Europe and Beyond?

I travel overseas about four or five times a year. There are top notch places to visit on every continent, including North America. I find narrowing the choices of where to go overwhelming. So, I kind of leave it to fate and decide where to go a couple of months before the vacation. If there is an exceptional airfare sale that turns up to Tokyo or Hong Kong I'll go there. If there is a soccer match that peaks my interest I'll go to Italy, England, or Mexico City. If there's an art exhibit in Amsterdam that stands out I'll head in that direction. Or if I see a news report about a winter festival in China that I can't stop thinking I'll head that way. I've never been disappointed. Hopefully fate will send me in the direction of South America or Australia soon.

I think this is a great topic, can't wait to read the results. We have travelled to Italy, England and France in Europe. All over the US with Hawaii, Tennessee, Colorado and California being our favorites. We have also been to Canada. Next year we are going to the Caribean. I just love to trave.

I've been to India and Sri Lanka. It was a number of years ago, but I recommend it -- especially Sri Lanka, now that the war there is over. Beautiful little country.

I've also traveled quite a bit to Central America -- Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama.

Thanks for the responses!

And Michael, I really like your decision making style. I've seen you reference trips to Asia in the past, but it's really interesting to hear the genesis of the ideas!

Angela this is a fun thread!

We have been to Europe every year since 2005, we catched the bug and need to go every year now, our trips have evolve with time, thanks to this helpline!

We also have traveled a lot in Canada and plan to do a coast to coast trip one day. We go to the States a lot to, California, Florida (Disney is the happiest place on earth, going back in 2 weeks!) New York, and Boston (one of my favorite cities.)

To relax we go to the Carribeans, Cuba (going for the 6th time this April) Mexico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela.

I really enjoyed a trip that I took to South Africa and Botswana back in 2003. A safari had never been at the top of my list, but a friend was interested and looking for someone to travel with. I'm always up for an adventure. I thought it was fascinating.

We started in Cape Town which is an incredible city that feels a bit European. I'd like to go back and spend more time in that area. There are so many things to do. We visited Robben Island (where Mandela was imprisoned), toured the peninsula, visited Kirstenbosch Gardens which has some of the most unusual plants that I have ever seen. We made a quick visit to a winery in the the wine region and went whale watching in Hermanus. Cape Town is a terrific place to visit.

We also went to Botswana and stayed in 3 different camps ... one in the Okavango Delta, one near Chobe, and Mashatu. The wildlife was incredible. I saw cheetahs, leopards, lions, elephants, giraffe, etc. We rode in open jeeps and got very close to the animals. We had fantastic meals, great South African wine, and stayed in comfortable platform tents that even had plumbing (solar heated showers, etc.)

We used a travel agent who specialized in Africa (he was a native of South Africa) and he worked with us to keep the trip within our budget and helped us with our options.

The only downside was the 17 hour flight.

Angela,

Great topic!

To answer your question, at the moment I'm so interested in "travels in Europe" that I'm not considering anywhere else. I'll be retiring soon, so although I'll have more time for travel, my budget may be a bit "constrained".

I find the different cultures, languages, history and cities of Europe so interesting that I have no desire to go anywhere else, except of course for my "sun breaks" in the winter. I quite enjoyed a visit to Hawaii last year, but haven't been to Maui yet so that's "on my list".

As I'll have more time in retirement, I'd like to do some family history research, and that also involves Europe (possibly Italy or the Canton of Ticino in the Italian-speaking area of Switzerland).

I'd also like to try the Rocky Mountaineer from Vancouver to Toronto, to see what train travel is like in this part of the world. One of our local travel celebrities here (Valerie Pringle) did a TV series on that trip called "The Greatest Ride" and it looks like a great trip!

After retirement I'll only have a finite amount of travel funds, so I intend to focus on Europe as there's so much I haven't seen yet. I'm already booked for yet another ETBD tour for this year, and quite looking forward to it!

Cheers!

Bangkok, Cambodia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, Philippines, Guam, Syria, Israel, Nigeria, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Kenya, Egypt, Turkey, Greece, Hungary, Austria, Czech Republic, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, France, New York, New Jersey, California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho. I've only noted the places that I remember something about...I was 3 when we moved to Bangkok, 5 when we left.

Well, Angela, I just got back a few hours ago from a trip to...Chicago.

My business travels take me all over the US. I've been to every state, but Alaska, Hawaii and North Dakota. ; ) I've been to Mexico and Puerto Rico. And then, there are the trips to the UK, France, Germany and my year as a student in Germany, when I traveled everywhere I could get to by train!

Pam

Angela, Thanks for a morale boosting post. We seem to need something like this about every two months!

For my hubby's 50th birthday we did an around-the-world trip. 13 days! We flew to London, then Hong Kong, then Sydney Austriala, then San Francisco. It was amazing (a bit harrowing too- we were in Paddington Station on July 7 when the subway train was bombed and didn't know if we'd make our flight to Hong Kong that night). I hope to get back to Hong Kong someday. And I want LOTS more time in Austrailia.

Since my mother-in-law had a stroke, we haven't been able to take long trips so we have been doing short trips in the US and Canada to see the Rock Bands of our youth. It has been fun.... but I miss the rest of the world.

The rest is in the U.S. (for now- I'd like to hit Asia, someday!!) We do a lot of roadtrips, and since the kids are young, they are in the Western half of the country. We especially like National Parks, but I hafta confess to Disneyland from time to time.

I have traveled fairly extensively in the US -- I've been to most of the large cities, most of the historic sites in the northeast and lots of the national parks out west. I have traveled a fair amount in Canada (but not enough). I've been to Hawaii twice, which I liked much more than I ever expected. I would like to go to Alaska and also Australia and New Zealand some day. I may never get to Asia, Africa or South America, and I'm okay with that. My goal is to see as much of Europe as I can.

Interesting question, and very relevant, I think. We are all at some risk of being too Euro-centric.

I have not yet been outside North America except for Europe (20 countries after this summer). But I would love to see New Zealand and Australia. I also have a lot of curiosity about S.America. But the problem here is the reverse seasons. We endure severe winters at home and we cannot travel outside of June-August. So our choices are limited since we can't endure a souther hemisphere winter after enduring our own.

There are MANY other places that I would like to see if it was safe everywhere for ourselves and our children. But I don't feel comfortable visiting any place where I have to worry about my personal safety if I take a wrong turn and head down the wrong path, or travel at the wrong time of day. I also don't want to be cocooned in some fruity umbrella drink resort pretending I'm experiencing another culture. I want to really see it - but I'm too much of a wimp to be unsafe or uncomfortable.

Agadir Morocco and Bodrum Turkey. Enjoyed them both, but liked Morocco the most. Very friendly people, the Berbers.

Wow, I love reading about your "outside" travels, thank you for sharing! (and Karen, I trust your recent trip to Chicago was "multi-cultural"?)

There are many places listed here that are on my "to do" list and hope I've got the time to get to most of them!

I only started traveling outside North America in 2005, but I'm fortunate to have a husband who also loves to travel and is always up for adventure. We've been to many places in Europe, as well as down to South America a couple of times (Peru and Ecuador/Galapagos). I must say, after watching the Amazing Race the other day, Chile really got my attention. In North America, we enjoy travel throughout the US but we especially love traveling to Canada. From BC to Ontario to the Maritimes, the parts we've seen have been pristine and the people oh-so-polite and friendly.

Thanks again for sharing - and welcome any more responses!

im an archaeological site/ruin fan. loved my trip hiking the inca trail to machu pichu and a visit to the amazon region. also loved visiting angkor wat and other temples in cambodia. in thailand toured north to chang rai/mai from bangkok. ruins in the cancun mexico area were great. chichen itza, coba, tulum.

in europe love scotland, germany, greece, croatia, slovenia. gotta see more. love reading everyones posts and learning. actually love traveling in the states as well. most experience in the west. love maui.

my bucket list is long! really want to see the pyramids and great wall. also easter island is a big priority. anybody been there? would love to hear from you. (wrong continent, i know)

Argentina is a great destination--we've been to Mendoza and Buenos Aires. Especially B.A. is a very European-like city and much less expensive. Great food, tango, friendly people, and summer when it's winter here...!