Where would you go?
It's probably not news to anybody that I love to travel, and try to do so frequently. I've been lucky enough to visit some fascinating places over the past seven years or so, both in this country and outside of it. Soon, however, if all goes according to plan, I'll have a unique opportunity to get to know a new place - or places - for the first time.
If you had a month to spend in any country or combination of countries, anywhere in the world, where would you go? For me it needs to be somewhere I've never been, but obviously I'm looking for input about countries where other people have been. Money is a consideration, but I have a pretty generous budget to work with. I'm also interested in opportunities to work with a charity abroad.
I've already received suggestions ranging from France to South Africa, but I want to get as many recommendations as possible. Do you know how many countries there are in this world that I haven't visited? A whole lot.
(By the way, I get to bring a guest.)
If you had a month to spend in any country or combination of countries, anywhere in the world, where would you go? For me it needs to be somewhere I've never been, but obviously I'm looking for input about countries where other people have been. Money is a consideration, but I have a pretty generous budget to work with. I'm also interested in opportunities to work with a charity abroad.
I've already received suggestions ranging from France to South Africa, but I want to get as many recommendations as possible. Do you know how many countries there are in this world that I haven't visited? A whole lot.
(By the way, I get to bring a guest.)
Labels: travel
posted by BeeKay at 2:52 AM
8 Comments:
I'd recommend New Zealand. It's naturally beautiful with beaches and mountains and glaciers and rain forests. It's a culture very very different from the US's, yet they speak english, providing that small note of familiarity. And they have the best ice cream of any country I've ever visited. You haven't really had ice cream until you've had some amazing rich creamy vanilla with newly-picked apricots swirled in.
I found out yesterday that one of my friends is indeed using her month to go to New Zealand. That ice cream description alone is powerfully persuasive.
K-town Heidi:
I've heard fantastic things about New Zealand as well. I've been to England twice and I LOVE it. It's just so rich with history - way more than the US, of course. I'm facinated by the castles and the tiny cottages and house. The food is fantastic as well. Scones and clotted cream - YUM! Clotted cream sounded horrific to me, but it's glorious.
Norway, more specifically Bergen, is beautiful. Completely surrounded by mountains it's one of the most gorgeous places that I've ever been in my entire life.
For me, I'd go somewhere in the UK area, because everything is so very close and really not too too expensive to travel between. In a few weeks you could hit Ireland, England, Scotland, France etc. See the Eiffel Tower and Big Ben! London is fun, I will go there again. But my dream, you know, has been to see Scotland... ahh....someday. :)
As far as leaving the longest comment - I win.
Also, my aunt found a volunteer organization that she is going with next week to Africa! She'll be teaching English, I think. It sounds really really cool. I can check with her when she gets back, if it sounds like something you'd be interested in. She could tell me the channels she went through and if they're any good or not.
I also want to go to Zambia someday. A friend of mine is moving there to run an orphanage in 2 weeks. She'll be there for a year, so she could be of some help to you as well! :)
Thanks for the many suggestions! I would definitely like to hear about your aunt's experience in Africa when she gets back.
You mentioned that South Africa has already been suggested, but as it is the only place I've really ever travelled to, I have to put in my vote. I only got to spend a week there, but it was the most amazing time. The biggest expense will be the flight, obviously, but if you get a guide to the backpackers (hostels, more or less) in the area, you can stay for cheap.
The best place we stayed at was Inkosana Lodge in the Drakensberg Mountains. We stayed for a few nights, and for a room accomodating 4 people we paid something like $19 American per night. If you throw in another $8 AM or so you can eat a wonderful breakfast and dinner (homemade bread!). They even prepared "special" vegetarian meals for me when we told them I didn't eat meat. The view was beautiful - we had a huge full moon over the mountains one night and a lunar eclipse another.
Other activities - my brother and dad took a hike in the mountains while the rest of us took a horseback safari - ending up mere yards away from real, honest-to-goodness wild giraffes. We also took a jeep safari when we were in St. Lucia. Even though we were almost trampled by elephants it was amazing... :)
Africa is chock full of culture and great people. Granted, we were travelling with my sister who was in the Peace Corps and had been in Africa for a year at the time. So she knew the culture and how to get around and all that good stuff. One good thing is that nearly everywhere we went they spoke English, which we were very grateful for.
On another Africa note, my brothers and I had a one night layover in Nairobi. Although it was dark and (very) rainy for the time we were there, our cab driver talked up Kenya quite a bit. They apparently have the great safaris. I've got friends who are in Kenya right now and I can't wait to see their pictures and hear their stories.
We also had a 4 hour layover in Amsterdam, and while we didn't get to leave the airport (a whole other story altogether) I would love to get back there sometime. Though the airport is great enough you could even vacation there... lol.
Of course, if I get the chance, I'd also love to get to Australia or New Zealand.
Do I now win the award for longest post? I think so...
Thanks, Bridget. All of that sounds great. I honestly don't know how I'm supposed to decide something like this.
What's your goal for the trip? Are you hoping to travel around a la backpacking across Europe? Are you looking for beautiful scenery? A fabulous city?
I don't know, but ideally the destination would include all of those things. I do have a month! It could be spread between multiple countries, though. I thnk I'm most interested in places to explore - small towns, forests, ruins, mountains, what have you. Big cities could be nearby to visit, but I guess that's not really what I have in mind as my main destination.
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