Describe Your BEST Vacation

Jesus, it's just as overwhelming as I thought. My old boss used to travel by alphabet. She'd visit a country that started with a, then b, then c, & so on. But I find that a little too arbitrary for me. I haven't ignored any posts, so forgive me if it only seems like I'm responding to a couple. I've read this thread like 5 times, now.

Also, pics would be nice if you guys have any. That's what made Hawaii my dream vacation.

bboySushi said:
What are you looking for?

I would recommend China if you're into experiencing a totally different culture, seeing VERY historic areas (like 5000 years of history retained in that country) and if you can travel around the country far enough, you will see beautiful landscapes of all different climates (kinda like Hawaii, but on an enormous scale).
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Not a bad idea. It'd be nice to see some culture while I'm traveling. I have no experience backpacking, but I wouldn't be opposed to it. If I went to China, I'd spend a good amount of time just climbing crap to get to whatever destinations are on mountaintops. I know this chick that's traveled everywhere around the world and she says that nothing tops Thailand for her (it's so good that she stopped vacationing anywhere else). I'm not sure how I feel about going to Asia, though. It just doesn't appeal to me for some reason (although, it's not out of the question).

DownUnder said:
Done a ton of traveling, alone and with the missus. Everyone has different tastes in what they like or want to see and do. The majority of people ive met in Toronto just want to go lay on a beach and sleep for a week. Coming from a beach tourist town in Aus I find that boring.

What sort of things are you interested in doing/seeing?
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I'm pretty open. When I last went on vacation, I found that I had a good mix of just staying somewhere and reading a book all day or being out doing activities all day/exploring the city/etc, hiking, etc.. I only sleep about 3 hours a day and I'm a really energetic person, so I try to pack my days.

I like getting a good idea of a countr when I visit and that includes seeing downtown, visiting ghettoes, and seeing the scenery/landscapes/landmarks that the place is known for.

mma01 said:
My best vacation was hawaii. One week in maui and the other in kauai. I spent each day either hiking, surfing, snorkeling or scuba diving. This is how I would choose to spend the rest of my life.
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Any recommendations for places to check out/hotels/etc.? I'm gonna do my research, but I wouldn't mind some things to look out for.

I was thinking of renting a bike and just touring the biggest part of the island. It's not that big, anyway. This is one dude's commute to work in Hawaii: http://vimeo.com/1292929

toshison said:
I'd rather be climbing mountains, spotting wildlife, diving in the ocean or going on multi-day treks that walking around tourist infested cities waiting to overpay for crap and for touts to annoy me all day.
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Good mix between the two. My budget's pretty flexible. I was thinking of going the Europass route and spending a couple of days in each country, as well...but there are so many to pick. France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece are all high on that list.
 
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toshison said:
I'd rather be climbing mountains, spotting wildlife, diving in the ocean or going on multi-day treks than walking around tourist infested cities waiting to overpay for crap and for touts to annoy me all day.
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Agreed.

Generally, we travel on the cheap and try to use public transportation and hostels wherever. My girlfriend who's traveled much says India is her favourite destination, even over south east Asia (Thailand, Cambodia and Laos). Mine has been backpacking through the middle east. That trip stayed with me for months afterwards, where every night I would dream about people and places in that region. Words can not describe how awesome a place the middle east is - it's a shame that much of that region is under heavy fighting again.

This week we are going to Uganda to trek mountain gorillas in Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. From all of what we have read, those who have travelled here have reported that it easily surpasses the best destinations in the world because it is physical, hot, scenic and amazing to see the gorillas in the wild and up close. We'll be doing ton's of other stuff, but the Gorillas are the main attraction for us. Lonely Planet even rated Uganda as the #1 country to visit in 2012.

Last year we went to Sri Lanka which was incredible with a great amount to see and do with mountain climbing, surfing, safaris and tons of food and culture. We visited tea plantations, saw amazing Buddhist temples, enjoyed the incredible beaches of the Indian Ocean and saw all kinds of crazy wildlife. This was an incredible trip.

Last year we also went to the middle east (Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Israel) which were all amazing countries with loads of things to see and extremely welcoming locals. The political, religious and cultural history are almost unsurpassed in the world compared to this region. Going from amazing ruins to the Mediterranean sea, the Red Sea and to the Dead Sea is very interesting. Walking around highly Jewish, Islamist and Christian regions is very unique.

If you have never been down to the Amazon basin, that is also an incredible place and nothing beats sleeping the jungle and listening to the forest sounds.

I really liked Australia and I wish I had time to make it to Ayers rock. There is an amazing diversity of things to do there, and New Zealand is just a short hop away. Different animals, lots of hiking and scenery and amazing geographical diversity.

As for other places, I try to avoid big cities and tourist traps, but I have been to England and France. I didn't much like London, but really liked the rest of England. I really liked France, but only stayed in Paris.
 
I try to head off on holidays somewhere warm at least once or twice a year. Been to most places in Central America except for Belize and Nicaragua and been multiple times to some countries. One of my favourite countries is Panama as it offers everything Costa Rica does but it's more accessible, less tourists and a little less pricey.

We have been a couple of times just booking flights and making everything else up as we go along and taking backpacks. The first time we went was probably the best vacation I had but really because it was memorable. We ended up in Panama City on the first night and took Lonely Planet's advice for a hotel as it was cheap, had an airport pick-up and advertised a rooftop pool..............it was a brothel and the pool was empty apart from beer cans. It had an amazing restaurant though where we had fresh tasty food for breakfast then promptly moved out the next morning to find new digs. We wandered around for a while and then got a massive room in another hotel for $50US a night with a view of the Panama Canal so we stayed there for a few nights....it was another brothel but it was cleaner than the last one and not as loud and my wife was somewhat happier as the windows didn't have bars on them like the last one.

Stayed in Panama City for a few days...took cab rides to the rainforest for a few bucks and wandered around on our own looking at monkeys, parrots, toucans and jungle plants. It was bliss. After this we took an internal flight to Bocas del Torro which is a hippy hang out on an archipelago of islands up by Costa Rica. We stayed in a hotel built on stilts in the water (after we walked there from the airport which is at the end of the main street) and watched rays swimming around us and snorkelled with reef sharks and brilliant fish. When we were bored with our island we'd wander to the end of the hotel dock and flag down a passing boat taxi to go to another. We saw poison arrow frogs and ate wild pineapples on a beach with just us and a bunch of dogs that lived there (friendly).

Moved onto a place called David after this and took a bus to a town called Boquette on the slopes of an extinct volcano. Eventually found lodging in these massive geodesic dome kind of things which was amazing. Tons of room and for breakfast we ate oranges we picked from the trees outside. We went for a couple of tours, one in an old ****ed up lada down a volcanic track to see some petroglyphs and then to some hot springs where some cowboys charges a few bucks for entry. They were in the middle of nowhere charging a couple of bucks to tourists for this so we stopped and chatted about politics and how George Bush was ****ing things up at the time (surreal in the middle of a forest miles from anywhere). The springs were fantastic as they extended into a whitewater river, so we sat in a sheltered part of the river listening to the roar in the hot bubbling water. We also took a tour on a coffee planataion but did this ourselves. We walked from our hotel there and they said they were closed for the day but then called us back and gave us our own private 2h tour, the best we've ever had.

We're going back for sure....lots of things we haven't done yet. There's a village built inside an extinct volcanic crater that we want to visit that has square trees and golden frogs and no, LSD is not a part of this trip. There's also an island that houses a penal colony surrounded by shark infested waters where they have built a tourist vacation thing where you get served by trusted inmates etc which sounds....different. There's also much more rainforest to explore, a chain of idylic islands by the Columbian border (postcard pretty) and generally just wandering about and exploring. The country is "mostly" safe if you have street smarts. Parts of Panama City in the slum areas and nearly all of Colon (at the opposite end of the canal) are reasonably dangerous and a small part of David isn't that nice, but really, unless you're flashing expensive jewellry there's no problem. Transport around the country is cheap and plentyful and if you really want more adventure you can negotiate a boat ride to Columbia past the Darien Gap (it wasn't recommended that we hike in the Darien Gap due to FARC activity, but this may have changed a bit now).

Highly recommend Panama for at least 10 days vacation
 
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OP, my real advice here is just go anyplace. Your young and have lots of time to become bitter about what you need in a vacation.
GO, travel, everywhere has redeeming qualities.

I hate cities, but there are things in cities I must see, Rome, Venice, Barcelona, Monaco, Paris, St Petersburgh need to be seen. The mountains in Venezuela are amazing, the southwest Sonoran desert in Arizona is like no where else. The grand canyon is a really big hole. Standing in a 300yr old distillery in Scotland needs to be experienced. My wife used to spend 6wks at a time in Hawaii, (she was loaded till she met me) and she never surfed yet.
Every Island in the Carribean has a palm tree, sand beach and a guy selling crap on the beach. But they all have a different rum and usually cheap cigars.

Just GO, everywhere you can.
 
daught said:
Ibiza is burned out, or maybe i'm burned out... Feels very commercial. A good festival is a much better experience.

[video=youtube;6N6WLRTZfOM]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N6WLRTZfOM[/video]
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Ibiza was done 10 years ago. Most of the Balearics are a bit tired and overkilled with drunk British knobs. Although off the beaten path theres some really nice places.

A found Maui to be nice (great snorkeling) but very safe. It's basically America with sun lots of beaches.

Greece is a nice place. Island hopping is popular. Many different influences and cultures have influenced the islands over hundreds of years. My favourite was Lesvos. Watching fish come off the boat, into the kitchen and then onto your plate is pretty cool.

Verona, Bruge, Gent, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Valencia, Munich all pretty cool cities that I could live in.

Northern Italy is beautiful. Southern Germany the same.

Basically the back packing around Europe thing is very easy due to the closeness of everything. And since the wall came down there are some great eastern European cities to visit.

I've always said the world is such a huge place it's unnecessary to go back to the same place twice.
 
I've been to 15countries so far, and interesting enough (to me), the most epic trip was to Miami in August.

I still can't decide whether riding to south or South Beach was more fun.

AngelEyez said:
Istanbul was pretty cool I agree.
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home sweet home:love9:
 
If you like exploring and seeing culture and wildlife.... Thailand. Its an amazing place and the people are the friendliest Ive met in the world. From the beaches to the rainforests and the 4000yr old temples and elephants etc you cant go wrong. You'll meet a ton of Aussies and Brits there and if your single you'll never be lonely... Can also go to gun ranges and fire off some AK47s etc if your into that too. Price is also very reasonable and food is great. Ive heard great things about Vietnam from friends that have been there.

If your a little more cashed up there is always Australia. Snorkeling/scuba on the great barrier reef is second to none, the rainforests and wildlife are unique and the outback is an amazing place. Aussies have a great disposition toward Canadians so wont have trouble making friends. You could always head to phillip island and do a superbike school as part of your trip (and see the penguins). You wont be able to see all there is to offer in a few weeks though so should plan a longer trip there.

For castles and architecture Europe is your best bet. Vienna, Austria is an amazing city with lots of great museums and old buildings. Iv also spent some time in a city called Ghent in belgium, one of the only cities that didnt get bombed during world war 2 so its in pristine condition and people are great. Scotland has great castles and I really liked Mont-Saint-Michel in france. Rome and venice are great but insanely expensive ($10 for a beer that you can get for $0.50in any other city/town in the country). Egypt was amazing as well but I wouldnt go there anymore, the country is just too unstable now and the pyramids/Sphinx will probably be knocked down by hard lined Islamists soon (glad I got to see it when I did).

Also Amsterdam... what can I say. Even if your not a pot head (i cant stand hippies myself) its a great city with lots to do. Prague if your into partying... hard. I wouldnt go to greece right now as the strikes will affect your ability to get around once public transport is affected and i found people always try to overcharge you for everything when they see your a tourist (this happens in a lot of places but for some reason it really stuck out in Greece).

I found in europe I enjoyed staying in Bed and Breakfasts much more then backpackers. Some of the places I stayed in were 16-17th century mansions that were just amazing and the hosts were always very hospitable and great for getting local information from.

Depending how much time you have the world is a HUGE place and there is just way too much to see and do in just one round the world bender.
 
Ugur Dinch said:
I've been to 15countries so far, and interesting enough (to me), the most epic trip was to Miami in August.

I still can't decide whether riding to south or South Beach was more fun.



home sweet home:love9:
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Besiktas fan! Don't want to sound nasty but I found Istanbul horrible when I was there. It was to watch United play your rivals though.
 
Favorite cities, in approximate order: Last trip was to New York (Manhattan); it's so easily accessible I don't know why I didn't do it earlier. To my surprise I really liked Paris; very pretty, and the military museum was the best I've ever seen. Dublin was laid back, and packed with pretty girls.

Hawaii was stunning - the geography was just incredible. I liked the Big Island the most, as it was the least touristy. I'd suggest skipping Oahu unless you absolutely must see Pearl Harbor.

Overall, I think Spain was probably my favorite. Relaxed, tons of history, lots of cool cities and we got along pretty well despite speaking basically no Spanish. There's a ride report in the Cruising/Touring section that I've been avoiding, as Spain might be the first place that I'd want to do a repeat trip (on a bike, rather than in a rental car).
 
Ash said:
Hawaii was stunning - the geography was just incredible. I liked the Big Island the most, as it was the least touristy. I'd suggest skipping Oahu unless you absolutely must see Pearl Harbor.
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I was told once to avoid anything in Hawaii that didn't end in " E " [when spoken] ,, which of couse is an i in the hawaiian alphabet.... so Oahu ,,,, and one reason for that... it is tropical Toronto.. but that is waikiki,, and bikini, where the other islands are probably muumuu 's,, I also had the luck of the "blue book" at a time before people were upset with it.. So I really enjoyed riding, beach, hiking, Haleakala, riding up,,and down from haleakala! Throw in some shopping There isn't a lot of late night entertainment, but you can have fun at some places like Cheesburger in Paridise, or Charleys on your way to Hana for beaches and waterfalls, and swiming in lava pools, and hiking to waterfalls , get the blue book for the waterfalls. and find out what else you enjoy! You can snorkel on the beach in front of your hotel Kihei or the more pricey area around black rock and even if you don;t like hiking, the short walk to other natural areas is outstanding .. blow hole
If anyone needs a guide! I'll go!

 
Oahu wasn't terrible, but I ended up wishing that we'd spent those 3 days in Maui instead. We did Maui last, and I was burnt out by then. If I'd had more time and energy I would have found a motorcycle or scooter rental and tackled the roads on the north side of the island.
 
knowledge said:
Jesus, it's just as overwhelming as I thought.

I know this chick that's traveled everywhere around the world and she says that nothing tops Thailand for her (it's so good that she stopped vacationing anywhere else).
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Travel options can be a bit overwhelming because the world is a big place! My Mrs and I generally travel the cheapo independent route (backpacking) but I think if this is your first "real" trip you might actually be more comfortable spending a little more ( on transport and slightly nicer accom) or if you are travelling alone, you may want to consider travelling with a group travel company like Intrepid Travel that can take you to more remote locations where you might not be so comfortable going yourself. It could be a good way to get your feet wet. I would save Hawaii for another day and would go somewhere a little more interesting/different. Also, I don't think Hawaii is the greatest place to travel alone as you are less likely to find as many solo travellers as you would in other locations. I went to hawaii solo on my way to Australia and I didn't like it too much.

RE: Thailand. I've spent months travelling all around this country and it really is a great destination. I don't know if I would say its my favorite but Thailand really has a lot to offer. You got the big city, beautful beaches/islands, trekking, good food, partying, low cost and its safe and very easy to travel around.

If you plan to travel in the next few months, I'd be looking to the southern hemisphere. A good trip that might suit you and your experience level is to pack a backpack and head to Australia/NZ. You will get your beach fix no worries, won't have to worry about language issues and there will be plenty of backpackers to mingle with.

You could go down with a working holiday visa (look it up) and you could pick up some small jobs to keep you busy, work at a shop in Bondi, picking fruits near cairns, working at a bar/club in Melbourne etc.. Its all part of the fun and I am certain it would probably change your life. You could also just go down with a one-way ticket and just go with the flow. You might just feel like going to thailand or maybe Japan afterwards or you might just apply for a UK working holiday visa and base yourself in London for a year or so and visit europe. possibilities are endless so Im saying that Australia might be a good place for you to "START".

If you are young, single and have no strings holding you anywhere.. I would recommend trying to "live" in another country rather than just visiting it. Like teach english in Korea or in Argentina, learn Muay Thai in Thailand, study BJJ (or just BJ's :) ) in Brazil, working in UK/Aus/NZ, joining a volunteering gig in Africa etc... Once you get out there, it will just get the ball rolling and you can then take your adventure whereever it may take you. I have no doubt that taking a leap like this would change your life forever for the better.

Once you ponder these toughts in your head, remember that if you are either lazy or afraid to go somewhere, its all the more reason to go.
 
Fiery254 said:
Besiktas fan! Don't want to sound nasty but I found Istanbul horrible when I was there. It was to watch United play your rivals though.
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lol yea, we have a reputation for not welcoming the European fans =)

What was wrong tho ? When was it and where did you stay ?
 
my dream vacation = zombie apocalypse. Not the theme park, but real life zombie apocalypse. I pray to black jesus every day for it.
 
4 months.
Riding from France to, and around much of the north side of the Mediterranean, then up to Romania and Ukraine, over to Moscow, and across Siberia to Magadan, with sojourns into the "Stans" and Mongolia as well, all guided of course by Walter Colebatch and Sibirsky Extreme. Dream ride.
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