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This topic has probably been covered already, but it did not come up when I entered the title -- so, what was your best vacation EVER?
I have a tie:
1. Staying at the Ski Tip Lodge, which was a very rustic B&B in Keystone, Colorado during a very heavy snowfall before Keystone became very touristy and crowded. Just stayed in playing Scrabble with my husband before a large and crackling fire and drank Bailey's-and-coffees with a mix of soft music playing in the background. Heavenly! (This was about 1987 or 1988.)
2. Going on a Maine Windjammer cruise in 2016. First time doing anything like that, and although the cabin was tiny and the accommodations were primitive, we had gourmet meals and it was the most relaxing summer vacation we have ever had!
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Tetons.... Float trip (3 of us) from Jackson Dam to Jackson Hole at daybreak. Silent beauty, lots of moose, elk, bears, birds.
But have had many wonderful trips, such as today... (and being the only guests in a ski lodge 3x has been great)... Hot springs, fall colors.... Maritime Canadian Provinces are always nice. Alaska camping and fishing. Sailing, and working vacations (camps, farms, restoration of trails and historical villages, putting in Wells, helping in orphanage.). Good way to instill values and volunteer work ethic in your kids. They learn best by example.
Several, but the one that I remember the most fondly is a sabbatical my wife and I took around 20 years ago that included six weeks of driving around Europe followed by visiting some family in Israel, but culminating with a cruise across the Pacific (Auckland to San Francisco) on a working freighter.
In 1971, while still a teenager, I hit the road & mostly hitch-hiked through most of Europe for about 6 months until my $$$ finally ran out Ireland to Turkey. It was way more than a vacation, it was a true learning experience & it demarcated the end of "hometown life" & started a new chapter where I always wondered about the other side of the hill.
It was really only possible because I had gotten a very high number in the Draft Lottery & was spared the trip to Vietnam, a different kind of "learning experience". Life changing events can be random too.
I thought I would return soon for another extended ramble but could only go back to specific spots on typical work vacations over the years. But I actually chose a career that included a lot of travel because of that first trip. Now that I'm retired I'll consider that longer "vacation" again but I think I will focus on a few specific areas & go deep rather than wide ranging.
1) Road trip with my family from Chicago, through South Dakota, Wyoming and back. Loved all of it
2) 10 days on the North Shore of Oahu in a house right on the beach. Went to Honolulu once. Spent the rest exploring the island, hiking, relaxing.
3) First family trip out of the country to Lisbon. Navigating a different country, seeing Sintra, the street scenes in Lisbon, just wonderful.
In 1971, while still a teenager, I hit the road & mostly hitch-hiked through most of Europe for about 6 months until my $$$ finally ran out Ireland to Turkey. It was way more than a vacation, it was a true learning experience & it demarcated the end of "hometown life" & started a new chapter where I always wondered about the other side of the hill.
It was really only possible because I had gotten a very high number in the Draft Lottery & was spared the trip to Vietnam, a different kind of "learning experience". Life changing events can be random too.
I thought I would return soon for another extended ramble but could only go back to specific spots on typical work vacations over the years. But I actually chose a career that included a lot of travel because of that first trip. Now that I'm retired I'll consider that longer "vacation" again but I think I will focus on a few specific areas & go deep rather than wide ranging.
I took a four month trip thru England, Ireland, France and Scandinavia BY MYSELF. Best ever.
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Ireland to Turkey. It was way more than a vacation, it was a true learning experience & it demarcated the end of "hometown life" & started a new chapter where I always wondered about the other side of the hill. 
