Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Great info and suggestion by everyone. Especially CraigCreek!
Go to the library and check out various tour books, look them over and decide where you want to travel.
How long to you plan to be on holiday?
Since you are a novice traveler you might consider a tour to get your feet wet. Its not my style but might be right for you. A friend takes a Rick Steve's tour every other year and loves them.
If you are planning an extended holiday, start with a tour then travel solo.
I agree that a tour would be good for a novice traveller. But then you have a few years to read and do research, so perhaps by then you'd feel comfortable doing the trip independently.
I like how everyone just assumed you were American.
If you're not American, Canadian, Aussie, Kiwi, Brit, Japanese or from the EU, yes you will need a visa.
If you are from the aforementioned nations/entities, you'll need a visa if you want to stay longer than 6 months, or work.
As a citizen of a country that requires a visa, I have to get one. Every. Single. Year. That is despite the fact my wife is an EU citizen. Most people in the world are not from the aforementioned privileged countries.
Frankly it irritates me because it encourages an atmosphere of complacency and the "let's wing it" attitude. I would never be able to wing anything, because all my trips are planned 6 months in advance. Not by choice.
I was at the airport recently and overheard a wet-behind-the-ears Canadian woman asking the airline staff to tell her if she could travel to Ethiopia that same day on her passport that was about to expire. No doubt, a do-gooder going on a volunteering trip to make lives better for Africans. First-world privilege enabled her to ask this question on the day of departure to airline staff who are not paid for answering such questions anyway. They were very nice about it, instead of asking her to **** off and do her own research like 80% of the world does.
Rant over.
Just wondering: since you found this lady's question so irritating and jumped to the conclusion that she was what you term a "do-gooder", do you do anything yourself to "make lives better for Africans" (or people of other continents in the developing world)? Since you have a visa and plan your trips so effectively and so far ahead of time, it would appear that you certainly are a seasoned traveler who might have much to offer in the way of volunteer work involving travel and commitment of personal time, knowledge, and resources, just as this woman hoped to do.
I'm glad to know that the airline staff was courteous to and non-judgmental of the well-intentioned and generous woman, even though she clearly was lacking in knowledge about how passports work.
BTW, I have two young relatives who are flight attendants. They are consistently courteous and patient with their customers and the sometimes very unusual requests and questions which they receive. Their attitude is one which all might do well to adopt.
If the only questions which were answered were those for which the respondent was paid, there would be few answers in this world.
lol of course, haven't decided on what countries yet. But probably London, Paris, and a few others.
Money isn't a problem.
Should I go with a tourist group?
Definiteley, since you've never been out of the country, that's where you start. No sense in doing it on your own. A good tourist group thingee will allow you to get a grasp of things like where to stay, how to get around, how to identify Gypsies and pickpockets...all those things that are best learned while you have the biggies like seeing sights and lodging taken care of. Avoid tours aimed at 20-somethings because the accomodations will be inferior and choose a tour carefully. The reviews on the internet are a good place to start. You'll get the gist of how they are run, who you can expect to be touring with, etc.
Several years ago my cousin and two of her friends traveled Europe by train. but, to save money, they traveled at night. That way they could sleep on the train and save the expense of lodging. Of course you'll need to get a room some nights. We were in Germany 8 years ago and traveled from Giessen to Cologne. Couldn't travel in the US as cheap as a train in Germany. I'm thinking our tickets were 35 Euro each, round trip.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
