Author Topic: Where would you travel?  (Read 47207 times)

dougules

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #50 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.
« Last Edit: March 17, 2016, 10:56:51 AM by dougules »

dougules

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #51 on: September 06, 2018, 04:21:40 PM »
Indonesia looks really interesting.

(Old thread needs a bump.)

sanderh

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #52 on: September 06, 2018, 11:16:42 PM »
Iceland
Hawaii
+1 for "anywhere except a war zone".

Hula Hoop

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #53 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.

dude

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #54 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 . . .

Cassie

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #55 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.

jim555

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #56 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.

markbike528CBX

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #57 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..

Exflyboy

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #58 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..:)

Villanelle

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #59 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). 

MrThatsDifferent

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #60 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.

Hula Hoop

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #61 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.

dougules

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #62 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. 

dougules

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #63 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. 

YK-Phil

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #64 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.

Cookie78

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #65 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?

YK-Phil

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #66 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 :)

nkt0

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #67 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.

Cookie78

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #68 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

dougules

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #69 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. 

Hula Hoop

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #70 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.


nnls

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #71 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

kei te pai

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #72 on: September 17, 2018, 02:01:55 AM »
Before its underwater? Ask them if they think climate change is fake news.

dougules

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #73 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. 

frugledoc

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #74 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

ian055

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #75 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.

Bendigirl

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #76 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

cap396

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #77 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.
« Last Edit: October 04, 2018, 08:13:05 AM by cap396 »

dougules

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #78 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. 

Exflyboy

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #79 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

markbike528CBX

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #80 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.

jim555

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #81 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.

Hula Hoop

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #82 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.

deborah

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #83 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.

JoJo

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #84 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).

Kakanui

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #85 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


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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #86 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.

Villanelle

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #87 on: November 17, 2018, 06:30:08 PM »
Heading to Vietnam and Cambodia in December.

dougules

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #88 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. 

JoJoP

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #89 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. 

markbike528CBX

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #90 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!
« Last Edit: November 26, 2018, 08:04:52 PM by markbike528CBX »

deborah

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #91 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?

LifePhaseTwo

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #92 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.

JoJoP

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #93 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. 

smoghat

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #94 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!

dougules

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #95 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. 

Villanelle

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #96 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. 

deborah

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #97 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.

Villanelle

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #98 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. 

dougules

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Re: Where would you travel?
« Reply #99 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.