The way I look at it is you were going to go when it was 30-35% exchange rate. Now it is up another 10%. It is more painful but shouldn’t change your plans.
Will a ~45% US Exchange alter your vacation plans for 2025?
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It's all prioritization.
That extra 10% might be that extra push out of other activities and expenses that might otherwise be covered if US travel was slightly cheaper. Especially if budget was tight in the first place.
Personally, I'm not extremely wealthy, but motorcycles and travel are my #1 (only?) priority. I don't eat $200 steaks, I mainly camp and eat groceries on the road. When we fly, we look for cheap flights and fly economy all the time.
But I do like overspending on new motorcycle and I love travel. I think it's great if you're able to ball out on all fronts, but I have to be more focused in where we direct our funds, so like you, a 10% increase for US travel is something I'm okay with.
Except, ironically, at Taco Bell - basically $3 each now for the sorry things they call soft tacos.
Anyhow, my wife and I went out for dinner this evening and while sitting and chatting over such, a plan was hatched for a possible 2 week trip with the camper on the Blue Ridge Parkway in the latter half of the summer. It will be highly dependent on some potential variables at the time (I'll take my own request now and leave politics out of the discussion, but, yeah...), but the dollar won't really effect things in the end - gas is cheaper, groceries, well, gotta eat, and we don't eat out a ton while travelling with the camper, and we tend to be quite frugal when we're travelling with the camper, boondocking a lot, dry camping (we are very, very well equipped for off-grid, including battery powered AC even, so we never opt for big full hookup campsites or whatever), so, we'll see if it happens.
If going across the 49'th isn't in the cards for whatever reason, we'll probably go east again instead.
Politics aside, it's a shame to be priced out of US travel.
Having ridden in a lot of places around the world, the SW US still remains one of the most scenic and unrestricted places for motorcycle/adventure travel on this entire planet.
Prices could be double, and I'd still find a way to make it to places like Utah and Colorado.
Having ridden in a lot of places around the world, the SW US still remains one of the most scenic and unrestricted places for motorcycle/adventure travel on this entire planet.
Prices could be double, and I'd still find a way to make it to places like Utah and Colorado.
I’ll second that , for anybody that hasn’t had a chance to visit the south west US , specifically south Utah , Zion park , all the canyons and desert , Arizona, New Mexico, you are seriously missing out on spectacular. There is nothing like it , I actually enjoyed driving more than riding because I was so road focused on the bike , the car allowed more gawking around . We lived down there for a short while , I miss it a lot .
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On our RV trip back in the summer I came across an epic looking Tomahawk on last day of sale for $20 or something like that. Problem was that because everything on our tiny trailer is also tiny, this is the grill that we travel with. I love it because you don't really need fuel, you can cook over whatever you find in the forest that'll burn. Downside, well....size lol. A tomahawk wasn't going to fit.
"Grill for the group" is a the biggest misnomer over unless your group is you and 1 other person.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
The SW was my home for more than a decade. Don’t forget the big dog — California —it has more epic adventures than the other SW states combined.
I’d agree driving is a better experience because there is so much to take in. Most of the MC routes I enjoyed were discovered of experienced in a car first.
My RV tip when we had one , buy small bag of charcoal , or let campfire burn down to coals . Make flat spot and fold tinfoil into a six layer pan . Butter the foil and sit directly on coals . Big steak on the foil , three/ four mins per side . Done , roll up foil ball . If you start early , do baked potato’s in the fire or charcoal while you think about steak . While the steak is resting you can fry some green beans or asparagus on the same foil the steak cooked on , it’s already greasy.
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Oh, I love cooking over the campfire when we have a campfire (this is last summer in the photo), but in the Tomahawk case we were on the road and may not have been somewhere with a campfire for a few days, so last day of sale Tomahawk steak + try to keep it for a few days before cooking, not a good combo.
Damn, those look nicely marbled!
AllistonGT
Well-known member
Classic Ontario Parks fire pit. Cooked on those countless times.
It's amazing the debate that happens when cooking on these pops up as a topic in a lot of the Facebook camping groups.
"Ewww, people pee on their fire pits, that's gross, I'd never cook on those"
"Bugs crawl all over those, that's gross to cook on that"
"The last person probably cooked something on that and didn't clean it, that's gross"
Personally, for me, after I've had a 1000 degree fire in there to get a good bed of coals before cooking on it, whatever happened before is pretty much irrelevant anymore.
It's a good thing a lot of people are sheltered from the realities of how (and where) a lot of the things they use (and cook on) every day are manufactured (and then get to their homes) as they'd apparently be aghast lol.
AllistonGT
Well-known member
What happened before I placed the meat on the grill is irrelevant. People need to give their head a shake.
Mad Mike
Well-known member
Same with my kid, about 8 hours, but the sun sits 25% lower in the sky. Days stay at their hi temp for a few minutes, almost all of the day is spent near the low temp.
Different strokes.. One trip to AZ was enough. It was a very wet winter and the desert was "full of color". You mean that light green haze and some yellow flowers? Ok?? Pretty much everywhere we went in AZ it felt like a gravel pit. I won't start on how redneck it was.
There’s something amazing about deserts despite the (apparent) lack of life. The light for one. One of the most amazing sights I’ve ever seen is sunset over the Dead Sea/Jordanian/Israeli desert. There was a distinct lack of rednecks though to be fair.
The Arizona desert has some of the most spectacular scenery I've ever seen. Slot canyons were amazing as well as the petrified sand dunes:
Would go back in a heartbeat!
Would go back in a heartbeat!
My sister and I went to the Valley Of Fire when we were in Vegas last year. Absolutely a cool place, but probably in the same way that people who live in Europe or elsewhere around the world think Niagara Falls is epic and worth spending a day in a plane to get here is worth it, but those of us who live in Ontario have become accustomed to and don't really think about much anymore.
As with any "epic" destination, if you spend enough time there, you become blind to the beauty. Live in a place like Banff long enough and the same thing would happen, while tourists flock and gawk, to the locals, it's just "home".
As with any "epic" destination, if you spend enough time there, you become blind to the beauty. Live in a place like Banff long enough and the same thing would happen, while tourists flock and gawk, to the locals, it's just "home".
