Vacations you haven't taken yet but hope/plan to

[brett]

We will be doing a cruise, next year, out of Barcelona visiting Spain and Portugal. After that, not sure if it'll happen but I'd like to do Scandinavia cruise, and separately Iceland. DW not enthusiastic about either of those last 2, so I'm not optimistic!

I have 'dragged' my spouse along to many places where she was not entirely certain she wanted to go. Morocco this spring was the most recent.

The only country that she will not go that is on my list is India. So...I will at some point in the near future I will join a tour group and do it on my own. With her blessing of course.

 

[SecretlyFI]

Quebec City/Vermont/Bar Harbor road trip planned for next year.
Banff & Canadian Rockies hopefully next year as well.
Canada-New England cruise also booked for next year.
Then, re-visit favorite spots I've been to before.

 

[2017ish]

I have long had the attitude that I should do the more physically taxing kind of travel while I'm younger and leave the tamer travel for when I no longer feel up to long flights and dodgy hotels. I've traveled to too many places around the world to name, and India is a big one remaining on the tougher-travel list, but in the future I would like to visit the big US national parks, which other than one trip to Yosemite I have long neglected. So I'd like to see Yellowstone, Bryce/Zion/Arches, Glacier, Acadia, and more.

Yep, this is what we are doing. As a result, we've barely touched Europe and Canada, and haven't been to Japan--but had more than our share of experiences in more interesting places such as the Congo (DRC), Papua New Guinea, the Solomons, and Patagonia.

For us, however, the US national parks out west fell into the physically taxing category. Not the same as overnight flights and navigating unknown places with a language you don't speak, but hiking 6-8 hours with a good deal of ascent (or hiking up from the Colorado when on a 2 week rafting trip) has been enough for us to justify hitting them while we are able.... (And I suspect that at some point, the sheer amount of driving that we do for the western trips will become distasteful.)

Still hoping for another decade of successfully being "younger," but we will see!

 

[Gumby]

Going to Japan in November for 2 weeks.

Future desires/ideas:

River cruise on the Rhine and Danube (maybe Amsterdam to Budapest)
Orient Express train from Paris to Venice
Sail cruise down the Dalmatian coast
Southwestern France
Spain
Morocco
England (outside of London) and Scotland
New Zealand

 

[OldConch]

I have 'dragged' my spouse along to many places where she was not entirely certain she wanted to go. Morocco this spring was the most recent.

The only country that she will not go that is on my list is India. So...I will at some point in the near future I will join a tour group and do it on my own. With her blessing of course.

India is a hard "no" for DW as well. She says I can go if I want but there are so many places that we want to see together that the sub-continent may not happen for quite a while.

 

[RetiredHappy]

India, I have been there twice on business. I wouldn't want to go there by choice. I am sure it is intriguing for some.

 

[Diogenes]

This one is essentially impossible - and not because of work/retirement, health or money.

I'd like to see the principal ruins of the ancient Near East... what's left of the Fertile Crescent... Babylon, Nineveh, Ur, Lagash, Assur and so on. These are mostly archeological heaps of rocks, but still. The impossibility isn't that I'm 2300 years too late, but that these sites are in Syria, Iraq, and (further afield, if one follows Alexander's conquests) Iran and Afghanistan.

Just the sheer awe, of physically standing on the soil where Hammurabi wrote his code. Or where the battle of Gaugamela was fought. Not happening. Oh well.

 

[Gumby]

This one is essentially impossible - and not because of work/retirement, health or money.

I'd like to see the principal ruins of the ancient Near East... what's left of the Fertile Crescent... Babylon, Nineveh, Ur, Lagash, Assur and so on. These are mostly archeological heaps of rocks, but still. The impossibility isn't that I'm 2300 years too late, but that these sites are in Syria, Iraq, and (further afield, if one follows Alexander's conquests) Iran and Afghanistan.

Just the sheer awe, of physically standing on the soil where Hammurabi wrote his code. Or where the battle of Gaugamela was fought. Not happening. Oh well.

That would be pretty cool, but I'm not going there either. I also once thought it would be really great to travel the Silk Road from China to Istanbul. But not going to happen now.

 

[grasshopper]

When we went to the Galapagos we flipped a coin to extend for an Amazon river trip or Machu Picchu. Amazon river lost so that is somewhere I still want to travel.

At 74 next year we are switching to more cruises less walking/adventure travel.

Two Mediterranean cruises on the books for 2025.

So a Scandinavian cruise is likely for 2026, Ms G keeps looking at european river cruises, and she may get her wish.

 

[luckydude]

My list in no particular order:

Wales (UK)
Patagonia (Chile and Argentina)
Peru (altitude sickness concerns me)
Perth and the Outback (Australia)
Nordkapp (yes I know it's a tourist trap but I still want to go) and Svalbard (a long way from CA) in Norway
Greece (would love to go but the huge crowds put me off)
Spain (see Greece)
The Balkans
Turkey

 

[Dtail]

For me in no order:

- Vegas
- NYC
- Orlando (Disney)
- Grand Canyon (maybe combine these two)
- Italy
- France
- Switzerland

Secondary ideas:

- Cancun (yeah it's for a younger crowd but I never made it then so wth)
- Hawaii (only secondary due to distance)
- Australia (see Hawaii)
- Japan (see Australia)

Vegas - been there multiple times. Definitely worth it
NYC - worked and played there for many years. Definitely worth it
Orlando/Disney - worth going once but unless there are grandchildren not so much more
Grand Canyon - definitely worth it

 

[MC Rider]

There are a bunch of National Parks in easy diving distance here in CA, and somehow I have not been to most of them. Would like to change that. The good part is there are no planes or airports involved.

 

[motley]

Vegas - been there multiple times. Definitely worth it
NYC - worked and played there for many years. Definitely worth it

I've been to both as well, but only briefly and not under ideal circumstances, so I want a reboot!

 

[sengsational]

I just got a bunch of New Zealand tourist guide books from the library, but not sure if I'll go. I'd like to get a "caravan" (aka motorhome) for a month or something....if I fly all that way, I don't want to be rushed. I might not get there, though. Fun fact: A line from Portugal to New Zealand goes through the exact center of the earth...they couldn't be any farther away from each other.

There's a fancy specialized tour in Brazil in April that I'd like to do. A guided tour, flying low over all kinds of beautiful places. Again, not sure if I'll be on board with that either.

I've been to Portugal and Portuguese islands before, but that's where I'm off to next....coming up very soon.

Hawaii is the farthest west I've ever been, so I'd like to go to somewhere like Vietnam maybe.

 

[Lorenzo]

Yep, this is what we are doing. As a result, we've barely touched Europe and Canada, and haven't been to Japan--but had more than our share of experiences in more interesting places such as the Congo (DRC), Papua New Guinea, the Solomons, and Patagonia.

For us, however, the US national parks out west fell into the physically taxing category. Not the same as overnight flights and navigating unknown places with a language you don't speak, but hiking 6-8 hours with a good deal of ascent (or hiking up from the Colorado when on a 2 week rafting trip) has been enough for us to justify hitting them while we are able.... (And I suspect that at some point, the sheer amount of driving that we do for the western trips will become distasteful.)

Still hoping for another decade of successfully being "younger," but we will see!

I knew as soon as I wrote that that somebody would point out it depends how you do those national parks. I'll opt for taking advantage of how accessible our National Park Service makes some of them. I kind of scoffed at that when I was younger, thinking "If you can't hike 6 hours in and 6 hours out then you don't belong in this kind of park, you old geezers," but I have come to appreciate how the NPS attempts to balance preservation with accessibility for all. My tax dollars at work, right?

 

[motley]

Most of you travel a lot better than me...I can't imagine tolerating the long travel to places like Australia etc. Not helping is my horrific luck of "kids behaving badly" nearby. We need to invent those Star Trek-like transporters.

 

[Koolau]

I knew as soon as I wrote that that somebody would point out it depends how you do those national parks. I'll opt for taking advantage of how accessible our National Park Service makes some of them. I kind of scoffed at that when I was younger, thinking "If you can't hike 6 hours in and 6 hours out then you don't belong in this kind of park, you old geezers," but I have come to appreciate how the NPS attempts to balance preservation with accessibility for all. My tax dollars at work, right?

I'm a registered geezer! Only thing I want 6 hours of is sleep - along with my nap. NPs do rock! Well done with great employees.

 

[Gumby]

My list in no particular order:

Wales (UK)
Patagonia (Chile and Argentina)
Peru (altitude sickness concerns me)
Perth and the Outback (Australia)
Nordkapp (yes I know it's a tourist trap but I still want to go) and Svalbard (a long way from CA) in Norway
Greece (would love to go but the huge crowds put me off)
Spain (see Greece)
The Balkans
Turkey

We went to Greece last Fall (Oct 24 to Nov 4) and did not experience any huge crowds. The biggest was probably at the Acropolis in Athens, and even that was not too bad. Other places, like Delphi, Olympia, Mystras and Meteora had very few people in them. My advice for any tourist destination, not just Greece, is to go off season and to go to the "sights" as soon as they open in the morning. It has always worked for us.

 

[MC Rider]

We need to invent those Star Trek-like transporters.

Would that be cool, or what? Yes. But I suspect it would only be affordable to a few.

But the NPs do rock. I need to get a map out, maybe tack it up on the wall.

 

[MuirWannabe]

The Holy Lands. But not right now unfortunately.

Iceland
Norway
African safari plus Capetown
Polynesia
More of Australia outside of Tasmania which was terrific
22 more NP’s. We’ve been to 44 of them including most of the hard ones to reach. Just need to get serious about finishing.
Croatia and Dalmatian coast.

 

[timbervest]

N&S Dakota, Idaho, Montana, Alaska. My last states to visit yet.

NDak and Arkansas are my final two.

Trips:
Ecuador/Peru/Chile
Japan
Belgium
Eastern Europe (not right now)
Scandanavia

 

[TheWizard]

My spouse did not particularly want to go to Thailand or Vietnam. We went

Thailand/Thailand subsequently became her first choice for our snowbird trips. With Australia tacked on the back end of the trip.

And it looks like number 6, or is it 7, will be this winter. Ditto for Pacific coast of Mexico.

Tell us more about Thailand.
Is it as Anglo-friendly as Japan is?

 

[Dash man]

The Holy Lands. But not right now.

That’s where I want to go. The closest I’ve gotten is Cypress and Egypt. My health will likely prevent me from going now. But I love watching videos of others who explore.

 

[RetiredHappy]

Tell us more about Thailand.
Is it as Anglo-friendly as Japan is?

Lots of poverty in Thailand that is quite unbearable for us to observe. It's Anglo-friendly. We were last in Thailand in 2018. I went there several times in the 1990s.

 

[2017ish]

I just got a bunch of New Zealand tourist guide books from the library, but not sure if I'll go. I'd like to get a "caravan" (aka motorhome) for a month or something....if I fly all that way, I don't want to be rushed. I might not get there, though. Fun fact: A line from Portugal to New Zealand goes through the exact center of the earth...they couldn't be any farther away from each other.

...

We were in NZ for around 8 weeks earlier this year. Didn't do the caravan, as DW is not enamored of that route (we tried for 3 weeks in Alaska in June/July of 2020, and it was "ok," but not her thing....). We drove 5400 miles around both islands though and basically did everything that we were interested in (well, except for night trekking to see kiwis in the wild).

NZ is extremely friendly to RV users--and very hospitable to boondocking if you can rent a vehicle set up for it. If you are taking only a month, I'd focus on the South Island. Absolutely beautiful, and is not heavily populated. Hiking, whether day hikes (us) or multiday treks abound--and the scenery!

Most of the wineries are on that island as well--although we found that the north island had more wines that met our individual palates.... (Was a big part of our trip, as we tasted more than 300 wines.)

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned that NZ is pricey. We'd slightly disagree. We've found lodging and food in the American west over the past two months to be higher than what we experienced in NZ in March and April. True, on the international scale, it isn't cheap, but from a North American perspective it wasn't bad.

As you've probably heard, if you are going in or near high season, book early and reserve your vehicle. We ran into several young people who tried to wing it and were having to make do...