where was your last vacation?

[surfsatwerk]

Tetanus a couple years ago.

 

[purbeast0]

What were the tourist demographic like there? Would you say it was more Europeans or Americans? Only curious because most American tourists are incredibly obnoxious. I'd prefer to be the only obnoxious person in the room, thank you!

a lot of everything to be honest. however i didn't see any obnoxious people at all. the island is not a cheap carribean destination place so you don't see the trash/obnoxious people there.

 

[Sho'Nuff]

Last one - Bridgton Maine (Long Lake)

Next one - Bridgton Maine (Long Lake)

Next one without kids - NYC

 

[Scarpozzi]

SC coast a month ago. I need another one, but it looks like it's going to be a rough few years. Too many projects to burn time relaxing....

I really believe things are going to get much easier and I may hit 3+ weeks of serious laying around by 2016.

 

[Brainonska511]

Over July 4th, I went out to Columbus, OH to visit a friend from college. It's a nice little city and it was good to get away from the extreme busyness that is NYC.

I have no idea when the next one is. But I do get to go to Texas next month for a scientific conference, so that's kind of a weird mix of work and vacation.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

Reno for my birthday in June
Supai Falls & Lake Havasu last month
Boating & Camping over Memorial Day & 4th of July

Puerto Morelos - Riviera Maya MX in Sept
Palm Springs in October
Cancun in December
& a bunch of boating & camping trips with friends on random weekends. Will probably squeeze two more trips into Reno over the next few months as well to visit friends.

 

[Dr. Detroit]

back in may i went to turks and caicos, that was my last "real" vacation.

turks and caicos is my favorite place i've ever been. that place is simply incredible.

What made it so good? And how does it compare to other Caribbean destinations that you have been to?

 

[MixMasterTang]

Last real vacation was 3 and 1/2 weeks in Thailand and Vietnam May 2013. But I have taken some mini vacations on some of my work trips since then (Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom & The UAE).

 

[Gooberlx2]

I walked the Camino de Santiago over 40 days

Where did you start, and how was it? Did you camp or stay in hostels or hotels? I'd love to do this.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Went to France last year and New Orleans in the spring. We originally had selected Greece for the fall but shifted to Germany/Austria. Not 100% sure we're going yet.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Indianapolis

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[Franz316]

Where did you start, and how was it? Did you camp or stay in hostels or hotels? I'd love to do this.

I started at the "official" beginning in St. Jean Pied de Port and it took about 33 days to reach Santiago, then I walked on to the coast. I'm not religious, so reaching the coast and seeing the sunset was more impactful than getting to Santiago. The whole thing took 40 days total with a few rest days. It's hard to sum up the whole experience in a few words, but it was spectacular. It is something that I will remember the rest of my life. I still think about it daily after being back home for a few weeks. The people, the places, the sites, every bit of it was amazing. Sure, there are some painful days, but that is part of the deal. I shared the experience with some incredible people from across the world that will be friends for life.

I stayed mainly in hostels along the way, not exactly 5 stars but all you really need is a bed for the night. I did treat myself to a few hotel stays though.

If you get the chance, do it!

 

[purbeast0]

What made it so good? And how does it compare to other Caribbean destinations that you have been to?

the beaches are incredible there. they aren't overly crowded either. the water is some of the clearest i've seen. top notch snorkeling (from the shore) and i'm pissed that my underwater housing failed on me while there, i missed A LOT of awesome stuff in there. the food there is ridiculously good too. they have A LOT of beach dining options too which my wife and i love. there is also a lot of little beaches you can drive around to and explore yourself, which we love doing. the people there are really friendly too. it just has an all around awesome vibe to the island that you don't find in many other islands. the island is also small - you can drive across it in like 30 minutes, and you drive on the wrong side of the road in the wrong side of the car heh.

i'd put it ahead of aruba (been there twice) but not by too much. it's got a similar feel to aruba, but it's less crowded for sure. aruba is definitely more touristy, but i still love aruba. aruba also has a nice nightlife, where t&c has absolutely none for the most part.

bahamas was also awesome but again, in a different, party type of way. barbados was also awesome, but nothing like t&c. costa rica is on the bottom of my list of carribean destinations i've been to. don't think i'd go back there. hawaii isn't in the carribean, but i'd put hawaii after aruba on my favorite beach places, and possibly above aruba. only been to maui there.

 

[smackababy]

T&C definitely sounds like a place my GF would love. She isn't much into night life and things like that.

 

[TheVrolok]

Florida Keys

 

[Exterous]

Washington DC over the 4th which was actually quite nice. Not nearly as bad as residents had warned us it would be

Leaving for Hawaii in 10 days

Iceland --> Paris --> Brussels --> Amsterdam

That is almost the same vacation we are planning for the spring. Even the order is the same except we'll likely be heading to Dublin instead of Amsterdam. (Due to wanting to use British Airways points to cover the return flight and not wanting to pay the absurd UK departure fees).

Any pointers\recommendations on Iceland and Brussels?

 

[SMOGZINN]

Marfa, Tx. Went there for the Judd Foundation, then spend a 3 days in Big Ben National Park. In our 3 days in that park, during Memorial Day weekend, we only came across 2 other people, two Germans that were spending a month camping in the desert, and we only met them because we visited the ranger station to refresh our water supply. It was pretty awesome. Then we spent a few days driving around the Texas Southwest visiting old towns, famous graveyards, and the Balmorhea State Park.

For our next vacation we are talking about doing a similar driving vacation through New Mexico, a week in a guest house in New Orleans, or an all inclusive on some tropical island. The problem is the only time we can go is this October. After this October our schedules won't allow for more then a 4 day weekend for the next two years.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Seattle with Vancouver side trip. NO KID. Next is a family trip down to Outer Banks in August.

 

[Phoenix86]

It's been probably a decade since I took a real vacation, I don't even remember where it was.

 

[DT4K]

7 night Eastern Caribbean cruise last November with my wife, our kids, my mom, and my sister. We had a lot of fun, but cruising with little kids is exhausting.

Next will be camping for a few days in the NC mountains in a couple weeks, and possibly spending a week near Myrtle Beach at the end of August.

The next "big" vacation will be Orlando for Disney/Universal, but probably not until at least next year.

 

[GeekDrew]

washington dc area, for a few days surrounding the presidential election of 2012. there have been a few trips ostensibly for vacationing since then, but... not really.

 

[Demo24]

St. Simons island off Georgia coast about a month ago. First beach vacation I'd had in a long time, rather enjoyed it! Too short of course, but most of mine tend to be mini-vacations anyway.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Any pointers\recommendations on Iceland and Brussels?

Sadly we learned of a family member passing in Brussels, so much of our time there was less than well spent. But I was there back in '99 as well so...

The beer and chocolate are amazing...as are the waffle vendor waffles. The metro will get you just about everywhere you need to go. The Grand Place is incredible to look at. Mannekin Pis is overrated, but still funny and on your way to plenty of good pubs. When we did go out, we just sorta tooled around sight seeing and hopping into old churches and things. I recommend daytrips to Bruges, Ghent and/or Cologne as well.

We only stopped over in Iceland for a couple days to ease jetlag going to mainland Europe. There's no fare change with Icelandair to do so (cheapest flight to/from Europe <--> Denver for us).

Iceland is shockingly expensive. It makes sense because of cost of importing supplies but still... You're going to need to book a flybus trip to/from the airport and Reykjavik (45mins trip), so you might as well do so online and save a couple bucks.

Hardly anything is open before 9 and just about everything but restaurants close around 5 (this seemed to be the case everywhere in Europe as well).

Blue Lagoon, while touristy and expensive, was still fun. Food was underwhelming though, so pass on that. The landscape we did see was breathtaking and I loved the cool, humid climate. The lamb steaks are incredible.

Don't bother booking a Northern Lights trip ahead of time. Get there and then see what the solar storm activity and weather are like. We did hear grumblings from a good number of people who spent all night in a bus without seeing anything.

The hints of Iceland we got during our stop over totally sold us on going back. Icelandair is genius for offering that.

We only had slightly under two weeks, so if I were to to it again, I'd take more time off and/or visit fewer cities to better experience them.

 

[Captante]

Cape Cod for 5 days.

Not sure about the next one.

 

[shortylickens]

The Blue Lagoon is probably the only place in Iceland worth visiting if you have limited time.

If you are a serious explorer you may wanna rent a Jeep and drive the perimeter. If you stop off and see shit it will take a while. If you race around the highway in the summer you could do it all in one day.

Iceland has always been expensive but their economy took a dive when Britains banks went unstable.
Iceland, like many small euro countries, keeps the majority of their money in stronger banks abroad. But that too has its risk.

A 1% drop in the English Pound can devastate a small country.