Travel Thread

[Jammer]

I can write pages of my travel experiences because I've been blessed to be able to travel a lot in my lifetime. I've been to every state in the USA and and all the territories except Guam. When I say I've been to every one I mean I stayed at least overnight in every state and territory. I did not drive through and say "I've been there".

I lived in England for 4 years. Absolutely loved it. My daughter was born there. Been to Italy a couple of times and I loved it. Been to Kenya twice and again, loved it. I stayed a few months in Djibouti (Africa), and even though I didn't like it at the time I look back at my time there with some fondness. It's the kind of place you tell you grandkids about. I lived in South Korea for a year. Not a bad place, but I was there without my wife and daughter so that tainted my view a bit.

I stayed in Belize for a vacation for a week a year ago. Place was amazing. Stayed in Caye Caulker for the first half of the trip and then in Belize City for the rest of the trip. Up until I went to Hawaii it was my favorite place to be. It still may be my favorite place because it is cheaper and closer for me than Hawaii. I live in Florida so flight time is a lot less.

I got married to my second wife in Maui, Hawaii. The place lives up to it's hype. Actually all of the Hawaii islands live up to their hype. Would go back again without a second thought. Been to a few other places but that from cruise ships so that doesn't count.

My bucket list to travel is Australia. I've always wanted to go there and I hope one day to be able to go. No other place really interests me.

 

[Crazed Liotta Eyes]

I can write pages of my travel experiences because I've been blessed to be able to travel a lot in my lifetime. I've been to every state in the USA and and all the territories except Guam. When I say I've been to every one I mean I stayed at least overnight in every state and territory. I did not drive through and say "I've been there".

I lived in England for 4 years. Absolutely loved it. My daughter was born there. Been to Italy a couple of times and I loved it. Been to Kenya twice and again, loved it. I stayed a few months in Djibouti (Africa), and even though I didn't like it at the time I look back at my time there with some fondness. It's the kind of place you tell you grandkids about. I lived in South Korea for a year. Not a bad place, but I was there without my wife and daughter so that tainted my view a bit.

I stayed in Belize for a vacation for a week a year ago. Place was amazing. Stayed in Caye Caulker for the first half of the trip and then in Belize City for the rest of the trip. Up until I went to Hawaii it was my favorite place to be. It still may be my favorite place because it is cheaper and closer for me than Hawaii. I live in Florida so flight time is a lot less.

I got married to my second wife in Maui, Hawaii. The place lives up to it's hype. Actually all of the Hawaii islands live up to their hype. Would go back again without a second thought. Been to a few other places but that from cruise ships so that doesn't count.

My bucket list to travel is Australia. I've always wanted to go there and I hope one day to be able to go. No other place really interests me.

Very cool man. I'm jealous of you guys who have been able to travel that much. All 50 states is something I've always wanted to do but it's not going to happen at this point in my life. I'm from Texas and live in California now so the other states I've really visited are New Mexico, Arizona, Ohio, New York, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, Washington and Hawaii. That's only 14 out of 50. I had a job offer in Utah years ago but never actually went to visit in person. It just didn't seem like a fit for me. Outside of the US, I've only been to Mexico and the US Virgin Islands.

A kind of funny story is my brother just brought his girlfriend from Washington home to Austin to meet my mother. The girlfriend is 50 and had never been on a plane before. Stories like that blow me away.

 

[daschoo]

I can write pages of my travel experiences because I've been blessed to be able to travel a lot in my lifetime. I've been to every state in the USA and and all the territories except Guam. When I say I've been to every one I mean I stayed at least overnight in every state and territory. I did not drive through and say "I've been there".

I lived in England for 4 years. Absolutely loved it. My daughter was born there. Been to Italy a couple of times and I loved it. Been to Kenya twice and again, loved it. I stayed a few months in Djibouti (Africa), and even though I didn't like it at the time I look back at my time there with some fondness. It's the kind of place you tell you grandkids about. I lived in South Korea for a year. Not a bad place, but I was there without my wife and daughter so that tainted my view a bit.

I stayed in Belize for a vacation for a week a year ago. Place was amazing. Stayed in Caye Caulker for the first half of the trip and then in Belize City for the rest of the trip. Up until I went to Hawaii it was my favorite place to be. It still may be my favorite place because it is cheaper and closer for me than Hawaii. I live in Florida so flight time is a lot less.

I got married to my second wife in Maui, Hawaii. The place lives up to it's hype. Actually all of the Hawaii islands live up to their hype. Would go back again without a second thought. Been to a few other places but that from cruise ships so that doesn't count.

My bucket list to travel is Australia. I've always wanted to go there and I hope one day to be able to go. No other place really interests me.

How was Belize City? Was in Hopkins last year and loved it, only saw the airport but would've liked to spend a couple of nights in the city if time allowed.
Not a diver but even snorkeling managed to find rays, turtles and swim alongside a 7 or 8 foot nurse shark which was pretty memorable.
Loads of stuff in land as well like caving, mayan ruins, zip lines and the people were amazing. My son was 11 months at the time and the folk we dealt with couldn't have done more to accommodate him even taking us snorkeling on the bigger boat with covered benches so we could take turns snorkeling and looking after him. At one point they dropped him and his granny on a wee island beach for a nap under the palm trees on the sand

 

[Miller]

I can write pages of my travel experiences because I've been blessed to be able to travel a lot in my lifetime. I've been to every state in the USA and and all the territories except Guam. When I say I've been to every one I mean I stayed at least overnight in every state and territory. I did not drive through and say "I've been there".

I lived in England for 4 years. Absolutely loved it. My daughter was born there. Been to Italy a couple of times and I loved it. Been to Kenya twice and again, loved it. I stayed a few months in Djibouti (Africa), and even though I didn't like it at the time I look back at my time there with some fondness. It's the kind of place you tell you grandkids about. I lived in South Korea for a year. Not a bad place, but I was there without my wife and daughter so that tainted my view a bit.

I stayed in Belize for a vacation for a week a year ago. Place was amazing. Stayed in Caye Caulker for the first half of the trip and then in Belize City for the rest of the trip. Up until I went to Hawaii it was my favorite place to be. It still may be my favorite place because it is cheaper and closer for me than Hawaii. I live in Florida so flight time is a lot less.

I got married to my second wife in Maui, Hawaii. The place lives up to it's hype. Actually all of the Hawaii islands live up to their hype. Would go back again without a second thought. Been to a few other places but that from cruise ships so that doesn't count.

My bucket list to travel is Australia. I've always wanted to go there and I hope one day to be able to go. No other place really interests me.

Agree on Hawaii. Though I wasn't a big fan of the Big Island. Not that it was horrible but the lava rock makes it feel like you are on another planet. But Maui, Kauai and Oahu are awesome. I was surprised how much I liked Honolulu after hearing some negatives. But as I said in the OP, Maui is the best. Have been twice and could go yearly if given a chance. I need to mix in Kauai some more too. A lot of good hiking and jungle.

I need to try Belize. Thanks for the info. I have a brother that is an archeologist and he goes yearly to help grad students on digs and loves it. Looks way prettier than Costa Rica...which I've been to twice but didn't love.

 

[Jammer]

How was Belize City? Was in Hopkins last year and loved it, only saw the airport but would've liked to spend a couple of nights in the city if time allowed.
Not a diver but even snorkeling managed to find rays, turtles and swim alongside a 7 or 8 foot nurse shark which was pretty memorable.
Loads of stuff in land as well like caving, mayan ruins, zip lines and the people were amazing. My son was 11 months at the time and the folk we dealt with couldn't have done more to accommodate him even taking us snorkeling on the bigger boat with covered benches so we could take turns snorkeling and looking after him. At one point they dropped him and his granny on a wee island beach for a nap under the palm trees on the sand

Belize City wasn't bad. There are places you want to avoid, but we stayed off the beaten path somewhat and I never felt unsafe. Our first night in Belize City there was a city-wide power outage so we sat in the dark until the power came back on around 5 AM. We spent one day on kayaks in the caves. Another day we spent visiting one of the ancient Mayan Temple grounds.

When we stayed in Caye Caulker (small island off the coast of Belize) we did a day trip to go snorkeling off the reef. Words can't descripe how beautiful it is. People were super friendly.

 

[Vintage]

Well, just got back from Cancun for Crash My Playa. Went with my ex and her friends. Was a good time. Great weather (I’m in Wisconsin, so escaping a week of winter was nice).

Basically, it was concerts and drinking. Would do again.

 

[Skullmiester]

What a great discussion, have added a few places to my just see list.

I quick run down of where I've been and enjoyed: Malta, Nice, Copenhagen, Barcelona, Malaga, Majorca, Crete, Corfu, Dubai, Prague, Paris, Lake Garda, Gibraltar, Amsterdam, Ferteventura, Lanzarote, Mexico Playa Del Carmen, Vegas, Florida Disneyland.

My favourite places would be Nice and that part of the Riveria, you can take the train up and down the coast to Antibes, Monaco and into Italy as well.

This might be a suprise but my favourite holidays by far have been to Turkey. The people are unbelievably friendly. Icmeler is great but Oludeniz is amazing. You can sit in a bar or restaurant on the beachfront watching people paragliding from the nearby mountain and landing in front of you, we have been there 3 times but not for a few years now due to how close it is to Syria, we couldn't take a chance travelling there with a 4 year old daughter.

Being in the North East of the UK I have travelled all over Scotland and which I try to get to every other year. We live close to a city called Durham which is a historic city with a castle and cathedral built by the Normans following their invasion of 1066, I would highly recommend a visit to Durham if you come to the UK. It's about a 4 hr train journey from London.

 

[Sarek]

My 2 cents on Italy. Rome is very cool, so much to see, first timers need about a week to see everything(Rome) buy a Roma Pass 72hours and make sure you make appointments for certian sites where needed. Florence is smaller but a lot nicer i think. If your going to Italy make sure to see Florence, i would say two to three nights needed to see most of it, buy the Firenze pass, appointment times needed for Uffizi and Academia if you want to skip the lines. If your going to Pisa, you only need about 4 hours to see it all, maybe 3 hours if you move quickly - make sure to go to the top of the leaning tower, takes about 30 minutes up and down with a pre booked appointment. Assisi is also very nice, about 2 hours by train from Rome. If you're going to be using a lot of trains, make sure you pay extra for the better trains/seats, it's worth it.

I don't use buses in Italy. I bite the bullet and pay for cabs or i walk. If you're going to take a bus, watch your pockets.

Hopefully that helps alittle for anyone planing to go for the first time.

 

[Doomsday]

I haven't done much traveling outside the US in recent years but my brother and I recently started to take some golf getaways. We have around 30 golf courses in the US on our bucket list and started to knock them off last year.

Last year we went to Mesquite, NV to play Wolf Creek, and Arizona to play Gold Canyon.

In March we are going to Myrtle Beach and in the fall we are headed to WI to play Whistling Straights.

 

[Miller]

I haven't done much traveling outside the US in recent years but my brother and I recently started to take some golf getaways. We have around 30 golf courses in the US on our bucket list and started to knock them off last year.

Last year we went to Mesquite, NV to play Wolf Creek, and Arizona to play Gold Canyon.

In March we are going to Myrtle Beach and in the fall we are headed to WI to play Whistling Straights.

Are you playing Whistling straits post Ryder Cup? That would be awesome. I used to do some guy golf trips. Did one in Vegas where we got a deal through a website. Pretty good deal too for a few hundred that included staying at Planet Hollywood and 4 different courses...Bears Best, Rio Secco, and Revere..maybe both there. Anyways, a lot of fun..but too many days in Vegas despite being good for part of it.

 

[Miller]

Bumping this because I need some Summer advice. We are doing a June trip but it looks like another European adventure with the kiddos will be off since our Rome tickets make no sense.

So we are looking where we haven’t been in the US and are thinking Sourheast with maybe Outer Banks NC, Tennessee and Dollywood( we like amusement parks); S. Carolina..we’ve done Charleston and Hilton Head. What I want to hear is North Carolina feedback like are the beaches near Wilmington as good as the Outer Banks? Is the Biktmore in Asheville cool? Are there areas you love more on the Smokey’s? Any advice will help

 

[InTheZone]

I don't care for traveling, but for those that do set your goal to Mt. Everest. Go big or go home. And last year it grew by 3 feet so if you go now you'll have beaten all those chumps from previous years.

 

[Cowpolk]

Very cool man. I'm jealous of you guys who have been able to travel that much. All 50 states is something I've always wanted to do but it's not going to happen at this point in my life. I'm from Texas and live in California now so the other states I've really visited are New Mexico, Arizona, Ohio, New York, Georgia, Florida, Louisiana, Tennessee, Virginia, Wisconsin, Washington and Hawaii. That's only 14 out of 50. I had a job offer in Utah years ago but never actually went to visit in person. It just didn't seem like a fit for me. Outside of the US, I've only been to Mexico and the US Virgin Islands.

A kind of funny story is my brother just brought his girlfriend from Washington home to Austin to meet my mother. The girlfriend is 50 and had never been on a plane before. Stories like that blow me away.

I'm 66 and worked over 35 years in the aerospace industry and have never been on a plane that left the ground

 

[Tabascocat]

Bumping this because I need some Summer advice. We are doing a June trip but it looks like another European adventure with the kiddos will be off since our Rome tickets make no sense.

So we are looking where we haven’t been in the US and are thinking Sourheast with maybe Outer Banks NC, Tennessee and Dollywood( we like amusement parks); S. Carolina..we’ve done Charleston and Hilton Head. What I want to hear is North Carolina feedback like are the beaches near Wilmington as good as the Outer Banks? Is the Biktmore in Asheville cool? Are there areas you love more on the Smokey’s? Any advice will help

The Outer Banks beats the rest of NC beaches by a long shot. As for Tennessee, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are absolute summer destinations. Plenty of restaurants, entertainment and hiking even some underground caverns close by. Spend a day in the cold water creeks, fish some rainbow trout and wedge a watermelon in the rocks to get ice cold. Grill those fish on the bank and enjoy

Oh, I highly recommend eating a steak at The Peddler in Gatlinburg, a very cozy place that has been there forever. My late grandpa always took me there as a kid 40 years ago and it is still superb.

 

[daschoo]

I love this stuff. I'm an American through and through but there is no denying how cool old Europe is. I did have the pleasure of having a drink in the oldest bar in New York but it's just not the same. This country is so new comparatively.

Off the top of my head I can think of 3 pubs I've drank in older than the U.S.
City I grew up in has a pub that supposedly opened in 1515, place is a dump and was definitely a box ticking exercise having a pint in there right enough.
There's a much nicer one in Edinburgh that although none of the original building's still there is meant to have been the site of a pub/inn since the 1300s and they claim Mary Queen of Scots ate/drank in it.
My favourite is just north of loch lomond and opened in 1705 as an inn for highlanders to stop at taking their cattle to market. Used to always stop there for a beer and some food after a day in the hills when I still lived in Glasgow.

 

[catiii]

Also used to work for an airline when space was open and employees were being allowed to take weeks off at a time. We got to most national parks from Acadia in Maine to Denali in Alaska and everything in between. International destinations Wales, Canada, Bahamas (before and after it was independent - Nassau now considered one of the most dangerous cruise destinations in the world), Mexico when it was safe too. That was all a long time ago.
Now, I don't even like to travel by car much less air. Been everywhere I want to go now except I never got to see New Zealand or Australia due to the time and expense involved. (Hotels and cars weren't free, just the air!) You really need a solid 3 weeks for either of those anyway as well as 100K in discretionary funds.
Got several Kodachrome 25 full carousels of gorgeous photos that still look good today. Kodachrome was as close to "forever quality" as you could get then.

 

[catiii]

I did a bit of traveling this past month. Alaska for Thanksgiving and a few places in Europe for Christmas - Paris, Genoa (Italy) and Romania. I wanna go to Maine.

Fly to Boston and drive up the coast through Rockport, Bath all the way to Acadia National Park first week of Oct. Bring a camera and prepare to be amazed.

 

[Creeper]

Surprised to see Maine on your favorite places in the US. I've been to Old Orchard Beach a few times, although not for at least 25 years. The mosquitoes were overwhelming even during the day. I am not sure if the problem still exists but it was very bad every time I have been there. The same thing was true in Nova Scotia. At sundown it is get indoors or get eaten alive.

I have been to beaches all over the East Coast. I have heard all the different opinions about Virginia Beach, Ocean City, etc. but I always thought the beaches of South Florida and Southern NJ are the best. Seriously, NJ has some excellent beaches.

I have been to about 40 US states but not Hawaii or Alaska. There are a lot of really nice places in the US. It is hard to pick a favorite. I love the weather in CA, the scenery in Colorado. The beaches and golf courses in Florida. Two cities I definitely did not like are Philadelphia and Omaha. Omaha isn't really a city to me. It's like a small town with a some buildings and an airport! I just get bad vibes in Philly although I really appreciate the history. Although I live about 25 miles from NYC, I hate the place. filthy, smelly, and aggressive - and really expensive. Every time I have relatives visit from other states they always want to go into the city. If I can find an excuse to avoid it I will. If I can't I suffer.

I don't know why, but I have always found British history really fascinating. I think I have seen every historical documentary about the British monarchy and the Roman expeditions into Britannia. My trips to London never disappointed, although British cuisine is not high on my list. Funny anecdote. I was on a business trip to London once and I arrived around 8:00 am. I went into a day of meetings then back to my hotel. When I got back to my room I ordered room service - a nice steak with potatoes. It was actually a really good steak. The next day I left the hotel and picked up a newspaper in the hotel lobby. On the front page was a headline story about Mad Cow disease and how livestock had to be destroyed to prevent it from spreading to humans! What timing!

Other than that I am not a big traveler.

 

[Melonfeud]

*you maybe should've joined the Marines earlier in life , as they definitely still are the Island type of guys .


** meals , lodging& transportation included

 

[Miller]

The Outer Banks beats the rest of NC beaches by a long shot. As for Tennessee, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are absolute summer destinations. Plenty of restaurants, entertainment and hiking even some underground caverns close by. Spend a day in the cold water creeks, fish some rainbow trout and wedge a watermelon in the rocks to get ice cold. Grill those fish on the bank and enjoy

Oh, I highly recommend eating a steak at The Peddler in Gatlinburg, a very cozy place that has been there forever. My late grandpa always took me there as a kid 40 years ago and it is still superb.

Thanks for the great info!!