What are your travel plans for the year?

[Muse]

I plan to go to greece or africa and other great places on this planet. I don't have my passport yet. There are so many places to go on this huge planet. I went to washington dc last year as I talk about in my thread. I see a lot of people want to go to dc. I don't blame ya, dc is a beautiful and great place to be. If you care to go to dc I totally recommend it and definitely visit the world war 2 memorial if you care or interested.

I went to the one in New Orleans a few years ago. Was OK. I suppose the one in DC is better, have no idea.

Edit: In DC it's a memorial, in NOLA a museum, a short walk from downtown.

Designated by Congress as the official WWII museum of the United States, The National WWII Museum is located in downtown New Orleans on a six-acre campus, where five soaring pavilions house historical exhibits, on-site restoration work, a period dinner theater, and restaurants

 

[Muse]

due to COVID, saving for a house, terrible travel industy conditions, and increasing international instability, 2023 will be my 4th year in a row without a vacation

i really hope things settle down in a few years so i can start to travel again

Real reasons for hesitancy. I got my first passport about 5 years ago, bought a whole bunch of travel luggage, but have yet to use them. Along comes the pandemic! I'm vaxxed, got IMO the best masks and don't mind wearing one, but the travel disruptions I hear about, the international uncertainty and my lack of experience in traveling (have done some but I'm really green compared to seasoned travelers), have me not planning anything now, but I'm ruminating about some local stuff within California (live in Bay Area).

 

[Exterous]

due to COVID, saving for a house, terrible travel industy conditions, and increasing international instability, 2023 will be my 4th year in a row without a vacation

i really hope things settle down in a few years so i can start to travel again

What kind of travel industry conditions are you referring to? Also, while certain areas are certainly more unstable, there are plenty of destinations that are perfectly safe to go to

 

[Exterous]

the travel disruptions I hear about, the international uncertainty and my lack of experience in traveling.

There are always travel disruptions. Weather, airline meltdowns, strikes etc. If you wait for those to stop you'll never really have a chance to travel. And most of it comes down to luck. Can you really pick which airline is going to have a meltdown this year? Delta had a meltdown in 2017 and a smaller one in 2020. AA had one in 2021. Southwest had a longer but less concentrated one in ~2016. Air France is affected by a strike seemingly every year. Italian airlines? Well those are always interesting. Don't get me wrong it always sucks to get caught in one (and I've been caught in a couple) but, realistically its a tiny tiny chance you'd be affected once you look at how many days a year those happen (maybe 3-5 days?), how many airlines or airports affected during those days (usually a tiny percentage of flights world wide)

As an aside - traveling carry-on only really helps when the SHTF

 

[Muse]

There are always travel disruptions. Weather, airline meltdowns, strikes etc. If you wait for those to stop you'll never really have a chance to travel. And most of it comes down to luck. Can you really pick which airline is going to have a meltdown this year? Delta had a meltdown in 2017 and a smaller one in 2020. AA had one in 2021. Southwest had a longer but less concentrated one in ~2016. Air France is affected by a strike seemingly every year. Italian airlines? Well those are always interesting. Don't get me wrong it always sucks to get caught in one (and I've been caught in a couple) but, realistically its a tiny tiny chance you'd be affected once you look at how many days a year those happen (maybe 3-5 days?), how many airlines or airports affected during those days (usually a tiny percentage of flights world wide)

As an aside - traveling carry-on only really helps when the SHTF

Thanks for this. I've been using your Montana shots as my 30 minute rotating desktop background for a few months now. I get astounded every day by them. You are really good with a camera. Are you processing those shots? Use filters? Seems to me you are, the effects are great. Don't know how you do it. All nature stuff here. Was just looking at a raging river shot today, really something.

 

[K1052]

As an aside - traveling carry-on only really helps when the SHTF

This is probably the most important piece of advice. Possession of your luggage gives you way more flexibility to bend travel plans in the event of problems. Most people way way overpack to begin with.

Even if limiting the clothes you bring means doing laundry on longer trips its worth it.

 

[KMFJD]

This is probably the most important piece of advice. Possession of your luggage gives you way more flexibility to bend travel plans in the event of problems. Most people way way overpack to begin with.

Even if limiting the clothes you bring means doing laundry on longer trips its worth it.

you can always ship luggage ahead of time if your REALLY worried about it

 

[Exterous]

Thanks for this. I've been using your Montana shots as my 30 minute rotating desktop background for a few months now. I get astounded every day by them. You are really good with a camera. Are you processing those shots? Use filters? Seems to me you are, the effects are great. Don't know how you do it. All nature stuff here. Was just looking at a raging river shot today, really something.

Thanks! Some of those are my wife's pictures as well. No filter. Most are bracketed - meaning you take a longer, shorter, and medium exposure in very rapid succession (its a setting on the camera so it's just one push of the button and snapsnapsnap) and combine them together with a program at home. Can't use it all the time due to movement and it can introduce noise but we like the way they turn out. There is some more processing afterwards but we are on the lighter touch side of processing (or at least we think so)

This is probably the most important piece of advice. Possession of your luggage gives you way more flexibility to bend travel plans in the event of problems. Most people way way overpack to begin with.

Even if limiting the clothes you bring means doing laundry on longer trips its worth it.

Unless we're bringing something like hiking poles we're carry-on only even for Cold + Beach split trips and multi-week trips. With AirBnBs its really easy these days to do laundry without searching for a laundromat (and figuring out how to operate a machine in another language) or paying through the nose at a hotel. We'll just look for 1 AirBnB with a washer (and hopefully dryer) per week of travel. And that works even with me shoving my size 13 mid-hiking boots into my carry-on so I get a little skeptical when people say they can't do it. Sure some have legitimate reasons but, like you said, most people over pack to begin with

At least twice we've been able to make in-airport flight changes when things have gone wrong because we didn't have carry on bags. At least once we weren't allowed to make a change because of our checked bag. And ~3 times our luggage has been waylaid including one exceptionally frustrating time with AA. (All they had to do was send it on the next CLT-MAD flight. We were going to be back at the airport 2 hours after their next daily flight landed Should have been so easy. But nooooo they had to send it to Heathrow on BA - who promptly forgot about it. Made for a super fun surprise when we called, from Spain, to find out our luggage had been sent to Britain.)

 

[Muse]

This is probably the most important piece of advice. Possession of your luggage gives you way more flexibility to bend travel plans in the event of problems. Most people way way overpack to begin with.

Even if limiting the clothes you bring means doing laundry on longer trips its worth it.

I have a carry on roller (nice one, that I haven't used yet). Also, several Timbuk2 backpacks (kinda like this, I got a good deal, and a seasoned traveler reviewed and really liked them), which could be carried on. Will most airlines allow me to carry on both simultaneously? It's a lot, and for some trips only one would do, but not all. But I'd prefer to not check anything if I can help it. Saves time and potentially major hassles.

Edit: The Timbuk2 Spire backpacks I bought 7 years ago off Newegg, insanely discounted ($150 got me 4 of them including tax and shipping) appear to be way better than the Version 2.0 Spires they are selling these days, according to reviews at Amazon. I still have all 4, 3 of them unused and the one I've used is AFAIK still in great shape, rarely used. I have used it for travel, to which it's well suited (depending on your needs, of course). A central feature is they are relatively waterproof. Not a lot of pockets, I have a backpack I have used a lot for short travel that has so many pockets and compartments that it's a challenge to remember what is where. The Spires I have feature a big compartment, not a lot of smaller compartment type stuff going on. Good for a laptop, there's a compartment for that. Solidly built, at least the ones that I have.

 

[K1052]

I have a carry on roller (nice one, that I haven't used yet). Also, several Timbuk2 backpacks (kinda like this, I got a good deal, and a seasoned traveler reviewed and really liked them), which could be carried on. Will most airlines allow me to carry on both simultaneously? It's a lot, and for some trips only one would do, but not all. But I'd prefer to not check anything if I can help it. Saves time and potentially major hassles.

Mostly yes for free but some airlines charge for carry on luggage ( your roller) as a rule or in certain fare classes. AFAIK nobody charges for a personal item that fits under the seat like a backpack.

 

[DigDog]

in morocco right now, the possibly cartagena in september, buenos aires in january. i may sneak off to croatia in june or july.

 

[MrSquished]

You guys should check out the one bag subreddit, while some of those people are pretty insane with how minimalist they travel you can still get some good ideas of how to minimize your load.

 

[Muse]

You guys should check out the one bag subreddit, while some of those people are pretty insane with how minimalist they travel you can still get some good ideas of how to minimize your load.

At your suggestion, just joined. I'll note, when I was gearing up for travel I bought a bunch of various packing cubes, doing some research. Those and my Chester Minima carry on. My 15" laptops are pretty big for travel. I was shopping for something smaller for that but made no decisions. I bought a very light LG but returned it, couldn't hack the ergonomics... I'm used to Lenovo Thinkpads. I have a couple cheap Windows 10 tablets (my data requires Windows), but don't use them and don't know if I could be happy traveling with them. I suppose I could get by with just a cell phone, but that would mean I'm divorced from my data. I didn't like the Microsoft minimal laptops when I was checking them out 2-3 years ago. Surface Pro, whatever.

 

[IronWing]

Looks like we're ramping up for a vacation in Desert Center, California!

Google Maps

Find local businesses, view maps and get driving directions in Google Maps.

www.google.com

 

[KMFJD]

Well i finally found some cruises and they have been booked, everything appears to be booked solid for next year already (almost impossible to find handicapped accessible rooms). Will be headed to South East Asia (Singapore-Thailand-Vietnam-Hong Kong) and to the land Down Under/New Zealand with a short stop off in Bali.

 

[nOOky]

We spent two weeks in new Zealand in February, both islands and an ultramarathon while we were there. Going to California in April for another race for only 5 days stay. Headed to the north shore of Lake Superior for 3-4 days and driving up to hike with our dogs. (We are from Wisconsin). Planning a trip to Antarctica in either 2024 or 2025. Also planning to visit Croatia and maybe Italy next April. We plan ahead. Antarctica is expensive!

 

[nisryus]

Since I los tmy job, gotta save money now. trip to California is on hold, but will be visiting college with the kid instead. Probably a roadtrip from Texas to Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, then South NC and finally North NC.

But wife is worry about driving through Mississippi and Bama, since we are Asians. x.x

 

[nakedfrog]

We spent two weeks in new Zealand in February, both islands and an ultramarathon while we were there. Going to California in April for another race for only 5 days stay. Headed to the north shore of Lake Superior for 3-4 days and driving up to hike with our dogs. (We are from Wisconsin). Planning a trip to Antarctica in either 2024 or 2025. Also planning to visit Croatia and maybe Italy next April. We plan ahead. Antarctica is expensive!

Of all the places on Earth I could go, Antarctica holds absolutely no appeal whatsoever. I know someone that just got back from a stint working there, sounds like it's a tremendous hassle to get to. And probably dovetails nicely with a NZ trip. I'd sooner stay in NZ longer

 

[nOOky]

Of all the places on Earth I could go, Antarctica holds absolutely no appeal whatsoever. I know someone that just got back from a stint working there, sounds like it's a tremendous hassle to get to. And probably dovetails nicely with a NZ trip. I'd sooner stay in NZ longer

Getting there from NZ is harder and more expensive, we'll be leaving out of Ushuaia. I get that it's not for everyone, but we are not sit on a beach and drink type of folks. We will probably stop at South Georgia Island and the Falklands. We will fly there one way, and take a boat back across the Drake passage, to save a couple days time. It's looking like a 3 week trip so far.

 

[Exterous]

Well i finally found some cruises and they have been booked, everything appears to be booked solid for next year already (almost impossible to find handicapped accessible rooms). Will be headed to South East Asia (Singapore-Thailand-Vietnam-Hong Kong) and to the land Down Under/New Zealand with a short stop off in Bali.

For our cruise in Feb Royal Caribbean was excited to announce it was the largest number of passenger the 2.5 year old ship had carried yet. I was a bit saddened by that as I'm not a huge fan of crowds. Still things you can do to avoid the crowds but still .. Good luck!