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I always suggest the Pacific, Fiji or Thaiti. I am not planning on going on one for a while but this is where I want to go. Being in DC you could always go to Costa Rica or the Caribbean for a few days its just 3-4 hour flight away now the pacific that is something really exotic.
A bit off topic but MAK802 makes good points, it's also priorities... I spend more money on travel and do it often but less money on cars and such...I could afford to drive a new BMW but drive an old car which works just fine and spend the money on my travels instead. Just because one is traveling often doesn't mean they are living the high life! geez!
A bit off topic but MAK802 makes good points, it's also priorities... I spend more money on travel and do it often but less money on cars and such...I could afford to drive a new BMW but drive an old car which works just fine and spend the money on my travels instead. Just because one is traveling often doesn't mean they are living the high life! geez!
because one is traveling often doesn't mean they are living the high life! geez!
I agree! Some folks get to travel more than others (depending on discretionary income) and the deals for travel are out there. We did a Las Vegas trip for $800 total! (Airfare,hotel,food,tours) Mind you, we were not staying a 4 star hotel or eating $100 meals but we still liked the experience! We try to go somewhere every year, I wish we could do more but our budget doesn't allow it in the meantime, but as our income grows, we can hopefully travel some more!
We get that all the time from people asking us how we can possibly afford to travel every single month. Our financial situation is no business of yours! What an exciting life it must be sitting in your home state/country until the day you die. It's a big world, explore it every chance you get! You can't take the money/possessions to your grave!
The slang version of my response to when people ask how you can possibly afford to travel every single month? They're just haters. If you can do it, go for it!
I like the idea of travel, I'd love to do more (as I just read about your experience in the previous post sounds awesome!) as the hubby and me income increases. Do you have any advice on how to make travel happen more often on limited funds? Any tips a seasoned traveler such as yourself can share with me? http://forum.thescubasite.com/party/party0002.gif (broken link)
My dad is the total opposite He loves to sit there at home and just stare at the wall, I guess. It's so depressing to see him like that and we got into a deep discussion about it once and he says he's happy with life that way. I really don't think he is but I won't push it.
You've already received lots of suggestions for locations from your other thread, Honeymoon Idea ...Help Needed, so I kinda ignored the "other" option on the poll. You are trying to narrow this down, right?
Peru is going to be the most unique experience and it seems to have been on your radar for some time. Both CR and Peru have all the activities you enjoy (hiking, beaches etc). All 3 places are nearby and since you travel often, you can easily see each one over time.
I second MAK802's recommendation to review tripadvisor, for each location.
Read the blogs on lonely planet and travbuddy. It's as close as you'll get to "asking a friend". Travel blogs provide a robust preview of specific experiences, as opposed to some professional travel writer's review. Also, the blogs give you great ideas of activities to do off the beaten path, tourist traps to avoid, etc. When you find yourself reading about a particular location thinking, "I'd love to try that or I'd love to see this"....you will have chosen your destination.
Last edited by heavyweight; 05-26-2010 at 01:34 PM..
If you are going to go to South America, I'd recommend Colombia or Brasil over Peru. Peru might be a little bit safer, but I think the overall feel of the cities is just more interesting. Granted it is only my personal opinion and a lot of people would disagree with me but just some more suggestions!
The slang version of my response to when people ask how you can possibly afford to travel every single month? They're just haters. If you can do it, go for it!
I like the idea of travel, I'd love to do more (as I just read about your experience in the previous post sounds awesome!) as the hubby and me income increases. Do you have any advice on how to make travel happen more often on limited funds? Any tips a seasoned traveler such as yourself can share with me?
My dad is the total opposite He loves to sit there at home and just stare at the wall, I guess. It's so depressing to see him like that and we got into a deep discussion about it once and he says he's happy with life that way. I really don't think he is but I won't push it.
Some people truly are happy sitting home all day, I'm not one of those. I'm so lucky to have grown up with a mother that dragged us on trips all the time. She was a single mom, with 2 kids, and still managed to give us an awesome life. I grew up in Europe, and she'd take us to neighboring countries. When we moved here, she'd take us on vacations every single year. I plan on doing the same with my child when the time comes.
Sing up for ff rewards with every single airline. Our main airline is Delta and we each have the Delta AMEX. My husband travels for work all the time (San Diego to NYC) so he accumulates a ton of miles. For our next 6 trips, we used ff miles for the airline tickets which saved us thousands. Two of those trips are international. For domestic flights, Southwest is your best bet since it's really easy to earn/redeem free flights with them.
For the exception of our upcoming Costa Rica trip, we only ever use Priceline for hotels and have yet to be disappointed. We've gotten some amazing hotels all over the world for a fraction of the cost. An example is the Marriott in Aruba. We paid $80 on PL, and when we checked the hotel's site, the same room was $229 and up. We had free airfare from JetBlue thanks to having tons of points, so it was a very cheap and awesome vacation.
Package deals are not always the best, but sometimes can be. We're going to Puerto Vallarta in June, only because we found an awesome package deal from our area on Travelocity, thanks to TravelZoo. This was planned on a whim, since we couldn't pass that deal up. Which brings me to TravelZoo. Check out their site and sign up for their Top 20. You'll get a weekly email with the Top 20 deals. I received mine today, and Ireland is $399, with hotel, from the East Coast. Can't really go wrong there! They also have amazing deals on flights to Australia from CA, but you have to travel in August and I'll be in NYC and Costa Rica then, so I can't do it. You can search by location on TZ, meaning for deals at your destination of from your home city.
Travel does not have to be expensive. I know people that travel once a year, but spend thousands of dollars on one trip. We had friends visiting San Diego for a week and they spent $7k on one week! Those are the types of people that only travel once a year because they don't know how to plan. Traveling without spending much doesn't mean you're staying at hostels. We have stayed at some of the nicest hotels all over the world, went to nice restaurants all for a fraction of what most spend. Get tips from locals, don't eat at tourist traps (huge issue here in San Diego), and read forums on TripAdvisor to get ideas. If you do your research and take advantage of deals, you can travel without going into the poor house.
MAK: I've seen TravelZoo before but didn't know to sign up for the email updates. Good to know!
I also have a Citicard American Airlines and I've accumulated some miles.
$7k in one week is a lot to spend in SD; wow!
I'd rather spend a little bit of money on each trip so I can take more trips than spend all the money and just take one trip!
I'll look into Southwest with their frequent flyer program. I've looked at some flights but the inexpensive ones are the ones close by within the state of Texas. Thanks a bunch!
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If you can do it, go for it! 
Now I remember you ;)
