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Old 11-01-2015, 01:46 AM
 
1,889 posts, read 2,011,436 times
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I would second what some other posters have said and add to it a bit.

Flights to Asia from the east coast can be had for about the same price as most EU destinations.

I have seen recent sales to Bangkok, Jakarta, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo etc for 700 to 800 bucks from IAD and EWR.

I would recommend you try Tokyo first. Singapore and Hong Kong would be great choices also. All three have great transportation and outstanding food. Singapore is well known for the amazing hawker food courts and outstanding examples of every type of Asian cuisine can be had. Tokyo is however a great spot to spend a few weeks in. The biggest negative about Tokyo is it helps alot to know the language, whereas in Singapore you will have no problem with just English.

I would get a rental from one of the vacation home rental sites and settle in for a couple weeks. I do this for most of my vacations now, but I confess I have never tried this in Tokyo even though I have been there many times.

I make a list of the few places I absolutely must see, 5 or 6 places or so, and then a much larger list of standby places that I might go see if something more interesting doesn't develop.
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Old 11-02-2015, 10:04 AM
 
10,839 posts, read 14,632,292 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Megadell View Post
I've never traveled outside of the country, and honestly I'm afraid my ROI will be dismal. Maybe that's a bad way to think of it, but the fact is two massive oceans separate the Americas from Europe and Asia, and money has to factor in.

My fear is traveling overseas isn't going to live up to my expectations. And I don't know what I'm expecting. I know it's supposed to make you more "cultured", but I feel being a robust reader fulfills that, and how much culture can you get in a week or two in a country where you don't speak the language and can't interact meaningfully with the native population?

I fear I'm going to fly somewhere else, land, and then ask myself, what now? I leave my hotel and where do I go? What do I do? Do I go to a bar? I could go to a bar at home.

I'm pretty much asking what is the mindset you take with you that makes whatever you're doing in another developed country different from anything you can do at home?

Odd question I know, but I almost feel bad because there are maybe, I dunno, 2 places I want to go, but being realistic I'm imagining going there and asking myself what now?
the whole point of overseas traveling is to experience something completely different and often unexpected. It is about enriching your life, not enhancing ROI. You can have 50 million dollars and all the nice things yet still a boring life.

Speaking of different language - that's part of the fun. I recently just went on a trip to the Galapagos and the whole experience of communicating with local people who can speak fewer than 10 English words is interesting. There is a lot of trouble in communicating, but you know what? With out very limited Spanish vocabulary, the hotel owner managed to understand us, agreed on the price of rooms, helped us book taxis and even day trips. They even "chatted" for a long time and took some photos together. We had a wonderful time there, much more interesting than checking in into a Best Western with professional trained staff all fully fluent in English.

Ask yourself "what now", hey, just go out, walk about and check out the interesting spots (you should have done research beforehand of course) and watch how regular people live their lives. In an urban setting, taking a day trip with a knowledgeable guide to understand the local culture and history is immensely fulfilling as well. Go to a bar? you could, but people are different, the way bars function are different, and probably the drinks are different too. Are you sure you can do all this at home?

Traveling is about seeing and experiencing different things. Of course different people have different comfort zone, but for me personally, the least interesting place is US, Canada, Australia etc - the English speaking new continent with essentially the same lifestyle and infrastructure. Yes, everything is comfortably familiar and there is zero language barrier, but like you said - I could have just stayed at home.
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Old 11-02-2015, 10:11 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801 View Post
Wait a minute. You said something that isn't true.

What made you think you have to fly across the US to get to Asia? A flight leaves from EWR to Beijing every day. It flies north to the Arctic Circle, continues above Russia, then south over eastern Russia to Beijing. 13 hours. I'm sure there are similar flights from the DC area.
True.

Many people are clueless about how planes fly. From east coast, you don't have to fly across the continent first - that's absurd. You fly above the Arctic Circle (because unlike on the map, the earth is not flat and two dimensional).

This is why a flight from Toronto to Shanghai only takes a bit less than 2 hours more than from Los Angeles, because you don't fly across the continent at all.

Speaking of costs, no, flying to Asia is not prohibitively expensive from the east. I flew from Toronto to Shanghai this May for about US$700 RT- is that too bad? My friend is going back this Christmas season for US$650 RT.
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Old 11-03-2015, 07:46 AM
 
Location: Cedar Park, Texas
1,601 posts, read 2,968,547 times
Reputation: 1179
Quote:
Originally Posted by botticelli View Post
the whole point of overseas traveling is to experience something completely different and often unexpected. It is about enriching your life, not enhancing ROI. You can have 50 million dollars and all the nice things yet still a boring life.

Speaking of different language - that's part of the fun. I recently just went on a trip to the Galapagos and the whole experience of communicating with local people who can speak fewer than 10 English words is interesting. There is a lot of trouble in communicating, but you know what? With out very limited Spanish vocabulary, the hotel owner managed to understand us, agreed on the price of rooms, helped us book taxis and even day trips. They even "chatted" for a long time and took some photos together. We had a wonderful time there, much more interesting than checking in into a Best Western with professional trained staff all fully fluent in English.

Ask yourself "what now", hey, just go out, walk about and check out the interesting spots (you should have done research beforehand of course) and watch how regular people live their lives. In an urban setting, taking a day trip with a knowledgeable guide to understand the local culture and history is immensely fulfilling as well. Go to a bar? you could, but people are different, the way bars function are different, and probably the drinks are different too. Are you sure you can do all this at home?

Traveling is about seeing and experiencing different things. Of course different people have different comfort zone, but for me personally, the least interesting place is US, Canada, Australia etc - the English speaking new continent with essentially the same lifestyle and infrastructure. Yes, everything is comfortably familiar and there is zero language barrier, but like you said - I could have just stayed at home.
Best response...I agree totally! I LOVED roaming around the local areas in Beijing where no English was spoken, eating the same weird stuff the Chinese eat, etc. (and yes, they wanted pictures with us tall American women too!)

Nothing compares to traveling the world and experiencing things totally different from your life.
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Old 11-03-2015, 10:49 AM
 
Location: Lancashire, England
2,518 posts, read 5,322,511 times
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I rarely go down the culture route; very occasionally I'll visit a museum if there's a particular reason for me to go in. Sometimes I do the standard tourist things, such as guided tours, if my time in a city is limited, but mostly I prefer to use my feet to see where I'm visiting. I also like to rent a car and head out of the city, see some of the surrounding area, the countryside, the small town and villages. I'll do some online research in advance but never stick rigidly to a schedule, nice to go off at a tangent sometimes and be surprised.
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Old 11-03-2015, 03:43 PM
 
10,839 posts, read 14,632,292 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BereniceUK View Post
I rarely go down the culture route; very occasionally I'll visit a museum if there's a particular reason for me to go in. Sometimes I do the standard tourist things, such as guided tours, if my time in a city is limited, but mostly I prefer to use my feet to see where I'm visiting. I also like to rent a car and head out of the city, see some of the surrounding area, the countryside, the small town and villages. I'll do some online research in advance but never stick rigidly to a schedule, nice to go off at a tangent sometimes and be surprised.
Culture doesn't necessarily mean museums, palaces and art galleries. Do that all day or a week, I will be bored to death.

Everything that has to do with people is part of "culture". You see the towns and villages, you see the culture. You walk on the streets of Bogota or Hanoi watching people passing by, hearing the noise, that's culture. When you eat unfamiliar local food (instead of a hamburger and fries), you are experiencing their culture.

Outside North America, people lead very different lives, and they have very different culture. As long as you are not traveling to pure nature with zero interactions with local people (such as a "resort" in Cancun hanging our with other Americans the entire time), you will see culture. And we all know doing so is the best cure for stupidity, arrogance and ignorance.
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Old 11-03-2015, 11:32 PM
 
Location: Bay View, Milwaukee
2,567 posts, read 5,282,325 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by botticelli View Post
the whole point of overseas traveling is to experience something completely different and often unexpected. It is about enriching your life, not enhancing ROI. You can have 50 million dollars and all the nice things yet still a boring life.

Speaking of different language - that's part of the fun. I recently just went on a trip to the Galapagos and the whole experience of communicating with local people who can speak fewer than 10 English words is interesting. There is a lot of trouble in communicating, but you know what? With out very limited Spanish vocabulary, the hotel owner managed to understand us, agreed on the price of rooms, helped us book taxis and even day trips. They even "chatted" for a long time and took some photos together. We had a wonderful time there, much more interesting than checking in into a Best Western with professional trained staff all fully fluent in English.
Nice post. Reminds me of an interaction I had in Taiwan with a vendor at a dumpling stall. I was trying to ask if the dumplings were made of pork, but my ten words of Chinese and her three words of English didn't make the exchange go too quickly. I wound up pointing at a dumpling and making a pig sound--she broke into hysterics and so did I--it was incredibly fun. And she understood me: they were some darned good dumplings.
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Old 11-04-2015, 07:25 AM
 
Location: Cedar Park, Texas
1,601 posts, read 2,968,547 times
Reputation: 1179
Quote:
Originally Posted by Empidonax View Post
Nice post. Reminds me of an interaction I had in Taiwan with a vendor at a dumpling stall. I was trying to ask if the dumplings were made of pork, but my ten words of Chinese and her three words of English didn't make the exchange go too quickly. I wound up pointing at a dumpling and making a pig sound--she broke into hysterics and so did I--it was incredibly fun. And she understood me: they were some darned good dumplings.
LOVE this! Makes me think about being at a hotpot in Beijing, where there were absolutely no other English speakers and no English written anywhere. I was trying to determine how hot a sauce was so I fanned my mouth and shrugged. She fanned her mouth and put out very wide open arms. Then she pointed to another sauce, fanned her mouth, and then put two fingers just a couple of inches apart. We both died laughing and she actually gave me a little hug. I wouldn't trade those types of travel experiences for anything!
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Old 11-04-2015, 02:29 PM
 
808 posts, read 1,674,279 times
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What's a good destination to go to in January?
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Old 11-05-2015, 06:42 AM
 
Location: Dallas
31,290 posts, read 20,625,215 times
Reputation: 9314
Mexico where the weather is wonderful in January.
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