Anyone got any travel planned? 2018 version

[coveredbridge]

Taking a quick golf trip to Hilton Head soon. Ready for a break from Winter.

 

[mh]

Deleted

 

[mh]

Tasmania tomorrow for three weeks including Three Capes Trek. I love being retired!

I took a look at the three capes track since you mentioned it. It looks pretty cool. Please let us know how you liked it if you are so inclined once you get back !

 

[flintnational]

Business class deal to Paris

Clark Howard's National Travel Deals Site has a $1,500 RT business class ticket from NY to Paris.

"La Compagnie, the all-business-class airline offer a Back to Business offer from New York to Paris $1,500 round-trip on travel through March 25. In-flight amenities include Samsung Galaxy tablets, Caudalie cosmetic kits and La Carte dining service."

 

[Dreamer]

Flying to FL Friday and leaving on a Southern Caribbean cruise on Saturday. Will be gone from 2/9 to 2/19/18 and looking forward to leaving the winter weather behind.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Next week we are taking a Caribbean cruise leaving from Galveston. We go a few days early to explore houston and Galveston since we have never been there.

 

[Bamaman]

My wife's hobby is finding inexpensive flights and cruises. She came up with a ridiculously cheap 12 day repositioning cruise for NYC to England--stopping along the way in Cork and France. We will spend 2 days in London and fly to Dublin. We are renting a car and heading to the SW Irish coast for a week. Hard to believe how expensive the rooms are in London and Dublin.

 

[Nemo2]

She came up with a ridiculously cheap 12 day repositioning cruise for NYC to England--

Norwegian Breakaway?

 

[SJ1_]

Heading to Clearwater Beach for 4 day on 2.13 then driving across state to Port Canaveral
for a cruise on the Oasis of the Seas (27th cruise and 1st mega ship)

 

[ohyes]

An hour ago, we booked a vrbo property for a few days in May - on Oskaloosa Island. We stayed in the same unit in 2014 and told each other we would stay there every year for eternity--except we never booked again until now.

Once we parked our car in the garage, we never needed it again. This place is within walking distance to several restaurants. We purchased breakfast supplies on the way down (MS) and cooked each morning. Walked down the beach for other meals, dining often on left-overs for lunch the next day - in the rental. I am thinking each of us gained about 5 lbs, but who is counting?

It was the beach. : )

I am seriously excited to return.

 

[FIREmenow]

An hour ago, we booked a vrbo property for a few days in May - on Oskaloosa Island. We stayed in the same unit in 2014 and told each other we would stay there every year for eternity--except we never booked again until now.

Once we parked our car in the garage, we never needed it again. This place is within walking distance to several restaurants. We purchased breakfast supplies on the way down (MS) and cooked each morning. Walked down the beach for other meals, dining often on left-overs for lunch the next day - in the rental. I am thinking each of us gained about 5 lbs, but who is counting?

It was the beach. : )

I am seriously excited to return.

Beach pounds are not the same as regular pounds. I think the number is 3.27:1.

 

[karen1972]

This year is family year:
- Trip to Vegas in Feb to see his aunt
- Trip to Wisc in March for dads estate sale
- Trip to SC in April to see his sister
- Botanical Roadtrip with mom in May

The rest of the year is state parks in NC, we are doing about 2 a month.

 

[ohyes]

Beach pounds are not the same as regular pounds. I think the number is 3.27:1.

This is great news! Thanks.

 

[audreyh1]

Well I'm on the final stretch of our May trip to southern and central Spain (last 3 weeks of May). We've already visited Barcelona, and plan to visit northern Spain on a separate trip with Portugal and Atlantic coast France. We spend two weeks in Holland before that to visit family and finally see the tulips in action. Flying to Madrid from Amsterdam, and then traveling by train and bus between destination cities.

• Sevilla 6 nights. 2 days sightseeing, plus three day-trips out to Cadiz & Jerez, Rhonda, and black acorn eating pigs in the mountains (jamón iberico).
• Nerja 3 nights. A couple of relaxing day on the coast and some nearby trips.
• Granada 4 nights. The Alhambra (which we will visit twice) and other local sites.
• Úbeda 2 nights. Small renaissance city in the heart of olive country.
• Córdoba 3 nights. The Mezquita, patios, and other city sights.
• Madrid 5 nights. 2 days Madrid sightseeing and 2 day trips to Segovia & La Granja, and Toledo

I think we'll be worn out by then. Time to stop.

It's been a whirlwind planning as fast as possible because hotels in some locations were selling out right as we were making choices. But we've got most reservation in place now. Usually I have longer to work on trips, but we're leaving earlier than we usually do and various things kept me from working on the Spain part of it except for the past couple of weeks.

Whew! (see my sig line)

 

[PawPrint53]

We are planning a walk on the South Downs trail in southern England. Anyone done either a tour or self directed walk, booking your own accommodation, luggage transfer etc? We may do 5-7 nights (52-80 miles total). This will be part of a longer trip, the rest to be spent in London or visiting friends in and around London. Main driver for the trip is DH’s desire to see the band Camel at Royal Albert Hall on 17 September. He’s a long time fan, since the 70’s.

We used a company that arranged accommodations and luggage transfers and gave us great directions when we walked the Cotswolds. Doing a 4 day walk in the Lake District this fall using the same company. I liked all the places they booked, and they customized the walk for us for the same price.

 

[PawPrint53]

You will be glad to hear we finally got some snow. We got a good dump around Thanksgiving. Then nothing until this last week. Only snow was at the highest elevation sno parks. And "some" at Bachelor. But after 2 months that was more ice than snow. This last week maybe 3' or so.

Looks like small amounts most of this week. Are you at 5 Pines? Never stayed there. Looks really nice.

We're bringing the snowshoes, but thinking it may be more hiking than snowshoeing. Yup, 5 Pine. Love the place. They have great specials. This one includes two massages. Wonderful cabins, use of the athletic club, two glasses of wine or beer in front of the lodge fire. Highly recommend if you like a little luxury now and again.

 

[gayl]

Looking for suggestions on sleep aids. 14 hr flight from SFO to Sydney leaving at 11:10pm. Need to sleep on plane but I'm usually to excited to sleep / mind starts racing. Thought a pill might help

 

[audreyh1]

Looking for suggestions on sleep aids. 14 he flight from SFO to Sydney leaving at 11:10pm. Need to sleep on plane but I'm usually to excited to sleep / mind starts racing. Thought a pill might help

Two glasses of champagne or red wine with dinner usually does it for me on international overnight flights!

 

[explanade]

Plus they serve you dinner so it's hard to get to sleep.

They do offer express dinners so they serve you right away but it might not be as good as the regular meal.

If you're flying business, they will give you an amenity kit which should include ear plugs. Otherwise, get good in-ear headphones which seal out the sound.

A lot of people go for those noise-canceling Bose headphones which sit on the ear or over the year. But you can't sleep on your side if you wear those.

 

[bizlady]

2 weeks in Canada early summer. Flying into Vancouver then renting a car and making our way to Calgary.
Sept:Train trip from Chicago to Grand Canyon then spending 3 days there and then over to Flagstaff

 

[Freedom56]

Looking for suggestions on sleep aids. 14 hr flight from SFO to Sydney leaving at 11:10pm. Need to sleep on plane but I'm usually to excited to sleep / mind starts racing. Thought a pill might help

Business class with lie-flat seats always does it for us.

 

[Freedom56]

next trips that are booked:

June 2018 Alaska

July 2018- September 2018 - London, Geveva, Corsica, Rome, Barcelona

 

[MRG]

Looking for suggestions on sleep aids. 14 hr flight from SFO to Sydney leaving at 11:10pm. Need to sleep on plane but I'm usually to excited to sleep / mind starts racing. Thought a pill might help

OTC - melatonin or benadryl. Some folks swear by a cocktail, that really isn't quality sleep for me.
Prescription - benzos such as zolpidem. A buddy swears by muscle relaxers like flexeril. They tend to leave me groggy.
Alternative - eat 50mg of an Indicia edible about an hour before bedtime.

 

[audreyh1]

Spring in Holland!

I booked a hotel in early January in the Bollenstreek as the main flower cultivation area is called. Hotels in Lisse right next to the Keukenhof were already booked solid in very early Jan. So we got the last room in a town a few miles away.

The plan is rent bicycles and cycle the areas around the blooming flower fields as well as visit the Keukenhof gardens a couple of times. We should also have time to visit the nearby beach.

We’ll just miss the big flower parade, but we’ll be in time to see the flower floats on display in Haarlem the next day.

Then we make it to Amsterdam in time for King’s Day and a couple of family birthdays before heading to Spain early May.

 

[explanade]

2 weeks in Canada early summer. Flying into Vancouver then renting a car and making our way to Calgary.
Sept:Train trip from Chicago to Grand Canyon then spending 3 days there and then over to Flagstaff

Banff and Jasper in Calgary?

It's amazing how expensive hotels in Banff are.

I was pricing hotels in Banff a year or two ago. There were hotels wanting like $700 and they didn't even look that special.

It was the 150th anniversary so the national parks were free and the CAD exchange rate was low. So it seems the hotels raised their prices to match.

I just checked a couple of Road Scholar trips, one going through Banff and Jasper and another going through Switzerland.

Both were the same amount of days but the one in Canada was more expensive for the land portion.

I would never guess that the Canadian rockies are more popular than the Swiss Alps to command those kinds of hotel prices.