Vacation anyone?

[Cia]

Vancouver and Vancouver Island, BC

[Jester]

Depending on whether family would be just me or me plus one, here are some places I wouldn't mind going (in no particular order):

Oktoberfest in Munich.

Tour de France in France.

Japan.

Ireland/England.

Poland/Romania/Russia (ancestral roots).

Hawaii.

Australia.

Honduras, Costa Rica, or Belize, as I've heard great things about all three of them from many friends who have gone.

Rum tour: some combination of distilleries and rum bars in Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Colombia, Guatemala, Peru, Panama, Curacao, Anguilla, Trinidad, and St. Lucia.

Espana.

Some of you may notice I listed no places in the USA, other than Hawaii. It is not because I don't want to go places here. It's because most of the places I want to go here, I've already been, and if offered a free vacation, I would want to go somewhere new. That's just the way I am.

That being said, if I was limited to the USA, I would probably want to do a beer tour, visiting and touring various breweries and beer bars. Some breweries I'd love to include: Cigar City (Tampa), Rogue (Oregon), Lost Coast (California), Avery (Colorado), Left Hand (Colorado), Magic Hat (Vermont), Shipyard (Maine), Terrapin (Georgia), Clipper City (Baltimore), Lexington (Kentucky), Brooklyn (New York), Blue Point (New York), and Bell's (Michigan).

[Seshat]

I'd have to test whether or not I could handle it, but if I could:

First class - or private carriage if $5K allowed it - train trip on the Indian Pacific or the Ghan.

Indian Pacific is Adelaide to Perth and back.
Ghan is Adelaide to Darwin and back.

Both are wonderful ways to see the Outback, without the painful aspects. (Dust, dirt, heat, dehydration etc.) My body wouldn't be able to handle the painful aspects, so something like this is the only way I'd likely ever be able to do it.

Another option is a houseboat along the Murray/Darling river system; as much as the $5K would allow. The Murray/Darling is the largest river system in Australia - which is not saying much; compared to river systems in other continents, it's tiny. But it extends from the very north, all down the east coast, and empties out in Adelaide. Houseboating along it would be an exploration of some of the most beautiful parts of Australia.


Oh, and for those of you who want to go to Australia someday, and are going for the land rather than the cities: there's some suggestions for you.

Cheaper versions of the suggestions: don't go first class on the trains; and for the houseboat, be part of a tour group rather than a private houseboat.

[SongsOfDragons]

Svalbard in March 2015 to go to the North Pole and watch the once-in-an-epoch solar eclipse. 5k covers it for two according to a package deal. I've been saving for it since 2012 and I'm beginning to get worried that the official site hasn't got back to me about its offers...

[Sheldonrs]

I'm confused. Is it a vacation or do I take my family? It can't be both.

[Seshat]

Edit on mine: get to Perth for wildflower season. I'm told it's spectacular.

[MoonCat]

Poland and Germany, as that's where my ancestors are from.

There are other places I'd love to go, but if I only had $5000, that's where I'd go.

[wolfie]

Svalbard in March 2015 to go to the North Pole and watch the once-in-an-epoch solar eclipse.

My understanding is that the moon's orbit is fairly close to the equator, so it wouldn't cast its shadow on the poles. What do you mean by once-in-an-epoch, and do you have a link to a page with details?

[SongsOfDragons]

My understanding is that the moon's orbit is fairly close to the equator, so it wouldn't cast its shadow on the poles. What do you mean by once-in-an-epoch, and do you have a link to a page with details?

www.svalbard2015.no/english - is apparently the official site. I can't find anything that matches the 'official' designation and all I know in Norwegian is how to say 'shitbag' and 'I don't speak Norwegian'. I haven't looked at the wiki page for this eclipse for some time; last I read it it was a stub, it might have more technical information on it now.

It's a rarity because it happens on the day of the first sunrise after the polar night. Good timing, basically.

[wolfie]

Link connects to the DVP north of the Macdonald-Cartier Freeway (for non-Torontonians, that would be 404).

[Kaylyn]

Svalbard in March 2015 to go to the North Pole and watch the once-in-an-epoch solar eclipse. 5k covers it for two according to a package deal. I've been saving for it since 2012 and I'm beginning to get worried that the official site hasn't got back to me about its offers...

...I am so glad I checked this thread and found out about this. Hubs looks to be inheriting a pretty decent amount of money from his father's death and if we have enough after taking care of debts and getting my teeth taken care of, he says we can go.

I just want a pit stop in Finland at some point to say I've been there.

[SongsOfDragons]

...I am so glad I checked this thread and found out about this. Hubs looks to be inheriting a pretty decent amount of money from his father's death and if we have enough after taking care of debts and getting my teeth taken care of, he says we can go.

I just want a pit stop in Finland at some point to say I've been there.

I'll see you there, hopefully ^^ I'm not sure what to do seeing that there's been silence from the official site. Should I juat say sod it and book with travel quest? But that means I won't get to go to the North Pole, unless there's something on Spitzbergen I can sign up to while I'm there...I'm not entirely likely to want to be dragged around places on a tour.

[Geek King]

I'd throw the ultimate Stay-cation, complete with friends over and grilling of many things.

If I -had- to travel, I'd grab my Japanese-speaking friend and head to Japan to poke around Akibahara. I'm not a big traveler, honestly, although I enjoy driving. I just want my stuff to be there when I'm done driving.

[Kaylyn]

I'll see you there, hopefully ^^ I'm not sure what to do seeing that there's been silence from the official site. Should I juat say sod it and book with travel quest? But that means I won't get to go to the North Pole, unless there's something on Spitzbergen I can sign up to while I'm there...I'm not entirely likely to want to be dragged around places on a tour.

Travelquest was the one I was looking at. The ice caving and the dogsledding sound like so much fun!

Though poking around at that site, they also have a package for the same time but for Faroe Islands/Iceland. Which puts me in a predicament. Hubs wants to go to Faroe Islands at some point in his life, but the package doesn't sound as interesting as the Norway one. And the advantage to the Norway one is I might be able to swing a pit stop in Finland on the way there or back because that's a place *I* want to visit at some point in my life.

Not like we have the money right now anyway. Just now finally getting a lawyer set up for the succession, so it could be a few months before we get everything settled. So plenty of time to decide.

[Antares]

I guess it depends on what you like.


I would probably go to Alaska to watch the northern lights.

Or spend 2 weeks in National Parks...Glacier...Yellowstone. And stay in here for more than the one night I did last year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Many_Glacier_Hotel