2024 Travel Plans

[brett]

Have to get serious and make plans for next Winter travels. I don’t do cold very well so we usually chase warm weather destination, departing after Thanksgiving, coming back early February.

Thinking Panama, Columbia and Brazil might hit the mark next winter.

In the past we have spent winters in Panama/Costa Rica, Thailand/Vietnam/Malaysia/Australia, Mexico, and SA (really liked Uruguay).

They were all good. Watching airfares for Thailand. They have come down substantially over the last two years.

 

[tulak]

Booked tickets for Croatia in July. We’ll mostly be between Split and Dubrovnik. We have a couple of days in Amsterdam too.

I’ve been wanting to visit Croatia for 10+ years and I’m happy it’s finally happening. Now to figure out the details.

 

[5Miler]

Leaving next Thursday for our annual dive trip to Bonaire. Spending 5 weeks and two days again this year. Put new batteries in the dive computers and transducers today to start packing the gear tomorrow.

 

[Retired Expat]

In the past we have spent winters in Panama/Costa Rica, Thailand/Vietnam/Malaysia/Australia, Mexico, and SA (really liked Uruguay).

They were all good. Watching airfares for Thailand. They have come down substantially over the last two years.

We live in Uruguay and for sure spend northern winters here. Argentina is a bit of a mess politically and economically but a bargain if spending dollars and quite lovely in parts. Spent a few weeks in Villa La Angostura A much better deal than Uruguay which is why we vacación there

 

[1242Vintage]

Flying across country to the East Coast (Charlotte) soon to escort Mom to sister’s house for a couple week stay. Would love to hang out in the Caribbean during Moms time with sister and grab Mom on the way back. This avoids having to fly back and forth across the U.S. four times.

Wife and I are thinking DR, Puerto Rico, or maybe Aruba (never been there). We love a good beach … like who doesn’t!!! And some downtime taking in amazing sunsets with my beautiful bride (married almost 40 years now) is always appreciated.

 

[brett]

We are off to Morocco next month for 30 days. Independent travel. Replaces a cancelled trip from last year becaure of the earthquake.

Need to start getting serious. I have a general itinerary. It needs some fine tuning and more public transport investigation.

Only 2 nights booked so far...when we first arrive. Have to get our last night's airport hotel booked plus do some work on possibly doing a short organized trip for 4 or 5 days.

 

[Rianne]

Vancouver in August for 3 weeks. Downtown for a week then off to Tofino. Have to drive and then ferry over to the island with the car. We're taking a couple of smaller drivable weekends then FL for Thanksgiving. My DB has lived in Ft. Lauderdale 30+ years. He's selling his condo and moving into assisted living in Pompano Beach.

 

[ABQ2015]

Slightly embarrassed to say that I am finally ramping up my travel since retiring in late 2017. The pandemic followed by the huge surge in travel impacted my plans so I mostly stuck to road trips of national parks and music festivals.

In two weeks I travel solo to London and Paris, first trip to Europe, but on a tour with a few extra days tacked on each city. I missed out on Road Scholar as their single accommodations sell out a year in advance so went with another tour group that I found recommended by Moemg on this site. I always enjoyed her postings.

Then a 49 passenger expedition cruise of the Alaska Inside Passage and Glacier Bay in July. First cruise too.

A few bluegrass music festivals in Telluride, Raleigh, and maybe Flagstaff and then Christmas in Texas with family.

 

[Luvdogs]

Recently returned from two weeks in Japan with my two grown kids.

I have a two week Norway cruise scheduled for this summer with almost a week in Scotland after the cruise. I've never been to either of those countries.

 

[OldConch]

Slightly embarrassed to say that I am finally ramping up my travel since retiring in late 2017. The pandemic followed by the huge surge in travel impacted my plans so I mostly stuck to road trips of national parks and music festivals.

In two weeks I travel solo to London and Paris, first trip to Europe, but on a tour with a few extra days tacked on each city. I missed out on Road Scholar as their single accommodations sell out a year in advance so went with another tour group that I found recommended by Moemg on this site. I always enjoyed her postings.

Then a 49 passenger expedition cruise of the Alaska Inside Passage and Glacier Bay in July. First cruise too.

A few bluegrass music festivals in Telluride, Raleigh, and maybe Flagstaff and then Christmas in Texas with family.

Wow, you're really making up for lost time. A quick Google search indicates that you might be cruising with Alaska Dream Cruises. Never heard of them but we did a similar itinerary with Uncruise in June 2021. The ADC website describes their cruises as "active exploration." That's exactly what we experienced on the Wilderness Discoverer out of Juneau. We enjoyed it so much that we sailed with them again in the Sea of Cortez in April of 2023. Put down another deposit but are undecided on another Alaska or Hawaii trip next time. There were quite a few repeat passengers on these trip so they must be doing something right. Hope you have a wonderful time.

We do quite a few small group tours. It makes planning easy. Find cheap flight, book tour. Starting to return to a few places that we really enjoyed on tour for extended stays.

In Mazatlan now for the eclipse. Hoping for clear skies.

Safe travels!

 

[grasshopper]

Put down another deposit but are undecided on another Alaska or Hawaii trip next time. There were quite a few repeat passengers on these trip so they must be doing something right. Hope you have a wonderful time.

We do quite a few small group tours. It makes planning easy. Find cheap flight, book tour. Starting to return to a few places that we really enjoyed on tour for extended stays.

In Mazatlan now for the eclipse. Hoping for clear skies.

Safe travels!

We went to Hawaii with UnCruise on one of the Alaska summer ships that go to Hawaii in the winter. Had a great time night snorkeling with Manta rays, swimming with sea turtles and several island hikes. But our favorite stop was Molokai, just a really great Hawaiian experience.

 

[brett]

One thing that we have both learned after 13 years of retirement and travel is that our respective perceptions can prove to be the opposite of our experiences.

There have been a number of places on each of our bucket lists that the other did not especially fancy. But we went.

Yet, for the most part they not only turned out great we ended up returning multiple times. Especially the winter trips. I can only think of one country that neither of us enjoyed and that we cut short from 3 weeks down to one week and moved on to another country.

We are leaving on another one of those this month. My list this time. Not entirely certain how it will turn out. It will be a month of independent travel. We have a reasonable backup plan. As my DW says....why not? If it does not work for us we can always move on to somewhere else. That is one of the reasons why we seldom book much in advance other than air.

 

[OldConch]

We went to Hawaii with UnCruise on one of the Alaska summer ships that go to Hawaii in the winter. Had a great time night snorkeling with Manta rays, swimming with sea turtles and several island hikes. But our favorite stop was Molokai, just a really great Hawaiian experience.

Thanks Grasshopper! We've been leaning towards the Hawaii trip but I'm prone to motion sickness. We were in Maui for 10 days in April 2019 and the wind was blowing pretty good the whole time. I passed on a Molikini Crater snorkel trip because of it. What time of the year was your trip and was it rough?

Picked up some Travacalm in Cairns and I did pretty well on 2 fairly bumpy trips to the Great Barrier Reef. Maybe that will help if the Hawaii trip is a bit choppier than Alaska/Sea of Cortez.

The Big Island was our first post pandemic trip in December 2020. Seemed like we had the island to ourselves. Snorkeling with the Mantas and snorkeling at two step were highlights of the trip.

Molokai sounds great.

 

[lrip]

Just got back from a week in Ireland with my two adult sons. Did a drive through the southern part, stopping in Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Kilkenny and back to Dublin. Had a great time seeing the sights and doing a few tours, but was no match for the younger crowd in the pubs. Had all four seasons, sometimes in the same day.

 

[grasshopper]

Thanks Grasshopper! We've been leaning towards the Hawaii trip but I'm prone to motion sickness. We were in Maui for 10 days in April 2019 and the wind was blowing pretty good the whole time. I passed on a Molikini Crater snorkel trip because of it. What time of the year was your trip and was it rough?

Molokai sounds great.

We were in Hawaii early February. Transit between islands at night, and the Capt cautioned that there may be a rough crossing, but we slept right through it. Ms G is sensitive to a bit of rocking and she never felt anything. Had beautiful weather the whole trip.

 

[OldConch]

One thing that we have both learned after 13 years of retirement and travel is that our respective perceptions can prove to be the opposite of our experiences.

There have been a number of places on each of our bucket lists that the other did not especially fancy. But we went.

Yet, for the most part they not only turned out great we ended up returning multiple times. Especially the winter trips. I can only think of one country that neither of us enjoyed and that we cut short from 3 weeks down to one week and moved on to another country.

We are leaving on another one of those this month. My list this time. Not entirely certain how it will turn out. It will be a month of independent travel. We have a reasonable backup plan. As my DW says....why not? If it does not work for us we can always move on to somewhere else. That is one of the reasons why we seldom book much in advance other than air.

Great post. Morocco wasn't on our bucket list at all. I found uber-cheap flights to Casablanca return and DW actually said "why not?" When it was over we both agreed that it was one of our favorite trips. A very interesting country with a fascinating history. We booked a couple of day trips and a 12 day tour and felt that our guides added tremendous value. You have an escape plan, we hedged our bet.

Portugal is one of our first repeats (except Mexico). Porto for 5 days next months and Madeira and the Algarve for 2 weeks Jan 2025. Booked flight to Sri Lanka for March 2025 and am considering adding Borneo to that trip. Still looking for flights back to the U.S. I like to have long-haul tix booked in advance. Admire your adventuous spirit.

 

[OldConch]

We were in Hawaii early February. Transit between islands at night, and the Capt cautioned that there may be a rough crossing, but we slept right through it. Ms G is sensitive to a bit of rocking and she never felt anything. Had beautiful weather the whole trip.

Sounds promising. Thanks.

 

[Out of Steam]

My wife and I are beginning a road trip from Virginia to Arizona for October, probably about three weeks. The goal at the far end is a north-south trip through the state starting from Durango, Colorado, through the Grand Canyon and Sedona, to Tucson.

We would drive through the Midwest on the way west, and into Texas on the return trip.

 

[Fermion]

We were planning on heading toward Cape Coral, Florida after this stay in Texas, but it looks like it is hot there in a few weeks (mid 80s). I am more of a high 60s low 70s person now after decades in Washington state, even though I grew up in Georgia.

I wonder if the Outer Banks, NC would be cooler...

 

[ABQ2015]

Wow, you're really making up for lost time. A quick Google search indicates that you might be cruising with Alaska Dream Cruises. Never heard of them but we did a similar itinerary with Uncruise in June 2021. The ADC website describes their cruises as "active exploration." That's exactly what we experienced on the Wilderness Discoverer out of Juneau. We enjoyed it so much that we sailed with them again in the Sea of Cortez in April of 2023.

Yes, Alaskan Dream Cruises. Uncruise looks great but I was concerned that I was not physically fit enough for their activities. Alaskan Dream has kayaking and hikes but less strenuous. Also I am interested in Native American culture and we visit a couple of villages with Native American and Russian roots. I was telling my brother about my planned trip and he was not aware that these expedition/adventure cruises even existed. Uncruise would appeal to him so I will pass the info along to him. Thanks!

 

[aja8888]

On a smaller scale here, I booked a room for a few nights later this month in Joplin, MO to visit an old friend that I stay in touch with. We have been friends since 1974 and ran a couple of marathons together when we were long distance runners in Connecticut. He's a widower like me and just sold his ten acre farm as it was getting too much work at age 83.

 

[brett]

delete

 

[target2019]

Just got back from a week in Ireland with my two adult sons. Did a drive through the southern part, stopping in Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Kilkenny and back to Dublin. Had a great time seeing the sights and doing a few tours, but was no match for the younger crowd in the pubs. Had all four seasons, sometimes in the same day.

We walked from Jameson DIstillery to Guiness Storehouse. One small shot at Jameson, then a brisk walk to Guiness land.

We ascended many floors in the museum and reached the top where a single glass of Guiness was served. I may have had two. Lol.

When we got back down to the street and needed to walk 2km to dinner, I graciously paid for a carriage ride for the four of us. Sights may have been a tad blurry during the ride.

 

[Cassius King]

Wow. Some amazing trips being had and planned here.
Still w*rking so wife and I are going to Omaha for the Berk Shareholders Meeting next month. Have our regular trip to the beach in August, and may try to fit in a long weekend in between the two.
Safe travels to all of you!

 

[OldConch]

Yes, Alaskan Dream Cruises. Uncruise looks great but I was concerned that I was not physically fit enough for their activities. Alaskan Dream has kayaking and hikes but less strenuous. Also I am interested in Native American culture and we visit a couple of villages with Native American and Russian roots. I was telling my brother about my planned trip and he was not aware that these expedition/adventure cruises even existed. Uncruise would appeal to him so I will pass the info along to him. Thanks!

Thanks again for sharing, I've bookmarked ADC for future reference. Both options IMO are a wonderful way to experience southeast Alaska and are a terrific alternative to the mainstream cruise lines. Back when we were teaching we took the ferry and spent 3 days each in Juneau, Sitka, and Ketchikan. Loved that trip too.