Travel Plan 2023

[explanade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by foxcreek9 No, I didn’t take it. During our drive down, at one of the pull offs, there was a guy with a drone. This is what I get on google maps https://maps.app.goo.gl/8AzZAPyAAZoqaoQY7?g_st=ic

I found this guided tour. They pick you up and drop you back off from central Stanvanger for 1000 NOK, or about $102.

It's 7 hours total, pick you up around 7 AM. They say you go on ferry to the start of the hike. I assume that means 7 hours between pickup and drop off.

It's a 1000 feet or 330 meter hike. YOu're expected to bring layers of clothing including waterproof and food and water. They also let you add meals and water and equipment like a backpack or hiking poles.

https://www.visitnorway.com/places-t...stolen/217265/



Also I searched for directions from Stavanger to "Pulpit Rock."

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Stav...2d58.98641!3e0



OK I made a mistake, Pulpit Rock and Trolls Tung are two different places, similar rock formations though.

[gayl]

Screenshot_20230118-125046.jpgwill be in Rome a week before Transatlantic Mediterranean Passage. FWIW I can afford it

[AlabaMalaysia]

Japan in April then trip to Antarctica in November. Wife just got back from a 3 month work trip to India which she made it into more of a vacation lol. Getting interesting ideas from others reading his thread.

[AlabaMalaysia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by foxcreek9 Last summer we flew to Bergen and drove to Stavanger, Lysbotn, Rjukan, Fon, ending in Oslo, then flew home. I met my GGF’s youngest sister’s granddaughters I found through Ancestry. The roads were great when compared to here but my Norwegian cousins said the locals are constantly complaining about he roads. A lot of the mountain roads are about 1 1/2 cars wide and a little nerve wracking at times. We drove up and down this beauty too

We did a road trip across Norway for our honeymoon 9 years ago. Simply amazing highly recommend to anyone that can drive that country up and down it is an amazing adventure.

[SecondAttempt]

Las Vegas in March to meet up with family I am reconnecting with.

Summer in Scandinavia to reconnect with old friends and family for Midsommar holidays.

North Island New Zealand in October.

I may retire before October, if so, maybe more trips after Scandinavia. Not likely at this point but if work gets me POed...

[ElizabethT]

Completed two weeks in Palm Springs by RV in January, which was primarily focused on attending the Palm Springs Int'l Film Festival. We attended 20 foreign films, walked lots of miles, talked to lots of interesting people, and enjoyed lots of great dine outs. Good stuff.

April- One week trip by RV to Malibu, primarily to hike the Santa Monica Natl Mountains, but also to enjoy the beautiful views (we have an ocean view site), the Getty Villa, and some great eats.

May- Off to Spain to walk 225 miles of the Camino Frances, which will conclude (of course) in Santiago. From there we'll fly to Milan, Italy for a few days, then to Bologna by train for a few days, at which point our Europe based DD and family will pick us up by car to drive to the embarkation point of a family cruise around the Greek Islands. Can't wait to see the GD's faces when they get a look at the ship and all the fun waterslides and assundry!

Home for summer because it's a fun time here with lots of outdoor concerts and beach festivals.

Heading to Canada by plane in late August (Calgary, Banff, and Vancouver), then from there to Alaska by cruiseship.

We'll close out the summer with our usual RV jaunt along our beautiful California Central Coast.

A week of RVing along the San Diego coastline to close out RV season, which we define as ending when the clocks move back in the Fall.

Looking ahead to the first couple of months of 2024, we're planning four weeks in New Zealand on our own, followed by a land based tour of Australia. We've done Sydney (which we loved) but that's it, so we decided the logistics of moving around such a vast country might be best left to a travel expert.

[Surewhitey]

We're planning to hit Spain, Morocco & Portugal, ending in the Azores for an adventure in April and May. I'd love recommendations if any are available... Never been to any of them.

[brett]

We spent a week in Madeira in May. Very much enjoyed it. Azores are on our list.

Then we spent four weeks in mainland Portugal. We had been there twice before. Both times we rented cars. This last trip, we decided to travel by rail and two short bus trips. On a prior trip we did a car tour of the Douro Valley, staying in small vineyard properties.

It was perfect. Travelled with carry on only, kept our schedules very fluid. Spent three days in Nazare which we had not planned on.

This year we have our sights set on four or five weeks in Morocco plus two weeks somewhere else. It will probably be mid March/April or Sept/Oct. Air fares appear to be similar to pre covid fares.

[grasshopper]

Well fingers and toes crossed. Our Costco Visa just got a big hit. Finalized everything for our late spring Greece trip. Getting to Athens was very hard to book with any premium seating. We were close to cancelling and a solution was found. Hoping our flights stay just as they are.

Also booked a road trip to San Diego and Catalina Island for the fall. Booked the house/pet sitter for two weeks, and have plans for most of it.

[explanade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surewhitey We're planning to hit Spain, Morocco & Portugal, ending in the Azores for an adventure in April and May. I'd love recommendations if any are available... Never been to any of them.

You may want to create your own thread for specific recommendations on these locations.

List the kinds of things you're interested in seeing or doing.

Also a rough itinerary, like days you plan to spend in each place.

[luckydude]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound I contemplated driving the length of Norway from Oslo along the coast up to Skarsvag, but it would take more time than I have for the upcoming trip. I guess I will have to take a fjord cruise instead. The driving distance of Oslo/Skarsvag (2,600 miles roundtrip) is still short compared to my US RV trips to Cape Breton and Fairbanks (10,000 miles each). So, I may come back to Norway on a future trip to do it (will have to talk my wife into coming along).

Back in 2015, I rented a car in Oslo and drove north past the Arctic Circle all the way up to Fauske before doubling back. Did it in 2.5 weeks and it was a lot of fun but just too far of a drive from Oslo. Saw some spectacular sceneries and met some really interesting and cool people.

I've been thinking about doing another road trip, starting from Tromso and driving all the way up to Northkap to see the midnight sun. Hopefully I can find time for it in the next couple of years.

[luckydude]

Just got back from a 4-week trip to Australia.

In June, I will take the family to visit Japan and Taiwan for 3 weeks, then carry on solo to the Top End (Australia) for 3 weeks of hiking and sightseeing.

At the end of the year, I plan to take the family to New Zealand to see a cousin and do some sightseeing.

[jesaco]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surewhitey We're planning to hit Spain, Morocco & Portugal, ending in the Azores for an adventure in April and May. I'd love recommendations if any are available... Never been to any of them.

In Spain, stay in Barcelona.(easy to get to Morocco from here) Lots of places to see. Its a vibrant city and you can choose to take day trips to Monserrat, Sitges, Girona, costa Brava. El Born and L'example are great neigborhoods but avoid EL Raval neighborhood. Its a little Sketchy. In Portugal, Lisbon is wonderful. Chiado,alfama or Baixa alto are the neighborhoods to stay. Visit {Parque nacoes to see the modern part of lisbon) and take day trips to Sintra, Nazare or Obidos or portugal's wine region. very friendly people and safe. some people prefer madiera rather than Azores though.
depends on what you like to do or intrested at. but you can do more reserach on thiese areas. Have a great trip.

[brett]

We had to cancel Feb/MarchThailand/Malaysia for family health reasons. We could not be gone for two months as planned. Fortunately we had not booked our air.

Switched to three weeks in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. One of our favourite spots in Mexico.

[Sunset]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElizabethT ..... Heading to Canada by plane in late August (Calgary, Banff, and Vancouver), then from there to Alaska by cruiseship. .....

Bring a jacket/windbreaker and sweater, warm hat, and gloves for the cruise. In mid-summer I was very surprised by how cold it was on the balcony looking at icebergs floating by.

[kgtest]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surewhitey We're planning to hit Spain, Morocco & Portugal, ending in the Azores for an adventure in April and May. I'd love recommendations if any are available... Never been to any of them.

We are also going to Morocco end of April! I would take recommendations for Morocco as well, we are landing in Casablanca, then going to Rabat, Fez, Marrakesh and circling back to Casablanca.

[Surewhitey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kgtest We are also going to Morocco end of April! I would take recommendations for Morocco as well, we are landing in Casablanca, then going to Rabat, Fez, Marrakesh and circling back to Casablanca.

We have semi-finalized our trip & decided on Barcelona - Grenada - Madrid - Azores. Marrakesh will have to wait for next time... Let us know your experience there...

Ps, you don't know anyone who works for Berkley, do you? DW's cow*rker is going there in April...

[Lsbcal]

We are going to Death Valley in March. Nice hikes and walks there if weather is OK. We have done some outdoor watercolor sketching in the canyons there. Last time painted lady butterflies where streaming through the canyons. Then down to San Diego and up the coast. Might add Santa Monica Mountains hike as suggested by ElizabethT above. Want to take a hike in the Channel Islands. Then maybe stop at Santa Clarita and do the Getty Museum.

We want to go to Europe again. DW is Covid shy about flying for 11 hours on a plane and not at all excited about wearing a mask for that long. I could not find any recent studies on flight risks. A few friends came back from Europe with Covid this last summer. I notice Covid (on the ground) is very low in the Netherlands and we'd like to go back to Haarlem which is a great location to base at. DW is more keen on Italy in maybe early Setptember as the warmer weather means she is less likely to come down with some minor illness.

Thoughts on very long flight risks?

[explanade]

I’ve taken long flights in both 2021 and 2022, all international flights.

Personally I had no problems masking for those long flights, N95.

Even after they no longer required masks on flight I still masked. I ate and drank though but otherwise wore it and slept with masks on.

I think there are greater risks going through tHe airport, waiting an hour or two at gates or lounges.

But I masked in buses on the ground, in any public space and avoided indoor dining. That meant going only to places with outdoor dining or at worst takeout.

Once in Porto, went to this Italian restaurant which had this large sliding door so they opened it fully out into the sidewalk and noisy street with car traffic. But there were tables near the sidewalk and good breeze coming in.

Then I went back to that place a couple nights later and they closed the door because there had been some thunder showers earlier in the day. So that’s Probably the only indoor dining in the past couple of years.

Even at home I will take out. We have a new restaurant row — a few years old — and they have. Lot of outdoor dining.

[Surewhitey]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade I’ve taken long flights in both 2021 and 2022, all international flights. Personally I had no problems masking for those long flights, N95. Even after they no longer required masks on flight I still masked. I ate and drank though but otherwise wore it and slept with masks on. I think there are greater risks going through tHe airport, waiting an hour or two at gates or lounges. But I masked in buses on the ground, in any public space and avoided indoor dining. That meant going only to places with outdoor dining or at worst takeout. Once in Porto, went to this Italian restaurant which had this large sliding door so they opened it fully out into the sidewalk and noisy street with car traffic. But there were tables near the sidewalk and good breeze coming in. Then I went back to that place a couple nights later and they closed the door because there had been some thunder showers earlier in the day. So that’s Probably the only indoor dining in the past couple of years. Even at home I will take out. We have a new restaurant row — a few years old — and they have. Lot of outdoor dining.

We did Italy and I didn't mask anywhere, DW did on the plane and airport. Nada. Just went to a funeral with 500 people in TX. Maybe 1% masking in very tight spaces. Felt a little nervous about this one, again, nada. I usually have masked on planes, but I have yet to test positive, knowingly...