In response to Zoe's Fed Up thread.

Thanks for posting this, Unclegus, I love hearing about people's travel plans, I get lots of inspiration from those posts.

Your trip sounds great.

Mine is next May, opposite direction (five nights in London, the rest of the summer in Italy, which always cheers me up).

We visited Zagreb, Sibenik, and Zadar this year. We were in Dubrovnik in 2015 and 2014. I enjoy Croatian food, myself. We are not that big on seafood, but enjoy ajvar (eggplant-red pepper sauce) and other dishes. The wine is great. I did not try the local beers. We may be considering a Croatian retirement home - it's a wonderful country. We have visited on business partly - I attend a conference that occurs every other year. As part of the conference, we go to a farm restaurant along the coast. These old farms (some hundreds of years old) have their own wine, rakija (fruit brandy), and often their own cheeses and cured meats. Plus we get to hear the stories of the old guys who run the farms.

Paul I brought a couple of jars of that sauce home with me, I had friends over at the weekend and served griddled chicken and pork with the sauce, went down very well.

Wonderful plans unclegus.

We don't have too much planned yet. Our kids are now getting to the age where we have to factor school and sports schedules into everything we plan. Right now, we are planning a few days in NYC over spring break and hopefully a few days in Denmark in May.

I love reading people's plans :)

In the US, you can find a bunch of different ketchups. In many places, you can find as many salsas or marinas. In Croatia or Serbia, you find a hundred kinds of ajvar in convenience marts. Some hot, some not. It's a wonderful condiment and sauce.

Sharon: We are empty nesters. After so many years of planning around school, we are now free to go anywhere we wish, within the constraints of my vacation limits. And soon that will be less of a problem - more freedom, less money in retirement. In 2014, we went from Oct 12-Nov 10, and it was fun to be away from crowds and with lower prices on most things.

We are taking a quick weekend jaunt to Chicago next month. In April we are taking the RS Greece tour, which we are really looking forward to. We have plans to spend 5 days in Istanbul before the tour, but have made back up reservations in Amsterdam in case the visa situation doesn't resolve on time. Either way we will have a great time and are coming at the right time of year to enjoy the tulip festivities in either city.

In between bouts of jealousy at Unclegus (joke, with a large dose of envy :-), DW and I are planning to forego Europe in 2018 in favor of catching up with friends and relatives in the USA. This spring we'll go out to CA for 1 week+, to visit old buddies. I had lost touch with these guys for 35-40 years until Facebook put us in touch; it is so great to be able to see them.

In early summer we'll take a road trip: From Florida to New Mexico, to see Albuquerque and (espcially) Santa Fe, then visit friends and family in Colorado, then family in Michigan, and from there to Maine for the summer.

For our next European trip--still highly revisable--we're thinking: Croatia, south to north; Slovenia; Ljubljana to Salzburg; Salzburg to Munich (for the Alte Pinakothek especially; also beer); then exploring western Germany, itinerary to be determined except that Charlemagne's Palace Chapel at Aachen is a must.

Edit: Also, we're flying to Maine/renting a car for the winter break.

Joel living in Europe makes things a lot easier for me plus I get 42 days annual leave which helps a lot.For what someone in the US would pay for a flight to Europe I can usually get a weeks holiday somewhere on the continent.
My last trip to Dubrovnik cost me less than £300, £110 return flight from Edinburgh (hand luggage only) with Easyjet and 7 nights in a small apartment on the Lapad area of Dubrovnik for £168.
hoping to retire within the next 4 years ,earlier if the University I work for will allow me and I intend to do as much travelling as my little legs will allow me for as long as they will allow me or until my money runs out, no kids ,no wife (long time divorced) no mortgage ( paid off over 2 years ago) so plenty of time and reasonable amount of disposable income to indulge in travelling

Unclegus you are going to make a lot of people jealous with your perfect life for traveling!!! :)

We're riding the train from Denver to Reno next month for a ski week over Christmas with family. I'm very excited about this one as even though I live in Colorado I have NEVER spent Christmas IN the mountains.

We only make it to Europe every few years - last trip was actually December of 2014!! In June we are starting in England for 2 1/2 weeks - Canterbury, Bath, Cotswolds, N. Wales and a few nights in London. Then on to Amsterdam, Luxembourg then to Metz France to bike the Mosel for 7 days. From there we go to Bad Wimpfen, Luzern and end in Lauterbrunnen for a 6 night stay.

I retired a few years ago and my husband has a pretty sweet deal where he works 6 months out of the year. We own an RV and the years we haven't gone to Europe have been spent exploring our own National Parks and Canada.

If I lived in the UK like my sister does, and was less than a few hours from London by train, I'd be taking advantage of cheap flights once a month...lol. But alas, it costs me an arm and a partial leg to get a flight from Canada overseas.

I want to be planning our trip to Scotland for May, but for some reason I just can't get into it right now. This time last year I had been saving places on Airbnb for our Amsterdam trip, had our plane tickets purchased (got them 'Black Friday weekend', so close to this time last year). I haven't even cracked airbnb and started looking at places. Haven't even ironed out a set itinerary, just the bones of one.

My husband is not being any help - I'm trying to pin him down on which weeks he wants to go, but he is being so non-committal, I don't even want to ask him again, I'll just decide on my own. Maybe because I'm back working my Xmas job or I'm busy doing crafts for a craft fair coming up in a few weeks. I hope once Dec hits and the craft show is over, I can get that 'I wanna plan' spark back.

We've been back from Spain for less than a month. I'm glad I put off visiting there for so long, because now Spain is my freshest memory of Europe.

I'm starting to plan our next trip, which will be as soon as we accumulate enough AA miles to fly business class. Right now I'm looking at Belgium/Luxembourg and Northern France for World War I and II sights.

traylaparks , my very first trips abroad 40 years ago were to Belgium,Luxemburg,Germany and northern France,went on my bicycle with friends, staying in youth hostels and even sleeping rough a few times, spent a great deal of the time visiting First and second world war sites,the memorial to the fallen of the Battle of the Bulge just outside Bastogne is amazing.

As far as I can tell, the RS guides don't cover Bastogne. I'm going to a brick and mortar bookstore today to check out their travel guides for the area - if any.

https://www.leger.co.uk/battlefields
this company specialises in battle field tours ,uk based but you might get some info looking at their tours.

Great idea Unclegus!

We are two weeks back from an 8-week trip we called The Grand Tour. So much different than the trips we took when we lived in Roma. Much like Unclegus, we could pop off for a long weekend or a week-or-two. We've never had such a long trip and it was terrific to take our time. We visited Amsterdam, München, the Val Gardena, Venezia, Assisi, Pesaro in Le Marche, Bra in Piemonte, Paris, and London.

Hubby would like longer stays (minimum 1 week) in fewer places and that will be the plan for next year. More time in the mountains (Val Gardena, Alpe di Siusi, maybe Merano), back to Switzerland, SW England and Wales for hiking. Maybe Liguria, too. I love the planning and every time I read trip reports I want to add new-to-us places! W

42 days leave Unclegus! That's a few years you've clocked up at the university. Fortunately I'm on a sabbatical so I get 365 days a year!

We've got one final trip booked in for this year, a long weekend in Bucharest in early December and the next one will be to Rome in February for the rugby. We'll then spend two weeks at Easter split between Estepona and a small town just outside Malaga. We haven't decided on the May half term yet but for the summer holidays I've finally caved in and agreed to take the kids to Disney World in Orlando. I'm sure the crowds, queues and heat are going to do wonders for my grumpiness but they want to go so much.

Other than that it's a case of waiting for the sales to determine where else we go.

Off to London/Edinburgh tomorrow for our now 3rd annual trip to Europe for Thanksgiving family trip before my kids grow up totally. Taking advantage of the new Norwegian flight direct from Denver to London.

I returned from France (mostly Provence and Riviera) in early October. Right now I'm contemplating Northern Ireland in June. I have one more loop in France but I also want to do a trip that includes Berlin, Vienna, Prague and Budapest. Those are probably shaping up as my next three trips.

Eventually I want to visit the Dalmatian coast, and Venice again, but I think I'd prefer to do it by sailboat at a slower pace.

Turkey and Greece are still places I haven't visited but they are further out on my travel horizon.

Good old Unclegus, and good for you!

To redress the balance a bit, me and the missus are ticking off one of her bucket list ambitions by crossing the pond to the USA next year (assuming they'll let us in!). But before all the Americans on here run for the hills in panic, I should advise we'll be wandering round a small part of Alaska so most of you should all be safe!

Before that I'll be ski-ing in the Espace Diamante (France) in the new year with more enthusiasm than you might expect from an arthritic guy of advancing years. Approaching the time of year when I start looking anxiously at the snow reports! Hopefully we'll have good snow and weather so there'll be no need to explain to my better half why I've returned home with a fake fur trimmed silver lame ski jacket that I previously hadn't realised I needed!

More prosaically I have a bee in my bonnet about walking the Isle of Wight Coastal Path, but I'll be happy to get out walking anywhere at home given half decent weather!

Planning is half the fun if the rest is executed properly. Happy planning all!

Ian

I am booked for next May, just realized it's exactly 6 months to the day that I will arrive in my most favorite city of Budapest (4th visit in as many years); time there will include a trip to Pecs, the Ecseri flea market, the wonderful Museum Festival, hopefully a show at the Operettszinhaz, maybe a day trip to Vienna, but the first and most satisfying thing I'll do is visit Margit sziget to spend time with the storks, they'll have hatched their chicks by then. After Budapest I fly to Munich for 6 days which will include day trips to Giengen an der Brenz, Nuremberg, possibly Neuschwanstein, and Dachau.

I don't mind that you are fed up, Zoe.
It happens.
I like to be positive though, so hope you can join in here.
I'm off to Iceland in a few weeks, just a short stopover on my way to Europe.
Really excited to be going, as I've never been to a Nordic- type country before.
(Canada doesn't count, as where I live we barely get winter.
Though living in Scotland in the 70's as a poor student might count....huddled round a one-bar electric fire in winter....)
Anyway, got my wool layers ready, so I'm good to go.

I bet that Unclegus's leave is in decent sized bunches.

Mine is rostered to one week in winter, one week in spring and two in summer. And then 28 (equivalent to 7 weeks at 4 days a week) days to spread out one day at a time, they don't really like us gone for more than 3 weeks at a time. I almost never can complete all my application leave.

The rostered leave doesn't always come when I want it as we rotate through 13 cycles.

Nigel, my leave includes public holidays ( we work them apart from the Christmas/new year ones) and as i work in the research side of the university rather than the teaching side I can take my leave in small or large bunches as long as it fits in with the team i work with.I seldom take more than 2 weeks leave at a time though some of my collegues like to take 3 or 4 weeks at a time but we work it all out between us.
This year I had 7 nights in lanzarote in late january, 7 nights in Prague in March/April then another 11 nights in Prague in June/July.I then had my 7 nights in Dubrovnik.I am off work from 22nd December till 8th january fitting in my New year trip to Prague as we have to hold back some of our annual leave to allow for the University shut down over the Christmas new year period,I am carrying over 3 of my days for the wed,thursday friday after new year so i can return to work on the 8th.

All our bank holidays are just regular days and compensation rolled into the application leave. The only two we are guaranteed to get are Christmas and Boxing Day when the trains don't run. If we are rostered for Christmas or Boxing Day we have to "buy" them with application leave. If we are rostered off it is just another "weekend" day.

Unclegus, the reference to " the University I work for" is not helping the envy and jealousy, if it is the one I'm thinking of (kidding).

But seriously, you are wonderfully placed, now and in the future, for travel. I look forward to your posts. DW and I have 2 years more to work, after which we should have nearly-unlimited time and reasonable means for travel, health permitting (nothing is wrong at the moment, but you never know).

Thanks for the link Unclegus. It is helpful, if not exactly what I was looking for (which may not exist).

Keith, bon voyage and Happy Thanksgiving!

I am counting down the days until I leave for Paris. Plane leaves on December 20th and it is Christmas in Paris. Looking forward to some wonderful hot chocolate and baguetts.

After two Europe trips last year (Ireland with my wife and Italy solo), by spring 2018 I will really have pent up demand for another one. The top three itineraries I am considering: Krakow--Wroclaw--Goerlitz--Dresden--Berlin, all on the train. Another possibility would be Gdansk-Krakow-(fly)-Ljubjiana-Bled-Zagreb. I don't like to fly within Europe but the second one probably has a little more sizzle to it. Another one is a focused trip in Provence and the Cote d'Azur, maybe with a few days in Paris. Have not been to France since 2010, and on our 2003 and 2010 trips we covered a lot of ground and did not stay that long in each place. I am thinking Paris three days-Arles four days-smaller town with rental car three days--Villefranche four days. Or, skip Paris where we have already visited four times, fly into Marseilles and train or bus to Arles. That would let us spend the extra three days in another smaller town. The third option (really fourth) would be York + Scotland; flying into Manchester and direct train to York, Edinburgh for four nights, then Skye, Oban, Ft. William not in that order. Back to Edinburgh for the flight home. We stayed too short in York back in 2000 and it would be nice to get another crack at it. Loch Ness / Inverness, does not seem to call to the same way Skye does, though some recent posts have suggested the Isle has become the Cinque Terre of Scotland. We do always travel in shoulder season so maybe we could avoid the hordes. Besides Ireland in 2016, we visited England in 2013 so it might be too soon for another similar trip. Since those three have a lot in common culturally, it might be better to space them out more.

Nigel, If you don't mind my asking.....what is your occupation? Really just total curiosity:) Don't feel compelled to answer.

Next June my wife and I are returning to the UK for a 7 day narrowboat hire. We will be completing the trip that we made on the Llangollen canal in 2016. The time we fully expect to cross the Pontsyclite aqueduct. There will be two other couples in their own Narrowboats. After the canal trip we are traveling to Devon where my wife is signed up for a patisserie class in Ashburton while I will fly fish and photo. We plan to explore Devon and Cornwall after the class and then return to the USA.

Wow Unclegus I wish I could travel so frequently. We try to go to Europe every two years.... I remember taking our first trip and it was supposed to be that once in a lifetime....Once you start you just can't stop! Fast forward 5 years later..... Anyway, we took a road trip in September driving through France, Italy, Switzerland with a quick 2 night stop for Oktoberfest! Don't tell anyone but we actually brought back a mini keg of Ettal beer. (Stuffed into my husband's luggage no less.) So I totally understand the local beer thing. Now we have broken that "every two years" rule for the third time! We will be going back to Italy in April for my 50th birthday! The airfare was just too good! 600.00 Rd Trp from San Jose CA to FCO (Rome!)
Because we loved Italy so much and are still going through food withdrawals we are going again. This time we will be doing Rome, AC & Tuscany area.

Best part is my sister and her husband will be joining us for part of the trip!

michaeltipton, that sounds wonderful. I love narrowboats.

Jill, I work for a very large railway company which serves railway passengers from Dover to Portsmouth south of the Thames and London to the midlands and Crewe and Liverpool in the northwest.

Oh, shoot! Now I am all sad and depressed and feeling greatly diminished because I don't have any travel plans at all. A Montreal winter looms, I need to have the winter tires installed on my car, Christmas is a-comin' and the geese are gettin' fat which means I really should get out of town. I may book a cruise but that poster from Florida (Charles?) says all cruise people are obnoxious and do nothing but eat too much. To be continued .......

Hi,

Thanks very much for the link on leger tours. They are specialised tours. I did a day trip from Arras to Cambrai in 1999, the only time I visited Cambrai, most definitely missed out the salient sites on the the 1918 events around Cambrai after looking at the leger tour link. My trip is planned for the month of May 2018, as the plans stand now.

Nigel - thanks! I had an inkling that you worked for a rail company in some capacity.

Norma - too funny! Just last week while visiting my in-laws my husband offered to take them on an Alaskan cruise next summer for their 60th anniversary. SO - we are going on our first cruise about 3 weeks after returning from a 6 week trip to Europe:)

Good for you, Jill. Let’s not tell Charles in Florida, and keep,clear of all those obnoxious people on the ship.

I am really looking forward to going to Iceland during the first week of April! An elderly friend of me regrets having not traveled more in her younger years. She asked me last spring if I would consider going to Iceland with her since it is her dream destination and she isn't comfortable going alone. She didn't have to ask me twice!!
In June - July I'm hiking the Camino de Santiago with a different friend. I've started walking fairly long distances to start getting in shape and can't wait to do this. Currently reading up and doing a little planning.

I love this and smiled several times as I read through everyone's wonderful plans! For me, it looks like 10 days in England in March - basing in Canterbury and Salisbury. I am going with a friend who has never been and she wants to see "castles" - and I am putting in cathedrals and countryside for me. Got a great deal on airfare for this one! Then late June, hubby and I will spend 12 days in Stockholm and Copenhagen. We've never been to Scandinavia. I regret the trip doesn't include Norway but I decided Norway needed its own trip, so it will have to come later. :)

Sometimes I do feel a little schizophrenic, planning two very different trips almost at the same time. But fun!

Off to Amsterdam in two days for Thanksgiving week . . .the low airfare made jt a no-brainer. It'll be our first time in the Netherlands.

This summer we're flying into Madrid and out of Paris. Haven't started to plan, just reading, taking notes, watching videos. Will spend some time in Provence. Wifey will spend a few days in Spain working on learning more about her ancestry (she made a good deal of progress back in 2011).

Jill, we went on an Alaskan cruise this last summer. Surpassed our expectations. We were 2 families with 24 people, had a blast.

I too love reading about everyone's plans, gets me thinking of places I may have missed. We just booked for next July/August 2 weeks in Poland followed by 3 weeks in Croatia. Hotels are also booked, so plans will go on the back burner till after the holidays. My hubby and I will retire January 2020 and all the notes I have been taking from different posts will hopefully go into effect. I'm sure more will be added.

I am flying to Sacramento in a few hours, with Icelandic Air so need to go get my sandwiches made for the trip.

Future plans for 2018, going to Porto in April with my daughter, to walk about 250km of the Portuguese Coastal Camino. First visit to Portugal and really looking forward to this new Camino and spending time with my daughter. In Sept. fairly firm plans are being formed to walk the Camino Frances starting in St. Jean Pied de Port. This is 790km. Last time only walked about half of this and started in Pamplona. So excited to be able to do this again. Grateful for a husband that will take care of the business while I go out and walk through countries.

Wow Jo! I'm sooo impressed! Sounds like an awesome way to spend time with your daughter!

Wow, it always amazes me what people do on their vacation (Jo). Will have to step it up soon. PS for any ayvar lovers, I have purchased it at Walgrens, under the brand name Marco Polo.

Unclegus,

Joel living in Europe makes things a lot easier for me plus I get 42 days annual leave which helps a lot.For what someone in the US would pay for a flight to Europe I can usually get a weeks holiday somewhere on the continent.

1. You’re so lucky!
2. Thanks for starting this post!
3. I enjoy reading everyone’s travel plans, and I’m taking notes as I try to figure out where to go to next.

4. I just spent 4 amazing weeks in beautiful Italy on my first solo trip!

5. Ms. Jo, I can’t even imagine walking that far! How many Km do you walk per day?
   I met a lovely woman from Ireland, when I was visiting Assisi, and she and her friend planned to walk the Camino from Assisi to Rome (100Km)

Wishing you a wonderful time as you make more special memories with your daughter!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I'm on the shore of the Sea of Galilee right now for a long weekend getaway. Tomorrow I'm going up to the Golan Heights to visit a couple of wineries, probably stop at one or two archaeological sights (ancient churches and synagogues abound) and generally enjoy the clear air . . . along the Syrian border. Saturday will be spent seeing sights around the lake itself (I have no idea why this inland fresh water lake is called a sea). I don't have a plan yet for Sunday. At some point, I'll stop to visit the cranes. Most of them fly through here to winter in Africa, but about 40,000 or so are too lazy and stay all winter with us.

Looking forward to 2018, I am in the beginning stages of a trip to Southeast Asia in January-February, 4-5 weeks in Hong Kong/Macau, Hanoi, Saigon and Thailand. After that, a summer visit to the US, Chicago and California - spending time with friends and family and lots of shopping. That will probably use up all of my travel money for next year. If there's anything left over, I'd like to visit northern Greece in the fall. I finally got to Greece this year, Athens and an RS tour. Looking back over the year - Italy in February, Greece in the spring and Poland/Hungary iin the fall, Greece was my favorite.

Don't worry, be happy. Just returned from France and Sicily and will return to France this spring for a family reunion of the Brittany cousins. After the reunion, looking to fly to either Naples and the Amalfi Coast or Portugal while we're on the other side of the pond. Jo, we'd be there at the same time. Can't decide between two good choices. Any suggestions?

Does US travel to visit your children or parents, especially if they live in an interesting place, count?

Am looking at a northern route trans-Atlantic in the fall. I'll watch out for those obnoxious over-eaters we've been warned about, Norma. Oops, just saw one in the mirror!