2025 Travel Plans

[chris2008]

Our first trip this year did not happen:
We had planned to go for 2 weeks to Oman.
DH got a thalamic stroke the night before departure.
I could not get him completely awake in the morning, he said he felt like half asleep still and his blood pressure was up in the sky.
The ambulance took him to hospital where he still is (day 5). Fortunately all symptoms have disappeared by now except a vision issue (uneven lines but can read).
We hope that he can come home tomorrow. Then some rehab will follow. The specialists say that vision can improve still.
So we are spending the hotel budget for a private room at the hospital

 

[pacergal]

Wishing your DH a full and speedy recovery.

 

[Sunset]

Our first trip this year did not happen:
We had planned to go for 2 weeks to Oman.
DH got a thalamic stroke the night before departure.
I could not get him completely awake in the morning, he said he felt like half asleep still and his blood pressure was up in the sky.
The ambulance took him to hospital where he still is (day 5). Fortunately all symptoms have disappeared by now except a vision issue (uneven lines but can read).
We hope that he can come home tomorrow. Then some rehab will follow. The specialists say that vision can improve still.
So we are spending the hotel budget for a private room at the hospital

Hopefully he will recover fully.
Rehab while annoying for many folks, is key to getting back to normal.

Did you have travel insurance or use a CC with travel coverage ?

 

[rodi]

Just added 2 more short trips to our plans. Looks like both sons will be graduating college this spring. So a long weekend to Berkeley in May and a long weekend to San Luis Obispo in June. Hotels are booked, but prices are about triple the normal rate for graduation weekend.

And yet another trip added. The July DH's siblings are all converging on the Jersey shore. Got the flights with mileage... splurged a bit on an ocean front condo. Decent deal on the rental car.

When I first married DH - his parents still had a shore house and they'd spend the summer there, and we'd join them on weekends. (Lived outside Philly at the time). House is long sold, but it's still the gathering place for family vacations. Several of hubby's cousins have shore houses or live 'down the shore' full time.

 

[grasshopper]

When I first married DH - his parents still had a shore house and they'd spend the summer there, and we'd join them on weekends.

Ms G and I lived in sin in Mantoloking and Seaside Heights, before we were married. I have very fond memories of the Jersey shore and the Delaware, Maryland shore.

 

[Ronstar]

Arizona in march.
Maine lobster crawl in August.
That’s it so far.

 

[chris2008]

Hopefully he will recover fully.
Rehab while annoying for many folks, is key to getting back to normal.

Did you have travel insurance or use a CC with travel coverage ?

Thanks to you all.
I could take DH home yesterday. The vision issue is still there but improving. Rehab will follow.
We have CC travel coverage + all year insurance + could cancel most bookings without cost.

 

[anethum]

I just got back from 4 very enjoyable weeks in Guatemala, Belize, & Mexico. My first time in Guatemala & Belize.

My Spanish is fairly good, so communication was not a problem in Guatemala or Mexico. But I heard a lot of English spoken to tourists by locals who regularly interact with them. People in all 3 countries were unfailingly friendly. I had zero safety or health issues on the trip.

 

[audreyh1]

I just got back from 4 very enjoyable weeks in Guatemala, Belize, & Mexico. My first time in Guatemala & Belize.

My Spanish is fairly good, so communication was not a problem in Guatemala or Mexico. But I heard a lot of English spoken to tourists by locals who regularly interact with them. People in all 3 countries were unfailingly friendly. I had zero safety or health issues on the trip.

Were you visiting Mayan ruins?

 

[anethum]

Only a couple: Tikal in Guatemala, and Laminai in Belize. I'd previously visited many major Mayan sites in Mexico. The other places I visited in Guatemala were Antigua, Lake Atitlan, Semuc Champey (a stunning natural site), Coban (to see a nearby orchid sanctuary), & Flores. I traveled within Guatemala on shuttles, which are a comfortable alternative to the notorious "chicken buses" there.

Mexico was a return to 3 favorite towns: Merida, Oaxaca, & Mexico City. I flew between those cities on Volaris, a low-cost Mexico-based airline, which I was very pleased with.

 

[audreyh1]

Love Oaxaca. I’ve never visited the Yucatán but DH enjoyed Merida and seeing ruins decades ago.

 

[tulak]

We're going to stay in the lauterbrunnen area most of the time, wengen to be specific. We're going to bounce around throughout that area. We have a 4 year old so we won't be able to do any real long hikes but it seems like there are more than enough shortish hikes. We do plan on visiting Bern for a day. We fly to/out of zurich.

Do you have any recommendations or some of your favorite things you did? We really enjoy mountains/hiking so we're really excited to go.

Plenty of shorter hikes in that area. We stayed in Lauterbrunnen last year and took the gondola/train to Murren, had lunch, and then hiked/walked back to Lauterbrunnen. It was easy and all down hill.

I would highly recommend going up Jungfrau. We went to Jungfrau from Lauterbrunnen and went down the other side to Grindelwald. Beautiful area and tons of trails, etc, to explore.

We also did a short hike from Lauterbrunnen to Wengen and took the train down. It was short, but steeper. You could easily do it the other way around.

The nice part is if you get tired of hiking, you can always get on a train. And I would highly recommend installing the SBB app. If you don't have a ticket, then you can buy it when you're on the train, both for you and others.

Zurich was fun, and we spent time in Lucerne, which I highly recommend. We had a couple of nights in Bern and it was ok. I don't regret visiting Bern, but it's an easy one to skip if you're short on time.

Have fun!

 

[tulak]

Love Oaxaca. I’ve never visited the Yucatán but DH enjoyed Merida and seeing ruins decades ago.

I really enjoyed Merida, one of the highlights of my visit to the Yucatan. We rented a car and drove from Riviera Maya, stopping to see some Mayan ruins along the way. The only downside is it's a long drive through the jungle. Roads were fine, but it's flat and not very scenic.

 

[tulak]

I'm finally starting to plan and book trips for this year. I'm taking a quick trip to Europe in March, to take care of some paperwork and visit family, and I'll be back again in May. For the May trip, we're planning on visiting Bordeaux and other parts of France, likely with some cycling involved. Still working on the details.

 

[audreyh1]

I'm finally starting to plan and book trips for this year. I'm taking a quick trip to Europe in March, to take care of some paperwork and visit family, and I'll be back again in May. For the May trip, we're planning on visiting Bordeaux and other parts of France, likely with some cycling involved. Still working on the details.

We really enjoyed wine touring from Bordeaux. Easy to do as lots of wine tasting day trips are available. Trip advisor has informative reviews.

 

[Cassius King]

Just got home from a Valentine's trip to Chicago with my wife. Brutally cold, but a much needed escape and great time away together.
Shopping on Michigan Ave, always a dinner at Pequod's and a visit to Goose Island Brewing. Nice, casual, relaxing stay.
Already planning the next weekend road trip, Asheville, NC and Grand Haven, MI.

 

[BigNick]

We are off to India on Monday for two weeks. Our tour program has been put together just for us by a local incoming tour operator at what we think is an excellent price. Of course the individual day tours will mostly be standard, but we told them roughly where we wanted to go and they have booked all of the hotels, guides, drivers, and internal flights. We just need to get to Delhi airport.

I'll try to remember to post here when we get back to say how it all went!

 

[audreyh1]

We are off to India on Monday for two weeks. Our tour program has been put together just for us by a local incoming tour operator at what we think is an excellent price. Of course the individual day tours will mostly be standard, but we told them roughly where we wanted to go and they have booked all of the hotels, guides, drivers, and internal flights. We just need to get to Delhi airport.

I'll try to remember to post here when we get back to say how it all went!

Please do! Bon voyage!

 

[1242Vintage]

Found out last night … I’ll be spending a couple weeks on a cruise ship this Fall! Dear wife is arranging. Am not a huge fan of cruises but as long as my lovely bride has her heart set on it and has taken the lead, I’ll follow. All I know is we start in Italy …. Florence I think … and end two weeks later in Istanbul.

 

[JDARNELL]

We have been traveling for about 5 weeks visiting Thailand Cambodia and Vietnam. We decided last week that we will work our way home in 2 weeks wrapping up with some time in Tokyo. It appears we are going to have some family obligation trips in April and May and am not sure what the fall will hold.

 

[Surewhitey]

I traveled within Guatemala on shuttles, which are a comfortable alternative to the notorious "chicken buses" there.

Mexico was a return to 3 favorite towns: Merida, Oaxaca, & Mexico City. I flew between those cities on Volaris, a low-cost Mexico-based airline, which I was very pleased with.

Just had flashbacks to 2013...we took a "chicken bus" from Belize City to Corozol for the experience & getting back to our car while making a visa run.

We're leaving for Naples for a 5 day "w*rk" excursion. Lots of golf, fishing and dinners (I'm a +1 for DW). DW added a week to Isla Mujeres for relaxation since we are halfway there anyway.

 

[explanade]

We like to hike too. We were in Switzerland in 1972 and the alps are amazing. Nowadays we'd rather just get into our car and drive up to the Sierras. We can stay in Mammoth Lakes and there are a lot of short hikes around there. Plus we can drive up through Tioga Pass and enter the higher elevations around Toulumne Meadows. The drive itself is very scenic. There are several day hikes at about the 8000 ft level. And in mid-August the mosquitoes are taking a break plus the weather is generally agreeable.

There is also Mono Lake and a nice visitor center too. There is Bodie State Park which is a well maintained mining ghost town.

For us that means not having to travel so far and deal with airports and such. Now I just have to convince myself that with all the $'s saved by avoiding Europe this year we can easily splurge on good dining and nice accommodations. Too often I forget that, but DW will remind me.

I like the Sierras but despite living in CA, I've spent far more time in the Alps. One reason is, you don't have to do a lot of driving to get around.

It would take me 4-5 hours to get up to Tahoe and then driving around there. Probably 3-4 hours to Yosemite and the lodgings in the park are very limited and very much in high demand.

In Switzerland, you take trains from Zurich to reach the mountains, in fact right out of the airport after you land.

I've driven once or twice in Switzerland but it's advantageous to get a pass for a few days.

Plus they got so much infrastructure, like cogwheel trains and cable cars everywhere. Tahoe, I've never gone up a cable car when not skiing. Only the main one at Squaw Valley. Never went up the one in Heavenly, though that's pretty nice, with the view over the lake.

Tahoe is beautiful but the view up top from Rothorn looking down at Lake Brienz and beyond at the snowcapped mountains rising above the opposite bank of the lake is pretty unforgettable.

 

[Lsbcal]

I don't know my way around the Swiss or Italian alps but I can see the attraction. We did a hike in Castlerotto area and really enjoyed it. Very different with dining very close to the trail.

For the Sierras please note I did not mention Tahoe but rather south of there where there are many trails near Mammoth Lakes lodging/restaurants. We have only done a little of Tahoe hikes.

 

[MinnUser]

Greetings all... we spent several days in Napa Valley in early February. Going to drive to Wyoming in June and hike in the Bighorns for a week with the girl dog. Then France in August, I am running a trail race partially around Mont Blanc. In December/January my first ever cruise, we are going to Antarctica and hitting all of the relevant islands for 18 days, almost 3.5 weeks with to and fro travel.

That's about it for this year.

 

[ut2sua]

Found out last night … I’ll be spending a couple weeks on a cruise ship this Fall! Dear wife is arranging. Am not a huge fan of cruises but as long as my lovely bride has her heart set on it and has taken the lead, I’ll follow. All I know is we start in Italy …. Florence I think … and end two weeks later in Istanbul.

Good for you. BTW, it won't start in Florence. Florence is too inland for cruises. It would be Livorno or Civitavecchia (close to Rome). That should be a wonderful cruise. Istanbul looks fantastic from a cruise ship view point also. Have fun.