Anyone got any travel planned?

[FUEGO]

I figure if Sarah in SC is hitting up Canada, we will too!

We'll be on the eastern side along the St. Lawrence. Tentative plans are to head up the east coast from NC to Quebec City. Then stay in Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto for roughly a week per destination (maybe longer in Quebec City, and less in Toronto - advice appreciated!).

On the way up and back, we'll see Philadelphia (I've never been!) and NYC headed north, then Niagara Falls headed south toward the end of the trip.

So far, we haven't booked any accommodations, but we'll probably rent an apartment for each of the 1+ week stays in the Canadian cities.

Total trip should be right around 5-5.3 weeks from late June to early August.

DW wants to see fireworks in NYC on the 4th, but that will cut out a few days in Canada (our trip availability is sandwiched on both ends by DW's work schedule and the kids' summer camp schedules). Thoughts on NYC fireworks for 4th also appreciated.

Oh, we'll be traveling with our 3 young children. Road trip!!!

[panacea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC panacea, we'll be in the Rockies around the first week of June, and also looking forward to seeing a few places along the way: Shambala Mountain Center, a bunch of breweries, and also the Trail Ridge Road (hoping there is no late snow to delay it opening). We'll be taking about 4 weeks to drive from Seattle up to Yukon and then back down and across to SC, closing the loop on our circumnavigation by short bus at last. This leg is about 6000 miles. Right now this is our route: http://goo.gl/OdtHQ7

Now that's what I call a road trip! Looks like you have a lot of fun ahead of you. We'll be in the Rockies later in the summer than you, otherwise I'd wave to you on our way through!

[sengsational]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredAndFree Understanding this is not necessarily everyone's cup of tea, though definitely ours, am booking a 300 mile walking tour of Scotland (8 days/100 miles) and the coast to coast walk in England (15 days/200 miles). ...

Just curious...do you "train" for your travels? If so, what's your training consist of?

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO I figure if Sarah in SC is hitting up Canada, we will too! We'll be on the eastern side along the St. Lawrence.

It must be Canada's year to be invaded. We're heading up to Halifax this summer, then a week in Newfoundland, back through Montreal, then Detroit and turn left to get back home. Most of it will be outdoor stuff. Heading up to Detroit next week for our NEXUS interviews to speed the border crossings.

[Meadbh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister It must be Canada's year to be invaded.

Have you seen the exchange rate lately? It's in your favour. Sorry, favor.

[FUEGO]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Meadbh Have you seen the exchange rate lately? It's in your favour. Sorry, favor.

I was actually checking out all the countries we considered visiting and seeing what the year over year exchange rate gains/losses were. Chile was the front runner at a 17% loss versus the USD. The next biggest loser was only off 9% versus the USD.

Then we decided to visit Canada without even checking the forex rates (it's been 1:1 for a while now, after all).

I was so pleasantly surprised to see the Canadian peso, err dollar was 10% weaker versus the USD. That means everything in Canada is 10% off!! Woo hoo!

Maybe that's why everyone is headed north?

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FUEGO That means everything in Canada is 10% off!! Woo hoo! Maybe that's why everyone is headed north?

You'd have to be loony to pass that up!

[haloFIRE]

. Groaning..

[Sarah in SC]

We just don't have a good sense of direction is why we are heading north to go east. If I really wanted to go on the cheap somewhere, we'd go back to Kazakhstan! I just hope the campgrounds are mostly thawed in mid-May as we move further north.

Thanks for the Nexus reminder--we got the little cards when we did Trusted Traveler, and I put them away somewhere. Not that it helps much when you have a stack of passports and a busload of people. You wait as long as it takes to process the slowest one. We had 14 passports in hand for our trip last summer at one point: from the UK, NZ, Italy, Peru, and USA--was interesting in Moldova, to say the least.

[RetiredAndFree]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredAndFree Understanding this is not necessarily everyone's cup of tea, though definitely ours, am booking a 300 mile walking tour of Scotland (8 days/100 miles) and the coast to coast walk in England (15 days/200 miles). We'll be using a tour company for purposes of booking the hotels/lodges along the route, arranging for our luggage to be moved on each day to the next hotel, and receiving detailed walking guides. We'll break up the two legs with a little sightseeing in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London. This is to be a celebration for DH's 60th birthday, though I'm as excited about doing this as he is.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sengsational Just curious...do you "train" for your travels? If so, what's your training consist of?

Yes, absolutely. Although physical activity is a hobby for us in and of itself, we ratchet it up when preparing for this type of adventure. For Switzerland we followed a half marathon training schedule (which you could walk, instead of run, if not a runner) plus one increasingly high mountain peak hike per week for the four weeks leading up. The highest peak in my area is just over 10,000', so we did that last.

For these upcoming trips, where altitude won't be an issue, but daily mileage will, we'll follow a marathon training course, plus two days at the gym doing the Stairmaster and strength training.

We very much enjoy the training process, which is likely why we are drawn to these type of challenges.

Edit: I should add that we are not 'talented' athletes. We are just average people committed to remaining active into our senior years. Even at 51 and 58 (DH) we continue to be pleasantly surprised at what our consistent conditioning allows us to do.

[rodi]

I have two trips planned. In a few weeks I'm joining my best friend and a big group for a week in Santa Barbara for her 50th birthday. Lots of wine tasting in the Santa Ynez valley planned. (She and I have already done a sideways tour with another group of friends.) We've got a big house rented for the week and various folks will be coming and going.

Late summer we're looking at (but haven't booked yet) a 3 week trip. 3 possible itineraries so far:

1)Barcelona for 6 days, then take the ferry (as passengers) over to Genoa and the train down to Camogli for another 5-6 days - explore the cinque terra coast by ferry, train, and foot. Then over to Bologna by train and look at the universities. (DH and DSs are dual Italian citizens so this is a possible college opportunity for them.) Then up to Venice.

2) Barcelona->Camogli (as in #1), then up to Milan, and then over to Paris.

3) Barcelona for a week, then Paris for a week, then London for a week.

For all of these we'd use trains and ferries and skip renting a car since all stops are in places with good public transit. I've never been to Barcelona, Bologna, or Camogli - so it will be nice to see these places.

[martyp]

I've got a Road Scholar trip to Berlin planned for May 16-24. I was in Germany for a w*rk conference in 1997 and spent a couple of nights in Berlin and loved it. This particular Road Scholar trip is being coordinated with our Osher Lifelong Learning Program. Our OLLI got to pick the traveling faculty from the UC Berkeley faculty. It has been nearly 10 yrs since I've travelled out of the country. Looking forward to this.

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyp I've got a Road Scholar trip to Berlin planned for May 16-24. I was in Germany for a w*rk conference in 1997 and spent a couple of nights in Berlin and loved it. This particular Road Scholar trip is being coordinated with our Osher Lifelong Learning Program. Our OLLI got to pick the traveling faculty from the UC Berkeley faculty. It has been nearly 10 yrs since I've travelled out of the country. Looking forward to this.

Make sure your passport is current.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aja8888 Make sure your passport is current.

And get registered in the trusted traveler program if you have time. It will save you a lot of hassle at airports.

https://goes-app.cbp.dhs.gov/main/goes

[Sarah in SC]

I second the Trusted Traveler enrollment. It is a huge time saver!

[aja8888]

Quote:

Originally Posted by braumeister And get registered in the trusted traveler program if you have time. It will save you a lot of hassle at airports. https://goes-app.cbp.dhs.gov/main/goes

And let your credit card company know the dates you will be out of the country and what locations/countries you will be making charges.

[martyp]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aja8888 Make sure your passport is current.

1 year to go. expires in 2015.

[martyp]

Should I get travelers insurance? I haven't traveled much recently but I did a fair amount before. My inclination is not to.

[braumeister]

Quote:

Originally Posted by martyp 1 year to go. expires in 2015.

Sounds fine, but be aware that some countries require that your passport be valid for six months after the end of your visit.

[Sarah in SC]

I've bought insurance a few times, mostly for our riskier trips. I buy through World Nomads.