Destinations in November?

How about South Africa? Good weather then, lots of wine, animals, good food............
I know many people who say Cape Town is their favourite city.

Have you been anywhere in South America?

Japan was lovely when I was there this November, much less crowded, mild-ish weather, beautiful Autumn colours.

If you are getting burned out on more long distance travel and want to stay closer to home you could check out some national parks. Since you are in California you might have done this already, but we went to Bryce and Zion National Parks at the end of October and it was a fantastic trip. The weather was perfect with fewer crowds than they get at other times. You could do a Utah trip and visit the 5 National Parks.

Central or southern Mexico.

You are so well traveled ... Where have you not been?

How about exploring Texas and or the southwest and or the south.?

You could spend a full week driving around Texas and not be able to see it all. I have not been but I hear that Big Bend is wonderful.

Austin is a wonderful and interesting city. I have heard the same of San Antonio. In over 50 years of living in Austin, I have never been to S.A.

In Austin, the city is rehabilitating Waller Creek and the greenbelt. Mexican American Cultural Center (MACC) is finishing up its addition. These projects should be done by next November. It is looking beautiful.

Have you been to New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada?

November weather might be nice but you never know. Could be beautiful and could be not so beautiful.

The only place that I know of that has usually pleasant weather is Hawaii. And maybe San Diego?

Rapa Nui. Just got back from there 2 weeks ago. November is perfect. You can do it in 2 weeks.

I’m out driving, will follow up later.

This would be a good time for north Africa- e.g. Morocco/Tunisia/Egypt- or somewhere like Jordan. You could also think about east Africa, like Kenya/Tanzania.

San Antonio was the very first city I visited in Texas, went there in the summer of 1976, stayed a week in August.

bostonphil7, has a glorious idea with Texas ... and Austin is a beautiful stop. Heck, so many California expats are in Austin now, there are no problems for you with the language. San Antonio (Spanish), Bandera (Texan), Castroville (Alsacian), Fredericksburg (German), Snook (Czech), Houston (Vietnamese), Marshall (deep South) Much of the world awaits.

That sounds like a wonderful opportunity for a joint birthday celebration! And it's perfectly normal to be burnt out after so much travel, you deserve a trip that is less about logistics and more about enjoyment.

While New Zealand in November is beautiful, it is the beginning of their summer, and you are right, it demands a lot of time.

I highly recommend you look at Morocco for the first half of November. I actually traveled to Morocco last year with my family and it was a lot of fun! We used a local travel company to arrange everything, which made the trip stress-free and smooth. Morocco hits all your key requirements: great weather, completely avoids European seasonal closures, and offers a fantastic, memorable trip that can easily be done in 10-14 days

I don’t travel in November very often, but in the last five years I went to Spain and then Italy then. In both cases, the weather was delightful — warmish (55-70 degrees) but not hot, although in Northern Spain we ran into snow in the mountains. I’m guessing you’ve been to both countries, but perhaps there are regions or cities still to explore.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

Lin C, I’ve heard great things about South Africa, but it is just too far away and it would require more time in transit than I would like for this trip.

valedelphia, we have not been to Central or South America. It would be a consideration, but I would have to do some research to decide where to go. Nothing so far calls out to me, but I don’t t know what I don’t know.

Carlos, I would be very interested in Japan. My husband, not so much. Maybe I can convince him.

saf, the National Parks in Utah are high on our list and we have talked about going there with friends in our RV’s. The husband of the couple is 3 days younger than I am and we usually do a joint birthday camping trip. This is the first year in a long time we didn’t because we were in Europe at that time. Is November too late to make a trip like that?

Slate, Mexico concerns me a bit. Do you have anywhere specific to recommend?

bostonphil7, Texas is a big no for us. We are actually traveling there in 3 weeks for my mother-in-law’s birthday. My husbands’s family all live there and we have been to San Antonio and Austin. We’ve also been to Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Nevada. We only live about 2 hours from Reno. We’ve never been to Vegas and it will take more than celebrating a birthday to convince me to go there. I’m considering Maui. We’ve been to all the islands but would like to go back there. I’ve been to San Diego a lot, my sister lived there twice when her husband was in the Navy.

David, I don’t know anything about Rapa Nui. I would be interested to hear more.

I have to go to an appointment so I’ll follow up later.

I can recommend Brazil. It was a lot to take in, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. You have a year so plenty of time to determine if it is right for you (you may need some vax even just for Rio). Don't think about it while you are tired though--it requires some stamina, lol!
I know if I was able to travel more in November versus my usual May, I would be looking more at SA.
For Europe, I echo the Spain recommendations.

Andrea I don’t think it would be too cold in Utah in November. Plug Bryce, Springdale, and Moab into your weather app and it still looks pretty decent to me even now. I’m not a big fan of the heat though. We wore layers, and with the sun, which was always shining, it was plenty warm as the day went on. At night and in the morning it’s colder. Especially in Bryce because of the elevation. We stayed right at the lodge in Bryce and got up and walked to the rim in the mornings layered up and wrapped in blankets to watch the sunrise. It was stunningly beautiful. Bryce and Zion are both international dark sky parks and we had the most amazingly clear night skies for stargazing as well. There were also great hikes for all levels. On that kind of trip I feel like I can just “be” and experience the beauty of the earth.

Andrea,
Re Rapa Nui....It is wonderful and unique, but way too small an island for two weeks. We did a 2 week trip to Chile in March 2015. Four nights (3 1/2 days) in Santiago, 5 1/2 hour flight to Rapa Nui (I said 3-4 hours on another thread. My bad.) and four nights there (3 1/2 days, plenty of time there). Then back to Santiago and overnight there. Next day flight to Punta Arenas (3 1/2 hours), explore a bit and stay overnight. Next day walk from out hotel to embark on a four day, 3 night cruise in the Straits of Magellan. (Australis Cruises, highly recommend!) Small ship (about 150 people) visiting islands, seeing glaciers and Isla de Los Penguinos (penguin breeding island). On return overnight in Punta Arenas again with a bit more sightseeing there, then fly to Santiago for one more overnight and home the next day. The cruise was a bit of a splurge but we still talk about it ten years later, as well as the moai on Rapa Nuie. We did an upscale all-day wine tour from Santiago to the Colchagua Valley. That entailed a deluxe meal at one of the wineries and was worth every penny!

We really liked Chile. We have been to quite a few countries and this trip is high on our list of favorites trips. (Not # 1, but a good ways up there.)

Have fun in choosing your special trip.