeet on January 17, 2019, 09:44:02 AM
Last year we travelled a bit in Africa to Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. Previously we went the Sth Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

I really loved the Serengeti in Tanzania. It’s a place I had wanted to go to my whole life and the amount and wildlife is really incredible. It’s insanely expensive, but a trip of a lifetime. Ngorongoro Crate is next to the Serengeti and it is jam packed with animals. So much so it felt a little bit like visiting a massive zoo. Whilst the density of animals there was really impressive, it was the vast plains of the Serengeti that stole my heart.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on January 17, 2019, 11:43:09 AM
Last year we travelled a bit in Africa to Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. Previously we went the Sth Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

I really loved the Serengeti in Tanzania. It’s a place I had wanted to go to my whole life and the amount and wildlife is really incredible. It’s insanely expensive, but a trip of a lifetime. Ngorongoro Crate is next to the Serengeti and it is jam packed with animals. So much so it felt a little bit like visiting a massive zoo. Whilst the density of animals there was really impressive, it was the vast plains of the Serengeti that stole my heart.

I'm really interested in seeing Africa.  So many countries there almost never appear as travel destinations, and there have to be as many amazing things as all the places you hear about in countries with better marketing. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Dibdab on January 17, 2019, 07:12:20 PM
A few years ago I bicycled across the Americas with my two brothers. Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina. Bikepacking so we had the tent and stove and everything we needed, but happily accepted the frequent invitations of strangers to sleep in their home or barn and made a lot of memories. Once you travel in this manner (very mustachian by the way! I've never had more frugal adventures) I don't think any other method measures up.

My bikepacking shortlist of places I have never been:

Italy
Norway
The Himalayas

Places I will never get tired of returning to:

Ecuador
Colombia
Bend, Oregon
White Mountains, New Hampshire
Anywhere in California
All I can say is WOW WOW WOW.  If you have a blog about it or something would love to know,!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: itchyfeet on January 18, 2019, 01:47:38 AM
Last year we travelled a bit in Africa to Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. Previously we went the Sth Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

I really loved the Serengeti in Tanzania. It’s a place I had wanted to go to my whole life and the amount and wildlife is really incredible. It’s insanely expensive, but a trip of a lifetime. Ngorongoro Crate is next to the Serengeti and it is jam packed with animals. So much so it felt a little bit like visiting a massive zoo. Whilst the density of animals there was really impressive, it was the vast plains of the Serengeti that stole my heart.

I'm really interested in seeing Africa.  So many countries there almost never appear as travel destinations, and there have to be as many amazing things as all the places you hear about in countries with better marketing.

We loved Ethiopia, and it’s not so heavily touristed. Lalibela is truly incredible, and the country has such a deep history, culturally diversity  and beautiful mountains. So much to see. Addis is not the nicest city in the world but is still a really interesting place to visit, particularly the city market (Merkato).
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on January 18, 2019, 02:16:11 PM
Last year we travelled a bit in Africa to Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania. Previously we went the Sth Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

I really loved the Serengeti in Tanzania. It’s a place I had wanted to go to my whole life and the amount and wildlife is really incredible. It’s insanely expensive, but a trip of a lifetime. Ngorongoro Crate is next to the Serengeti and it is jam packed with animals. So much so it felt a little bit like visiting a massive zoo. Whilst the density of animals there was really impressive, it was the vast plains of the Serengeti that stole my heart.

I'm really interested in seeing Africa.  So many countries there almost never appear as travel destinations, and there have to be as many amazing things as all the places you hear about in countries with better marketing.

We loved Ethiopia, and it’s not so heavily touristed. Lalibela is truly incredible, and the country has such a deep history, culturally diversity  and beautiful mountains. So much to see. Addis is not the nicest city in the world but is still a really interesting place to visit, particularly the city market (Merkato).

I've seen pictures of Ethiopia and it looks stunning. 

If restaurants in the US are any indicator, I think I would go to Ethiopia based on the food alone, though.  Did you have anything good there?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: itchyfeet on January 19, 2019, 09:19:08 AM
The food wasn’t the best part of Ethiopia. Teff is a bit of an acquired taste. We did go to a tourist restaurant and had a great feast of teff with many, many accompaniments of various curried meats, vegetables etc. That meal was great, but in more rural (poorer) areas the food is quite simple.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Dibdab on January 21, 2019, 03:22:52 PM
A few years ago I bicycled across the Americas with my two brothers. Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina. Bikepacking so we had the tent and stove and everything we needed, but happily accepted the frequent invitations of strangers to sleep in their home or barn and made a lot of memories. Once you travel in this manner (very mustachian by the way! I've never had more frugal adventures) I don't think any other method measures up.

My bikepacking shortlist of places I have never been:

Italy
Norway
The Himalayas

Places I will never get tired of returning to:

Ecuador
Colombia
Bend, Oregon
White Mountains, New Hampshire
Anywhere in California
All I can say is WOW WOW WOW.  If you have a blog about it or something would love to know,!
@Abel is familiar with Crazy Guy On A Bike web site but if you've never heard of it check out the journal section. Some very cool stories. https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/
Great site !  Thanks!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: patrickza on January 22, 2019, 02:38:59 AM
I'm been to around 40 countries so far. My working life has me traveling to what someone would call sh!thole countries, so when I'm not working I prefer to go to places where I'm unlikely to be kidnapped or catch Malaria!

My current favourites are cheaper western Europe (Portugal and Spain) and eastern Europe.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: itchyfeet on January 22, 2019, 09:03:22 AM
We have travelled a tonne, and blown a lot of $$$ travelling, but still I have no trouble writing a list of trips I’d like to take over the next 30 years, averaging about 90 days of overseas travel a year. It won’t happen like it appears on a list, but I like making lists (with budgets haha). Domestic travel would be on top of thes international trips, amd there is so much for us to see in Oz. I’ll die before I run out of places I want to visit.

I think we have visited around 70 countries. We will see what 2019 brings. Depends if we FIRE or not.

Some places we haven’t been to yet that are right at the top of our list are Japan, Mexico, Iceland, Croatia, Spain (we have only visited Madrid and Majorca previously) and NYC (we have only visited California, Washington state, Montana, Wyoming, Hawaii and Alaska previously). 70 countries and we haven’t even spent any time at some of the main tourist countries/ cities in the world.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJo on January 22, 2019, 09:18:09 AM
The food wasn’t the best part of Ethiopia. Teff is a bit of an acquired taste. We did go to a tourist restaurant and had a great feast of teff with many, many accompaniments of various curried meats, vegetables etc. That meal was great, but in more rural (poorer) areas the food is quite simple.

I spent 7 weeks in Ethiopia a year ago and agree, the food was good but got old really fast.  My favorite was the "fasting food" which had no meat and more variety.  I can't believe I ate raw fish and raw meat too.  Here are some of the foods I ate:
https://thehotflashpacker.com/ethiopian-food-drink/
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on January 22, 2019, 10:55:41 AM
The food wasn’t the best part of Ethiopia. Teff is a bit of an acquired taste. We did go to a tourist restaurant and had a great feast of teff with many, many accompaniments of various curried meats, vegetables etc. That meal was great, but in more rural (poorer) areas the food is quite simple.

Was it the teff or the fact that injera is fermented like sourdough bread?  I admit that's not something everybody's going to love. 

The food wasn’t the best part of Ethiopia. Teff is a bit of an acquired taste. We did go to a tourist restaurant and had a great feast of teff with many, many accompaniments of various curried meats, vegetables etc. That meal was great, but in more rural (poorer) areas the food is quite simple.

I spent 7 weeks in Ethiopia a year ago and agree, the food was good but got old really fast.  My favorite was the "fasting food" which had no meat and more variety.  I can't believe I ate raw fish and raw meat too.  Here are some of the foods I ate:
https://thehotflashpacker.com/ethiopian-food-drink/

We're kind of spoiled in the US for variety.  I can get Chinese bokchoi, Korea kimchi, Bangladeshi cookies, Nigerian yams, Mexican papayas, and lots of other items from around the world within a few miles of my house.  I don't even live in a major metropolitan area, either.  It's easy to forget that a lot of the world doesn't see anything close to that kind of variety.

I can't believe you ate raw fish and beef, too.  I'm hesitant on that in a developed country, less yet a poor country like Ethiopia.  Do you think you would do it again, or were you tempting the fates?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: itchyfeet on January 23, 2019, 10:19:07 AM
Fresh injera in a good restaurant is ok. Very good even. 3 day old injera in a small rural restaurant not so good.

Don’t get me wrong we enjoyed trying everything that was put in front of us, but Ethiopia won’t be remembered by us as a culinary destination.

What I will most remember Ethiopia for is the history, and how clean the place is. It has to be the cleanest developing country I’ve been to. We had an awesome time in Ethiopia and have been encouraging our friends to ignore the press, making it sound so dangerous, and go and have a look before the tourist hordes descend.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJo on January 23, 2019, 01:03:54 PM
As for the raw stuff, even the locals made sure we were getting the freshest of the fresh, and we always had drank some sort of liquor after, even if it was in the morning :)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Threshkin on March 04, 2019, 12:00:50 AM
Just got back from another month in China.  Gotta love FIRE!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on March 04, 2019, 10:46:18 AM
Just got back from another month in China.  Gotta love FIRE!

Thanks for sharing.  I need to live vicariously until I get there. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJoP on March 05, 2019, 03:51:45 PM
That rocks @Threshkin!  You're living life as you want to!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: flyingaway on March 05, 2019, 06:01:07 PM
We will visit Columbia next week for 8 days, including Cartagena, Santa Marta, and Minca.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on March 06, 2019, 04:01:12 PM
We will visit Columbia next week for 8 days, including Cartagena, Santa Marta, and Minca.

Colombia is definitely on my short list.  Please tell us about it when you get back.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: K-ice on March 09, 2019, 10:15:45 AM

....Crazy Guy On A Bike web site but if you've never heard of it check out the journal section. Some very cool stories. https://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/

^^ I'll check that out.

I did some bike BnB in France. Back in the 90's I had a good guide for their Gites and stayed at the equivalent of 2*.

Today with online AirBnB it would probably be even easier.

The Loire Valley was beautiful & easy. We passed tourist groups followed by a van paying hundreds a day for a similar experience.
Around Aix in Province was more hilly but still nice.

I would be up for a Dutch trip in FIRE (maybe even before).   

After loosing a friend in a cycling accident I would probably limit myself to dedicated bike paths now therefore greatly limiting where I could go.

Any tips on safe cycling places?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: itchyfeet on March 09, 2019, 04:16:57 PM
A couple of years ago we cycled the Danube from Passau in germany to Budapest. This is a really easy and beautiful cycle.

The first half to Vienna is really nice despite the fact that it’s very popular, through the vineyards and villages etc.

From viemma to Budapest there were few cyclists so this made a nice contrast. A lot of the cycling on this part was away from the river through farming land, so was less scenic but still very pleasant and the Slovakian and Hungarian towns we stayed in were all really nice.

However, if people said they could only do one week I would recommend the first section from Passau to Vienna. Enjoy the beautiful scenery and ignore the hundred of other bikes making the same trip..
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Versatile on March 12, 2019, 06:27:13 PM
Australia! I'm leaving for ten days this month which excites the hell out of me.

What I am not interested in is the 15 hour flight but I'll suffer through, haha. I've never met an Australian I didn't like so I'm going to say the whole lot of them are wonderful people.

I'm going to the Katoomba region and staying at an airBNB which was really reasonable. I'm also excited about taking the train out of Central Station as I have never ridden a train before in my life.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: nnls on March 12, 2019, 07:47:33 PM
Australia! I'm leaving for ten days this month which excites the hell out of me.

What I am not interested in is the 15 hour flight but I'll suffer through, haha. I've never met an Australian I didn't like so I'm going to say the whole lot of them are wonderful people.

I'm going to the Katoomba region and staying at an airBNB which was really reasonable. I'm also excited about taking the train out of Central Station as I have never ridden a train before in my life.

I wish that we were all wonderful people, hopefully all the ones you meet are :)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Versatile on March 12, 2019, 08:05:51 PM
Australia! I'm leaving for ten days this month which excites the hell out of me.

What I am not interested in is the 15 hour flight but I'll suffer through, haha. I've never met an Australian I didn't like so I'm going to say the whole lot of them are wonderful people.

I'm going to the Katoomba region and staying at an airBNB which was really reasonable. I'm also excited about taking the train out of Central Station as I have never ridden a train before in my life.

I wish that we were all wonderful people, hopefully all the ones you meet are :)

I'm going with the attitude all you guys are great and I promise not to order a shit beer like Fosters. ;)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: nnls on March 12, 2019, 10:27:44 PM
Australia! I'm leaving for ten days this month which excites the hell out of me.

What I am not interested in is the 15 hour flight but I'll suffer through, haha. I've never met an Australian I didn't like so I'm going to say the whole lot of them are wonderful people.

I'm going to the Katoomba region and staying at an airBNB which was really reasonable. I'm also excited about taking the train out of Central Station as I have never ridden a train before in my life.

I wish that we were all wonderful people, hopefully all the ones you meet are :)

I'm going with the attitude all you guys are great and I promise not to order a shit beer like Fosters. ;)

haha I dont think you would be able to order it, I have yet to see it for sale in a pub anywhere in Australia. Though I have never been to Katoomba
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Hula Hoop on March 13, 2019, 03:41:38 AM
We're planning a trip to Germany or Austria this summer and I was wondering if anyone had any kid-friendly recommendations?  My sister will be with us and she has young kids (1.5 and 4) and my kids are 7 and 10.  We thought about Playmobil funpark.  But they also like the idea of Berlin.  I've never been to Austria and the mountains sound nice and cool.  Any thoughts?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Dee18 on March 13, 2019, 07:05:13 AM
At each of those ages my kid was happiest doing what she liked to do in her real life:  going to an age appropriate playground where there would be other kids, riding a bike on a bike path, people watching, eating her favorite foods, walking around an urban area in the evening.  Big events, like an amusement park, were okay once in w awhile but they were expensive and exhausting and not nearly as fun as making a a temporary friend at a playground.  We would just go where we wanted to go, but with the idea of stopping along the way at anything fun...like a pocket park.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: flyingaway on March 16, 2019, 06:18:29 PM
We will visit Columbia next week for 8 days, including Cartagena, Santa Marta, and Minca.

Colombia is definitely on my short list.  Please tell us about it when you get back.

Columbia is a safe country. People are friendly. Everything is good for the trip. I visited Cartagena, Santa Marta, Minca, and Tayrona National Natural Park. The beaches are wonderful.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: soccerluvof4 on March 17, 2019, 05:47:31 AM
Australia is and always has been my first choice but I want to add to my list now Finland and New Zealand as well. I personally wouldn't do well in the Asian countries or India because just to many people for me.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on March 18, 2019, 10:54:54 AM
We will visit Columbia next week for 8 days, including Cartagena, Santa Marta, and Minca.

Colombia is definitely on my short list.  Please tell us about it when you get back.

Columbia is a safe country. People are friendly. Everything is good for the trip. I visited Cartagena, Santa Marta, Minca, and Tayrona National Natural Park. The beaches are wonderful.

Any highlights or pictures?  I was hoping for a little bit of vicarious travel. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Lukim on April 30, 2019, 12:22:36 AM
Versatile,

How was the trip to Katoomba?

I have been there many times (most recently in December 2018).

I cannot believe it was your first trip on a train! Central to Katoomba is a nice 2 hour ride, but not an epic journey.

I did an 8 hour train ride in Java last week - that was a lot of fun (but I have done that journey about 10 times but it still keeps me enthralled looking out the window).  Hopefully in a couple of months will do the full length of Java by train over 3 days.


For Australian beers, I think the Tasmanian beer (Cascade and James Boag) are the best.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Ozlady on April 30, 2019, 05:53:31 AM
Hi

I did travel overland from Jakarta all the way to east Java (my! those distances are misleading...Indonesia is seriously big!)...when i reached the east, i thought why not? and took a ferry hop across to Bali...would have kept hopping islands (always like the name Gili islands and Lombok and Komodo dragons wow!) but never made it...

Maybe when DH retires, we can do just that!

BTW i would love to go back also to Northern India ..the Kashmir Kulu Valley  Simla area...ah!  Heaven on earth:))))...that was 20 years ago tho:((

And my DD says i must absolutely go to Japan...and so i will !
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: FreelanceToFreedom on April 30, 2019, 12:10:51 PM
I've been in Eastern Europe for a few months now and enjoying it! Bulgaria and Romania specifically. Friendly people, good food (Mediterranean, Turkish and European influences) and very affordable prices. Would definitely recommend for an off the beaten path European destination!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: sui generis on May 08, 2019, 12:30:53 PM
I am only traveling a bit more in my first year of FIRE, but I hope to ratchet it up over time.  My husband is not retired, so I'll be doing a lot on my own or with other friends, hopefully. 

There's also basically nowhere I don't want to go (except perhaps Saudi Arabia) but there are places I'm curious about that I've basically never heard of anyone going.  Like going, period, not just going as a traveller/tourist.  Like, anyone here been to Guyana or Suriname? Or Western Sahara or Angola?  Obviously, I can do my own research on these, but just curious to hear from real live people that have been to countries like these that most people would barely recognize the name!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: YK-Phil on May 08, 2019, 01:21:11 PM
Guyana or Suriname?

I've been to French Guiana in the early 80s, and really thought about moving there which is, as a French citizen (I also have Canadian and birth citizenship from a former French colony that I keep just for fun), is a piece of cake. The capital, Cayenne, felt oddly very much French, a bit like Fort-de-France or Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (another place to check out for you), but as soon as you get out of the city, you are in unknown territory, a mix of lawlessness and easy life. I felt anything was possible, as in making a ton of money doing something on the border of being legal, or losing everything and getting stuck there forever, living in a wooden hut with an extended family. I really hate flying but I would love to go back and check it out again.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: sui generis on May 08, 2019, 02:53:19 PM
Fascinating!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on May 09, 2019, 11:30:45 AM
Guyana or Suriname?

I've been to French Guiana in the early 80s, and really thought about moving there which is, as a French citizen (I also have Canadian and birth citizenship from a former French colony that I keep just for fun), is a piece of cake. The capital, Cayenne, felt oddly very much French, a bit like Fort-de-France or Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon (another place to check out for you), but as soon as you get out of the city, you are in unknown territory, a mix of lawlessness and easy life. I felt anything was possible, as in making a ton of money doing something on the border of being legal, or losing everything and getting stuck there forever, living in a wooden hut with an extended family. I really hate flying but I would love to go back and check it out again.

I want to go there just so I can say I've been across the new bridge between France and Brazil. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Threshkin on May 14, 2019, 04:07:57 PM
Recently returned from a 26 day trip to Germany.  We had a great time, mostly staying with family and old friends.  We are considering another trip but need to go to Hawaii first for my son's wedding.

First world problems.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on May 15, 2019, 10:50:51 AM
Recently returned from a 26 day trip to Germany.  We had a great time, mostly staying with family and old friends.  We are considering another trip but need to go to Hawaii first for my son's wedding.

First world problems.

Any highlights to share?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Hirondelle on May 15, 2019, 10:55:32 AM
I am only traveling a bit more in my first year of FIRE, but I hope to ratchet it up over time.  My husband is not retired, so I'll be doing a lot on my own or with other friends, hopefully. 

There's also basically nowhere I don't want to go (except perhaps Saudi Arabia) but there are places I'm curious about that I've basically never heard of anyone going.  Like going, period, not just going as a traveller/tourist.  Like, anyone here been to Guyana or Suriname? Or Western Sahara or Angola?  Obviously, I can do my own research on these, but just curious to hear from real live people that have been to countries like these that most people would barely recognize the name!

Suriname is a former Dutch colony and popular among Dutch tourists (both for visiting family reasons as for regular tourism) so yes I know HEAPS of people who've been there. There's plenty to see and everyone I know who's been loved it.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: sui generis on May 15, 2019, 01:12:41 PM
I am only traveling a bit more in my first year of FIRE, but I hope to ratchet it up over time.  My husband is not retired, so I'll be doing a lot on my own or with other friends, hopefully. 

There's also basically nowhere I don't want to go (except perhaps Saudi Arabia) but there are places I'm curious about that I've basically never heard of anyone going.  Like going, period, not just going as a traveller/tourist.  Like, anyone here been to Guyana or Suriname? Or Western Sahara or Angola?  Obviously, I can do my own research on these, but just curious to hear from real live people that have been to countries like these that most people would barely recognize the name!

Suriname is a former Dutch colony and popular among Dutch tourists (both for visiting family reasons as for regular tourism) so yes I know HEAPS of people who've been there. There's plenty to see and everyone I know who's been loved it.

Really?  That's cool!  I think I thought most of them probably had slightly unstable governments, lots of poverty or something else that would make them possibly sketchy destinations.  I am moving Suriname higher on my list right now!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Threshkin on May 16, 2019, 10:06:09 AM
Recently returned from a 26 day trip to Germany.  We had a great time, mostly staying with family and old friends.  We are considering another trip but need to go to Hawaii first for my son's wedding.

First world problems.

Any highlights to share?

Hamburg, Dresden and Berlin are all on the list for future multi-day stays.  Many great museums to see.  Bremen and Hanover were meah IMO.  Cologne and Koblenz were nice but good for day trips.  We did not get to southern Germany on this trip.  Food was not expensive but boy to they eat a LOT of bread and pastries.  Try a Doner (Gyro meat with lots of veggies and sauce in a pita bread) for around 4 euro.  Great lunch.  There are more historic sites on the old East Germany side, mainly because they were not bulldozed for new development in the 60s and 70s like there were in West Germany.

Mixed emotions on the war history.  My dad was in Norway during the occupation and refused to have anything to do with Germany after that.  Mostly I was able to let it slide past but at times it was very hard.  Encountered a little anti-American and racial prejudice but never felt unsafe.  There is a lot of collective guilt about what happened during the war but, just like here there are people on all sides of the spectrum.  I tried to keep focused on the ancient history (middle ages to pre-roman) and the architecture to keep the emotions down.  But visiting war memorials and sites get a lot of focus with many people.  Thank you, but seeing another boarder crossing/concentration camp/military museum is not what I really want to do.  I studied the history and learned from it, I do not want to relive it.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on May 16, 2019, 10:48:46 AM
Hamburg, Dresden and Berlin are all on the list for future multi-day stays.  Many great museums to see.  Bremen and Hanover were meah IMO.  Cologne and Koblenz were nice but good for day trips.  We did not get to southern Germany on this trip.  Food was not expensive but boy to they eat a LOT of bread and pastries.  Try a Doner (Gyro meat with lots of veggies and sauce in a pita bread) for around 4 euro.  Great lunch.  There are more historic sites on the old East Germany side, mainly because they were not bulldozed for new development in the 60s and 70s like there were in West Germany.

Mixed emotions on the war history.  My dad was in Norway during the occupation and refused to have anything to do with Germany after that.  Mostly I was able to let it slide past but at times it was very hard.  Encountered a little anti-American and racial prejudice but never felt unsafe.  There is a lot of collective guilt about what happened during the war but, just like here there are people on all sides of the spectrum.  I tried to keep focused on the ancient history (middle ages to pre-roman) and the architecture to keep the emotions down.  But visiting war memorials and sites get a lot of focus with many people.  Thank you, but seeing another boarder crossing/concentration camp/military museum is not what I really want to do.  I studied the history and learned from it, I do not want to relive it.

I'm really surprised that East Germany has more historic areas.  I thought it was the communists that razed history for modernist buildings, but I guess West Germany just had more resources to actually make it happen. 

I had heard that there was a big Turkish influence in Germany, so I guess that adds a dimension to the food. 

I'm more interested in ancient history, too.  I think it gets overlooked a lot.  Really, though, I like to focus on the present when I travel.  I also think it can be unfair to a country to focus so much on the dark parts of their history.  Every country has done something terrible in its past.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Hamsteronaroll on May 16, 2019, 02:47:29 PM
Lots of terrific answers so far.

I know that you can’t De-mustachify so I’ll mention a few of the 110 countries I’ve seen that seem WAY cheap to me.  I include only ‘nice’ places that aren’t grimy....Added my two favorite spots in each country.

Argentina - hands down best of the S Americas if you want to live like a sophisticated Euro, yet pay pennies on the dollar.  Seriously, go. Salta, Buenos Aires.
Bolivia - still super cheap, super interesting scenery and culture, and public bathrooms.  Be prepared to have trouble breathing at that altitude!  Copacabana, La Paz (not so much).
Bosnia - I had no idea this was so mountainous and green, really nice cafe culture. Mostar, Sarajevo (obvious, sorry).
Slovakia - cafes, history, mountains.  Levoca, Kosice.
Colombia - for history, greenery, Euro/Latin feel.  Medellin, Cartagena.
Laos - for Indian subcontinent without too much hassle.  Vientiane, Luang Prabang

You’ll see a ton of stuff about Panama, Ecuador, Thailand -  they just weren’t my kind of places.
Great value still...but I do not have personal experience - Ukraine, Indonesia, Mexico.

End of cheap list.

If you are up for grimy travel - Burma, Peru, Cote D’Ivoire
If you are interested in going places where no one you know has been - Suriname, Swaziland, N Macedonia
If you want a couple of places that are pretty scary - Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Pakistan (okay, please don’t go)
If you want to visit places that remind you how lucky you are to be first world:  São Tomé, Sierra Leone, Guyana.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: flyingaway on May 17, 2019, 07:44:50 AM
Lots of terrific answers so far.

I know that you can’t De-mustachify so I’ll mention a few of the 110 countries I’ve seen that seem WAY cheap to me.  I include only ‘nice’ places that aren’t grimy....Added my two favorite spots in each country.

Argentina - hands down best of the S Americas if you want to live like a sophisticated Euro, yet pay pennies on the dollar.  Seriously, go. Salta, Buenos Aires.
Bolivia - still super cheap, super interesting scenery and culture, and public bathrooms.  Be prepared to have trouble breathing at that altitude!  Copacabana, La Paz (not so much).
Bosnia - I had no idea this was so mountainous and green, really nice cafe culture. Mostar, Sarajevo (obvious, sorry).
Slovakia - cafes, history, mountains.  Levoca, Kosice.
Colombia - for history, greenery, Euro/Latin feel.  Medellin, Cartagena.
Laos - for Indian subcontinent without too much hassle.  Vientiane, Luang Prabang

You’ll see a ton of stuff about Panama, Ecuador, Thailand -  they just weren’t my kind of places.
Great value still...but I do not have personal experience - Ukraine, Indonesia, Mexico.

End of cheap list.

If you are up for grimy travel - Burma, Peru, Cote D’Ivoire
If you are interested in going places where no one you know has been - Suriname, Swaziland, N Macedonia
If you want a couple of places that are pretty scary - Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Pakistan (okay, please don’t go)
If you want to visit places that remind you how lucky you are to be first world:  São Tomé, Sierra Leone, Guyana.

Those are very interesting places.
Do you prefer to visit different new places or to good places multiple times?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on May 17, 2019, 10:52:20 AM
Lots of terrific answers so far.

I know that you can’t De-mustachify so I’ll mention a few of the 110 countries I’ve seen that seem WAY cheap to me.  I include only ‘nice’ places that aren’t grimy....Added my two favorite spots in each country.

Argentina - hands down best of the S Americas if you want to live like a sophisticated Euro, yet pay pennies on the dollar.  Seriously, go. Salta, Buenos Aires.
Bolivia - still super cheap, super interesting scenery and culture, and public bathrooms.  Be prepared to have trouble breathing at that altitude!  Copacabana, La Paz (not so much).
Bosnia - I had no idea this was so mountainous and green, really nice cafe culture. Mostar, Sarajevo (obvious, sorry).
Slovakia - cafes, history, mountains.  Levoca, Kosice.
Colombia - for history, greenery, Euro/Latin feel.  Medellin, Cartagena.
Laos - for Indian subcontinent without too much hassle.  Vientiane, Luang Prabang

You’ll see a ton of stuff about Panama, Ecuador, Thailand -  they just weren’t my kind of places.
Great value still...but I do not have personal experience - Ukraine, Indonesia, Mexico.

End of cheap list.

If you are up for grimy travel - Burma, Peru, Cote D’Ivoire
If you are interested in going places where no one you know has been - Suriname, Swaziland, N Macedonia
If you want a couple of places that are pretty scary - Equatorial Guinea, Honduras, Pakistan (okay, please don’t go)
If you want to visit places that remind you how lucky you are to be first world:  São Tomé, Sierra Leone, Guyana.

That sounds cool.

You should definitely try Mexico.  There is a lot to see. 

I'm also surprised you didn't mention India.  Thoughts? 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Cassie on May 17, 2019, 04:06:49 PM
I have been to some poverty stricken countries and I don’t want to repeat it. 2 of my kids went to India and enjoyed it but after hearing their stories it’s not for me.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on May 20, 2019, 10:42:30 AM
I have been to some poverty stricken countries and I don’t want to repeat it. 2 of my kids went to India and enjoyed it but after hearing their stories it’s not for me.

There are still amazing experiences to be had in poor countries.  I had the best meals of my life in India. 

It is hard to be around the poverty, though.  To each their own when it comes to traveling.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: itchyfeet on May 26, 2019, 11:32:51 AM
Well I’m off to Kyrgyzstan next week. No real idea what I’ll find there. Looking forward to walking in some mountains.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJoP on May 26, 2019, 12:26:52 PM
The "stan" countries are on my list.  The hospitality is supposed to be amazing, and the food devine. 

We're heading to the South of France for a 2 week trip.   The focus is VERY narrow-- about a 300 mile loop from Marseille to Marseille, adding in some designated "scenic villages," historic and UNESCO sites, a boat tour of the coast,  a couple of national parks, river rafting, caving, hiking and horseback riding.  There's a Roman Amphitheatre and layers of history.  And, of course, eating!  Oh la la, I can't wait! 

My favorite bargain countries are Italy, Slovenia, Greece, South Africa, and Peru.  I haven't been to Colombia or a number of other countries on your list, so I can't weigh in properly.  Mexico has been my second home but the tourist/American always has to beware the scam.    South East Asia is too hot for my taste but scads of ex-pats live amazingly well on pensions or SS there because it is truly inexpensive by Western standards.    I've done some peeking at the Retire Abroad websites and I'm always intrigued. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Hula Hoop on May 26, 2019, 02:16:58 PM
My favorite bargain countries are Italy, Slovenia, Greece, South Africa, and Peru. 

Wow, i'm surprised Italy is on your list of 'bargain' countries.  Italians all love going to Slovenia because it's so cheap (and also beautiful and close by).  It's true that whenever I go to Northern Europe I'm amazed at how expensive everything is up there, especially food.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: YK-Phil on May 28, 2019, 01:09:12 PM

Marseille
 

My favourite city in France, especially the Noailles district. Make sure you stop by at Charly Pizza at the old port. One of the best pizza in France, a local institution started by my Neapolitan uncle in the early 1960s and now taken over by his grandson.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: jeroly on June 02, 2019, 08:14:07 PM
The "stan" countries are on my list.  The hospitality is supposed to be amazing, and the food devine. 

I had an amazing time in Kyrgyzstan last year.  Beautiful mountains, great hiking, wonderful people, interesting lens into a formerly nomadic culture after a people have settled - even folks with houses still put up their yurts in the summer.

It's a real travel bargain in some respects - we arranged for a private tour for ten days with all accommodations, food, our own van with driver and english speaking tour guide, for ten days, for about $1,000 per person not including airfare and gratuities. I'd never been on a tour before - I do a lot of independent travel and value the ability to construct my own itinerary as well as to change things on the fly - and it was nice to have someone else doing the planning for me but still to be able to change things up plus not have to interact with a bunch of 'ugy Americans...' 

On the other hand, some of the accommodations were pretty rough - we stayed in private homes that had comfy beds, but sometimes the rooms were pretty cold, and in one place there was only an outhouse.

The main thing that was not amazing was the cuisine.  Not a lot of variety except in different styles of horse meat.  Lots of noodles and fatty meat.

If anyone is interested they can PM me for more info on the tour company etc.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: jeroly on June 02, 2019, 08:28:10 PM
As I'm FIREd, but mindful of taking advantage of my good health whilst I still have it, I'm looking to cross off all the destinations on my bucket list in the next six years.  My SO is still employed and she's likely to continue to be so for the forseeable future, so I seek travel companions for most of these - feel free to reach out if there's synchronicity in interest and timing!

2019 Columbia* (10th-26th June), Bosnia/Croatia (Aug, traveling companion already found), Nepal (October)

Bulgaria either 2019 or 2020 (visiting a friend, depends on what's convenient for her)

2020 New Zealand (Feb), Madagascar (Apr - traveling companion already found), Cuba (June - this one with my girlfriend!), Baltic States (Aug), Australia* (Oct)

2021 Jordan (Feb), Portugal (Apr), Indonesia* (June), Uganda (Aug), Ethiopia (Oct)

2022 Chile (Feb), Slovenia (Apr), Uzbekistan (June), Tanzania/Kenya (Aug), India* (October)

2023 Philippines (Feb), Italy* (Apr), China* (June), Ecuador (Aug), South Korea (Oct)

2024 Antarctic cruise (Feb), Malta (Apr), Georgia (Jun), Brazil* (Oct)

2025 Guatamala (Feb), Mexico* (Apr), Costa Rica (Jun)

Note: some of these destinations are repeats for me (indicated with an *), and in those places I'm looking to 'fill in' the interesting spots I haven't yet explored.  For example, for Italy I look to check out Naples and the Amalfi Coast, Sicily, Calabria, and possibly the Cinque Terre - I've spent a lot of time in Northern Italy but haven't been to the south.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Padonak on June 02, 2019, 08:55:52 PM
On my list

Europe:

Italy
Spain
Portugal
Eastern Europe

Asia:

Philippines
Vietnam (Da Nang in particular)
Probably Chiang Mai, Thailand (not during the burning season due to air pollution)
Indonesia
Malaysia
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: itchyfeet on June 02, 2019, 10:49:10 PM
The "stan" countries are on my list.  The hospitality is supposed to be amazing, and the food devine. 

I had an amazing time in Kyrgyzstan last year.  Beautiful mountains, great hiking, wonderful people, interesting lens into a formerly nomadic culture after a people have settled - even folks with houses still put up their yurts in the summer.

It's a real travel bargain in some respects - we arranged for a private tour for ten days with all accommodations, food, our own van with driver and english speaking tour guide, for ten days, for about $1,000 per person not including airfare and gratuities. I'd never been on a tour before - I do a lot of independent travel and value the ability to construct my own itinerary as well as to change things on the fly - and it was nice to have someone else doing the planning for me but still to be able to change things up plus not have to interact with a bunch of 'ugy Americans...' 

On the other hand, some of the accommodations were pretty rough - we stayed in private homes that had comfy beds, but sometimes the rooms were pretty cold, and in one place there was only an outhouse.

The main thing that was not amazing was the cuisine.  Not a lot of variety except in different styles of horse meat.  Lots of noodles and fatty meat.

If anyone is interested they can PM me for more info on the tour company etc.

Thanks for the insight. We fly today. We will do a private tour too.

Like you we typically travel independently but sometimes when we are particularly time pressed it can be easier to hire a driver, and in developing countries not prohibitively expensive. I don’t see us ever joining a tour in say Europe or the US.... but even in Europe we once booked a cycling trip from Germany to budapest and the travel agent organized all our hotels, the bikes and luggage transport. I suppose it was a “self guided tour”, but still very much with our hands held. Nothing for us to think about except where to eat 😆.

Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on June 03, 2019, 10:19:16 AM
As I'm FIREd, but mindful of taking advantage of my good health whilst I still have it, I'm looking to cross off all the destinations on my bucket list in the next six years.  My SO is still employed and she's likely to continue to be so for the forseeable future, so I seek travel companions for most of these - feel free to reach out if there's synchronicity in interest and timing!

2019 Columbia* (10th-26th June), Bosnia/Croatia (Aug, traveling companion already found), Nepal (October)

Bulgaria either 2019 or 2020 (visiting a friend, depends on what's convenient for her)

2020 New Zealand (Feb), Madagascar (Apr - traveling companion already found), Cuba (June - this one with my girlfriend!), Baltic States (Aug), Australia* (Oct)

2021 Jordan (Feb), Portugal (Apr), Indonesia* (June), Uganda (Aug), Ethiopia (Oct)

2022 Chile (Feb), Slovenia (Apr), Uzbekistan (June), Tanzania/Kenya (Aug), India* (October)

2023 Philippines (Feb), Italy* (Apr), China* (June), Ecuador (Aug), South Korea (Oct)

2024 Antarctic cruise (Feb), Malta (Apr), Georgia (Jun), Brazil* (Oct)

2025 Guatamala (Feb), Mexico* (Apr), Costa Rica (Jun)

Note: some of these destinations are repeats for me (indicated with an *), and in those places I'm looking to 'fill in' the interesting spots I haven't yet explored.  For example, for Italy I look to check out Naples and the Amalfi Coast, Sicily, Calabria, and possibly the Cinque Terre - I've spent a lot of time in Northern Italy but haven't been to the south.

Those all sound really cool.  I'm curious as to why you don't stay longer, though. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: jeroly on June 03, 2019, 12:00:23 PM
As I'm FIREd, but mindful of taking advantage of my good health whilst I still have it, I'm looking to cross off all the destinations on my bucket list in the next six years.  My SO is still employed and she's likely to continue to be so for the forseeable future, so I seek travel companions for most of these - feel free to reach out if there's synchronicity in interest and timing!
...

Those all sound really cool.  I'm curious as to why you don't stay longer, though.
It's because I have an SO that is super-duper cool with me traveling solo (or with friends, relatives, or new acquaintances of either sex) but we miss each other and 2 1/2 weeks in a stretch is about as much separate time as works well for our relationship.  Certain trips though (like Australia earlier this year [3 1/2 weeks], or Nepal in October) just aren't conducive to short jaunts, and I'll push the envelope with my four weeks trekking up to and around Everest Base Camp...
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on June 03, 2019, 03:49:10 PM
As I'm FIREd, but mindful of taking advantage of my good health whilst I still have it, I'm looking to cross off all the destinations on my bucket list in the next six years.  My SO is still employed and she's likely to continue to be so for the forseeable future, so I seek travel companions for most of these - feel free to reach out if there's synchronicity in interest and timing!
...

Those all sound really cool.  I'm curious as to why you don't stay longer, though.
It's because I have an SO that is super-duper cool with me traveling solo (or with friends, relatives, or new acquaintances of either sex) but we miss each other and 2 1/2 weeks in a stretch is about as much separate time as works well for our relationship.  Certain trips though (like Australia earlier this year [3 1/2 weeks], or Nepal in October) just aren't conducive to short jaunts, and I'll push the envelope with my four weeks trekking up to and around Everest Base Camp...

I'll probably be in this same boat in a few years given that I don't think my spouse will want to travel as much as I'd like to.  I'm hoping a couple of months at a time will work for us, though. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Threshkin on June 03, 2019, 07:25:07 PM
Hamburg, Dresden and Berlin are all on the list for future multi-day stays.  Many great museums to see.  Bremen and Hanover were meah IMO.  Cologne and Koblenz were nice but good for day trips.  We did not get to southern Germany on this trip.  Food was not expensive but boy to they eat a LOT of bread and pastries.  Try a Doner (Gyro meat with lots of veggies and sauce in a pita bread) for around 4 euro.  Great lunch.  There are more historic sites on the old East Germany side, mainly because they were not bulldozed for new development in the 60s and 70s like there were in West Germany.

Mixed emotions on the war history.  My dad was in Norway during the occupation and refused to have anything to do with Germany after that.  Mostly I was able to let it slide past but at times it was very hard.  Encountered a little anti-American and racial prejudice but never felt unsafe.  There is a lot of collective guilt about what happened during the war but, just like here there are people on all sides of the spectrum.  I tried to keep focused on the ancient history (middle ages to pre-roman) and the architecture to keep the emotions down.  But visiting war memorials and sites get a lot of focus with many people.  Thank you, but seeing another boarder crossing/concentration camp/military museum is not what I really want to do.  I studied the history and learned from it, I do not want to relive it.

I'm really surprised that East Germany has more historic areas.  I thought it was the communists that razed history for modernist buildings, but I guess West Germany just had more resources to actually make it happen. 

I had heard that there was a big Turkish influence in Germany, so I guess that adds a dimension to the food. 

I'm more interested in ancient history, too.  I think it gets overlooked a lot.  Really, though, I like to focus on the present when I travel.  I also think it can be unfair to a country to focus so much on the dark parts of their history.  Every country has done something terrible in its past.

Sorry for the slow response.  Since I FIREd I spend much less time on this board. 

Interestingly the reverse happened.  The Soviets actually prevented East Germany from rebuilding developing many bombed out zones.  This was (at least initially) punitive for the Germans attacking the USSR.  They basically forced the Germans to live with the consequences of their actions.  This policy, coupled with a lack of economic growth in East Germany resulted in the preservation of many historic areas.  After re-unification in 1989 growth started happening but by then the preservation of historic places was a higher social priority.  Even today the East is less developed.  Wages are lower, unemployment is higher, hosing prices are lower.  This is in spite of significant incentives offered by the German government for business to relocate or expand in the East.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJoP on June 16, 2019, 01:53:29 PM

Marseille
 

My favourite city in France, especially the Noailles district. Make sure you stop by at Charly Pizza at the old port. One of the best pizza in France, a local institution started by my Neapolitan uncle in the early 1960s and now taken over by his grandson.

Well, darn it that I didn't see this post until today.  I spent lots of time walking the Old Port and think I even saw Charly Pizza, but did not go there because I didn't read your post.  Shucks!

I've now returned from a our wonderful trip.  FIR is exceeding all expectations! 

As far as Italy goes... yes, many countries/places are less expensive, but I simply love Italy and there's still so much of it that I haven't seen. I LOVE Italy... the food, the history, the scenery, the people.    In our travels, we tend to really get off the beaten path and the prices are low enough if you are where the locals go.  You live there, @Hula Hoop, so you really know the nitty gritty,  but we're tourists.   We are comparing tourist cost to  tourist cost, and are USA based, so that's our frame of reference.  In the USA, a sub par roadside hotel will often be $80-90 a night.  We often tell our friends that we can travel in Europe for far less than home.   We stayed in an amazing, huge historic room in a 1000 year old castle BnB, which was about $40 including breakfast for 2.  That's the Italy I can explore forever!   Yes, we've found cheaper castles to stay in in Eastern Europe, I think $17 was the lowest, but the $40 isn't cost prohibitive, so it's all good.  In fact, it's all fantastic!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: itchyfeet on June 17, 2019, 10:28:19 AM
Just returned from Kyrgyzstan. Thumbs up. Beautiful Alpine scenery and ridiculously cheap food and beer.

A bit like Georgia which we visited back and was similarly awesome (probably moreso even).
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Hula Hoop on June 17, 2019, 01:03:55 PM

Marseille
 

My favourite city in France, especially the Noailles district. Make sure you stop by at Charly Pizza at the old port. One of the best pizza in France, a local institution started by my Neapolitan uncle in the early 1960s and now taken over by his grandson.

Well, darn it that I didn't see this post until today.  I spent lots of time walking the Old Port and think I even saw Charly Pizza, but did not go there because I didn't read your post.  Shucks!

I've now returned from a our wonderful trip.  FIR is exceeding all expectations! 

As far as Italy goes... yes, many countries/places are less expensive, but I simply love Italy and there's still so much of it that I haven't seen. I LOVE Italy... the food, the history, the scenery, the people.    In our travels, we tend to really get off the beaten path and the prices are low enough if you are where the locals go.  You live there, @Hula Hoop, so you really know the nitty gritty,  but we're tourists.   We are comparing tourist cost to  tourist cost, and are USA based, so that's our frame of reference.  In the USA, a sub par roadside hotel will often be $80-90 a night.  We often tell our friends that we can travel in Europe for far less than home.   We stayed in an amazing, huge historic room in a 1000 year old castle BnB, which was about $40 including breakfast for 2.  That's the Italy I can explore forever!   Yes, we've found cheaper castles to stay in in Eastern Europe, I think $17 was the lowest, but the $40 isn't cost prohibitive, so it's all good.  In fact, it's all fantastic!

Glad you like it here in Italy, Jojo.  I kind of have a love-hate relationship with the place but that's because living here (especially trying to earn a living here) is an entirely different thing from coming here on vacation. 

I agree that Italy can be really cheap in some really amazing places.  I stayed in a place like you describe around 10 years ago in Caltagirone, Sicily during the low season (January).  It's a truly amazing town - just gorgeous - and it had just been listed with UNESCO when we were there but almost no tourists.  We had a great time being wined and dined by the locals probably because there were so few tourists and they were just so thrilled that I spoke Italian (I was travelling with a friend who doesn't though).  But there are a million towns like Caltagirone here.  Absolutely stunning towns with almost no tourists.  For some reason all the tourists go to Florence, Cinque Terre, San Gimignano, Venice, the Amalfi Coast and Rome.  Those places are wonderful but there is so much more to see especially in the South of Italy.  One of my favorite places in Italy is Naples.  So many tourists just go right through Naples on the way to the Amalfi Coast, Capri etc.  They have no idea what they're missing.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on June 17, 2019, 03:39:56 PM

Marseille
 

My favourite city in France, especially the Noailles district. Make sure you stop by at Charly Pizza at the old port. One of the best pizza in France, a local institution started by my Neapolitan uncle in the early 1960s and now taken over by his grandson.

Well, darn it that I didn't see this post until today.  I spent lots of time walking the Old Port and think I even saw Charly Pizza, but did not go there because I didn't read your post.  Shucks!

I've now returned from a our wonderful trip.  FIR is exceeding all expectations! 

As far as Italy goes... yes, many countries/places are less expensive, but I simply love Italy and there's still so much of it that I haven't seen. I LOVE Italy... the food, the history, the scenery, the people.    In our travels, we tend to really get off the beaten path and the prices are low enough if you are where the locals go.  You live there, @Hula Hoop, so you really know the nitty gritty,  but we're tourists.   We are comparing tourist cost to  tourist cost, and are USA based, so that's our frame of reference.  In the USA, a sub par roadside hotel will often be $80-90 a night.  We often tell our friends that we can travel in Europe for far less than home.   We stayed in an amazing, huge historic room in a 1000 year old castle BnB, which was about $40 including breakfast for 2.  That's the Italy I can explore forever!   Yes, we've found cheaper castles to stay in in Eastern Europe, I think $17 was the lowest, but the $40 isn't cost prohibitive, so it's all good.  In fact, it's all fantastic!

Glad you like it here in Italy, Jojo.  I kind of have a love-hate relationship with the place but that's because living here (especially trying to earn a living here) is an entirely different thing from coming here on vacation. 

I agree that Italy can be really cheap in some really amazing places.  I stayed in a place like you describe around 10 years ago in Caltagirone, Sicily during the low season (January).  It's a truly amazing town - just gorgeous - and it had just been listed with UNESCO when we were there but almost no tourists.  We had a great time being wined and dined by the locals probably because there were so few tourists and they were just so thrilled that I spoke Italian (I was travelling with a friend who doesn't though).  But there are a million towns like Caltagirone here.  Absolutely stunning towns with almost no tourists.  For some reason all the tourists go to Florence, Cinque Terre, San Gimignano, Venice, the Amalfi Coast and Rome.  Those places are wonderful but there is so much more to see especially in the South of Italy.  One of my favorite places in Italy is Naples.  So many tourists just go right through Naples on the way to the Amalfi Coast, Capri etc.  They have no idea what they're missing.

I'm suprised that smaller locations in Southern Italy don't see a decent amount of travelers just from the Italian diaspora.  So many villages in Southern Italy have descendants in the US, Argentina, Australia, etc.  My great grandfather's little village is way up on my bucket list. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Hula Hoop on June 17, 2019, 05:08:36 PM

I'm suprised that smaller locations in Southern Italy don't see a decent amount of travelers just from the Italian diaspora.  So many villages in Southern Italy have descendants in the US, Argentina, Australia, etc.  My great grandfather's little village is way up on my bucket list.

I don't think that tourism to ancestral villages is big enough to have much of an impact.  I know a couple of Italian Americans, Italian Australians etc. who have visited their ancestral villages but they also seem to always go to the usual tourist spots.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: jeroly on June 17, 2019, 08:01:33 PM
Just returned from Kyrgyzstan. Thumbs up. Beautiful Alpine scenery and ridiculously cheap food and beer.

A bit like Georgia which we visited back and was similarly awesome (probably moreso even).

So glad that you enjoyed Kyrgyzstan!
Where are y'all off to next?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJoP on June 17, 2019, 08:05:03 PM

Glad you like it here in Italy, Jojo.  I kind of have a love-hate relationship with the place but that's because living here (especially trying to earn a living here) is an entirely different thing from coming here on vacation. 

I agree that Italy can be really cheap in some really amazing places.  I stayed in a place like you describe around 10 years ago in Caltagirone, Sicily during the low season (January).  It's a truly amazing town - just gorgeous - and it had just been listed with UNESCO when we were there but almost no tourists.  We had a great time being wined and dined by the locals probably because there were so few tourists and they were just so thrilled that I spoke Italian (I was travelling with a friend who doesn't though).  But there are a million towns like Caltagirone here.  Absolutely stunning towns with almost no tourists.  For some reason all the tourists go to Florence, Cinque Terre, San Gimignano, Venice, the Amalfi Coast and Rome.  Those places are wonderful but there is so much more to see especially in the South of Italy.  One of my favorite places in Italy is Naples.  So many tourists just go right through Naples on the way to the Amalfi Coast, Capri etc.  They have no idea what they're missing.

Ah! What do you like best in Naples?  I'm spending a couple of weeks in/around Naples later this year.  Low season, thank goodness.   It's just going to be a very small loop down the coast a bit to Salerno and back up more inland. Yes, it will include the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii.  I've never been to either, yet, so I'm looking forward to seeing them.  Once they are ticked off the list, I can move on to more obscure locations and do some serious exploring. 

  Sicily is going to have to wait its turn, but it is on my list.     I don't want to be rushed when we go there, so it will have to be a destination of its own. 

@itchyfeet - Kyrgysztan sounds wonderful.  I hope to go there, and Georgia as well.  Tell us more!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Hula Hoop on June 18, 2019, 08:06:37 AM
Honestly, in Naples, we just loved walking around and talking to people.  Also eating a lot of pizza and drinking a ton of coffee and pastries.

The Archeological Museum is amazing - it has all the good stuff taken from Pompei. The Naples underground tour was also a highlight especially for our kids. The Museo San Severa was fabulous and macabre. The Santa Chiara Monastery was beautiful.  I'd also recommend taking the funicular to Vomero and going to the Castel Sant'Elmo with beautiful views over the bay.  The San Gennaro treasure museum was jaw dropping and our kids totally loved it.  We didn't have time for this, but next time I also want to go to Posillipo for a drink or meal. 

I enjoyed the banter in Naples.  People normally speak their own dialect/language but they also speak Italian and we chatted with everyone.  This was probably made easier by our having kids with us.  Their sense of humor is wonderful and really dark. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: letsdoit on June 18, 2019, 09:39:18 AM
thanks for reminding us about southern italy. 
we should all be on the look out for places like the Stans that are under-touristed.

Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on June 18, 2019, 11:42:08 AM
Honestly, in Naples, we just loved walking around and talking to people.  Also eating a lot of pizza and drinking a ton of coffee and pastries.

The Archeological Museum is amazing - it has all the good stuff taken from Pompei. The Naples underground tour was also a highlight especially for our kids. The Museo San Severa was fabulous and macabre. The Santa Chiara Monastery was beautiful.  I'd also recommend taking the funicular to Vomero and going to the Castel Sant'Elmo with beautiful views over the bay.  The San Gennaro treasure museum was jaw dropping and our kids totally loved it.  We didn't have time for this, but next time I also want to go to Posillipo for a drink or meal. 

I enjoyed the banter in Naples.  People normally speak their own dialect/language but they also speak Italian and we chatted with everyone.  This was probably made easier by our having kids with us.  Their sense of humor is wonderful and really dark.

I've never really gotten the draw of just trying to stuff in as many major tourist attractions as possible.  I'm glad I saw Pompeii, but honestly just wandering around Naples randomly wandering into pastry and gelato shops was better.  No agenda, no rush.  Isn't that a thing in Italy anyway?
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Hula Hoop on June 18, 2019, 01:17:21 PM
Dougules - me neither.  We're lucky as we don't live that far from Naples so we've been there several times usually just for a few days here and there.  We generally wander around with a bit of help from Google maps and just wander into churches and museums as they appeal to us (or pizza places or coffee bars).  I also go there sometimes for work and try to fit in a bit of wandering and pizza eating, if possible.

The only thing I'd warn people about when wandering Naples is that the area just around the station and the Centro Direzionale of Naples are hideous.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: itchyfeet on June 19, 2019, 11:17:51 AM
Just returned from Kyrgyzstan. Thumbs up. Beautiful Alpine scenery and ridiculously cheap food and beer.

A bit like Georgia which we visited back and was similarly awesome (probably moreso even).

So glad that you enjoyed Kyrgyzstan!
Where are y'all off to next?

We are actually going to Poland in 2 weeks to visit a friend there. Just Warsaw.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: BussoV6 on June 25, 2019, 08:55:55 AM
I already lived on four continents and traveled pretty much everywhere for work and pleasure, and my wife and I intended just a few months ago to continue traveling during retirement, but in a different way, staying extended periods of time in one spot as a home base, working as an ESL or scuba diving instructor, and exploring neighbouring regions.

I'm thinking along these lines as well. I want to spend winters in a warmer place, just not in the same place every year. The first few years will look something like this:

Killarney Ireland
Botswana
The Yucatan peninsula
India
The Azores

Having been to Botswana might I suggest Etosha National Park in neighboring Namibia?   It was freaking AWESOME...better then the delta when I was there (although the bat caves in Botswana were pretty cool)

+1 on that suggestion. Also, Botswana is quite expensive as they are concentrating on the really wealthy tourists. Namibia is a great safari destination. Also consider Zambia. South Luangwa is my favourite game park. Make sure to do a walking safari   :-)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: jeroly on June 25, 2019, 10:28:32 AM
I already lived on four continents and traveled pretty much everywhere for work and pleasure, and my wife and I intended just a few months ago to continue traveling during retirement, but in a different way, staying extended periods of time in one spot as a home base, working as an ESL or scuba diving instructor, and exploring neighbouring regions.

I'm thinking along these lines as well. I want to spend winters in a warmer place, just not in the same place every year. The first few years will look something like this:

Killarney Ireland
Botswana
The Yucatan peninsula
India
The Azores

Having been to Botswana might I suggest Etosha National Park in neighboring Namibia?   It was freaking AWESOME...better then the delta when I was there (although the bat caves in Botswana were pretty cool)

+1 on that suggestion. Also, Botswana is quite expensive as they are concentrating on the really wealthy tourists. Namibia is a great safari destination. Also consider Zambia. South Luangwa is my favourite game park. Make sure to do a walking safari   :-)

I can't compare, never having been to Botswana, but Etosha was great. You sit in a grandstand next to a watering hole and watch as group after group of animals come up to drink. Then you can also drive around to find the lions, ostriches, and elephants hanging out on their own in the surrounding areas. It's very Mustachian as well - you can do it on your own without paying for a pricey safari.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJo on June 27, 2019, 01:26:42 PM
I'm taking an 8.5 week road trip up to Alaska during my "Semi-retirement".  Leaving tomorrow! 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: jeroly on June 27, 2019, 02:13:57 PM
I'm taking an 8.5 week road trip up to Alaska during my "Semi-retirement".  Leaving tomorrow!
Have a great time!
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on June 27, 2019, 03:29:50 PM
I'm taking an 8.5 week road trip up to Alaska during my "Semi-retirement".  Leaving tomorrow!

That sounds really cool.  It would be awesome if you could throw us a picture or a short travel story every once in a while. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJoP on June 27, 2019, 05:39:14 PM
@JoJo -- nice name! 
Have fun on your trip.  I just heard about a nice book on Alaska called "Coming Into the Country" by John McPhee.   I'd like to read it.  It's an old classic.  Just a suggestion if you're looking to bring a book. 
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: JoJo on June 30, 2019, 12:36:57 PM
Thanks all!  I'm 2 days into the trip and having fun so far.  Met a German woman and we hung out at the rodeo all weekend.  Heading north.  I'll try to post all of my trip summaries in my "Journal", linked above.  Just posted about Williams Lake.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: dougules on July 01, 2019, 11:34:40 AM
I'm taking an 8.5 week road trip up to Alaska during my "Semi-retirement".  Leaving tomorrow!

That sounds really cool.  It would be awesome if you could throw us a picture or a short travel story every once in a while.
@JoJo has a very cool travel blog called the HotFlashpacker plus a journal here:

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/journals/jojo-goes-part-time-launches-her-travel-blog/msg2402607/#msg2402607.

She's been on tons of very long extensive trips all over the world. Well worth a read (sorry mods if I'm not suppose to plug a blog here). Have fun JoJo. Did part of that trip up above Fairbanks (and up the AlCan from Boston) when I lived in Anchorage. It's very fun and interesting.

Thanks Spartana.
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Buffaloski Boris on July 01, 2019, 03:17:23 PM
I have a lot places on my list and since RE may or may not be on the agenda*, I guess I’ll just have to go.

High on my list is Chile, particularly for skiing and any insights from those in the know would be greatly appreciated.

Also going to do some walkabouts on a bike. The US is a huge country and a bike and a tent sounds pretty badass to me.

(* long story, too boring to bother to retell. Love FI, kinda meh on RE.)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Cookie78 on July 02, 2019, 10:18:25 AM
Thanks all!  I'm 2 days into the trip and having fun so far.  Met a German woman and we hung out at the rodeo all weekend.  Heading north.  I'll try to post all of my trip summaries in my "Journal", linked above.  Just posted about Williams Lake.

I was going to recommend Liard Hot Springs, but I see this already on your itinerary "...and stop at a famous natural hot springs." :)
Title: Re: Where would you travel?
Post by: Cookie78 on July 02, 2019, 10:38:36 AM
After a quick stop in NWT for a few days last June after my canoe trip I'm really itching to go back. For some reason it's a lingering dream that is pushing aside all other travel dreams. I spent a lot of time vacationing in the Yukon as a kid, but never went to NWT until last year. But I'm not waiting until FIRE to go back. This August the next leg of the canoe trip will take me back there (we are doing the last portion of Peace River and the entire Slave River - minus the rapids).

However what I'm REALLY aching to do is finish building my boat so I can go explore the East Arm of Great Slave Lake next summer. I think it's pretty ambitious plan since I need to also get very familiar with the boat before I take off with it somewhere so remote, and I've barely begun building it. But it's keeping me motivated, and at the moment it's the only place to which I truly dream about going.