Hi everyone, my wife and I have been trying to decide where we'd like to travel this winter, any input/ideas from you would be appreciated! Some background: my wife is currently on maternity/parental leave from her job as a teacher until the start of the school year in September 2015. Being a teacher, her normal holidays are during peak travel times, so everything is more expensive (especially flights and accommodation). I'm not taking any parental leave, but instead am taking 6 weeks off some time in January-March (exact dates not yet decided) so we can take advantage of the cheaper time of year to travel for once. I bank overtime at my job and have saved all my vacation (3 weeks) so far this year, so will be paid for the entire 6 weeks at my normal 37.5 hours a week (plus we'll still get EI for my wife). Being from Winnipeg, we want to go somewhere warm! Last winter was a killer. So far our ideas have included:
-Australia (my Dad lives near Melbourne so we could stay there, but the flights are insanely expensive, and 6 weeks with my Dad is very excessive)
-Somewhere in SE Asia (we've been many times- Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, and my wife taught in Bangkok for a year so we know a few people there, it's cheap, and it's close enough to Australia that we could perhaps visit my Dad, but again the flights are pretty pricey)
-Somewhere in Central America (most likely Nicaragua or El Salvador, maybe Panama- it's cheap and the flights are cheap, I also have enough points to fly us there for free, plus I love the Pacific)
-Caribbean somewhere (flights are somewhat cheap, again I have enough points, accommodation is more expensive depending where you are, full of package tourists, and not a huge fan of the warmer saltier water)
-Portugal and somewhere in North Africa, Tunisia or Algeria or Morocco or something (flights are a little more expensive, accommodation way more expensive, weather maybe not as nice)
-Turkey (on the Mediterranean, not as warm, flights expensive, but Turkey is so gorgeous!)
-And my personal favourite: drive down to Mexico, specifically Oaxaca most likely (the gas would be cheaper than the flights, the climate impact isn't as great (this is important to me), it's relatively cheap, a little more adventurous, but it would take a week to get down there and a week back, and that's a long time for our little guy to sit in a car seat- I guess alternatively we could fly to Mexico too)
So, what do you all think? Does anybody have any recommendations for a relatively chill beach town we should head to? Somewhere cheap, bohemian, and preferably with decent hiking? Maybe some waterfalls to swim in haha. Some of our favourite warm places we've visited include: Pai and Mae Hong Son (northern Thailand), Koh Kut and Koh Mak (Thai islands), and the Necoya peninsula (Costa Rica). Thanks!
