I have traveled extensively around United States, but not a big World traveler. So from my limited experience here is how I rate trips. 1) Russia 1992 - This was a special trip because Russia wasn't a popular destination yet post cold war. Their economy was so in the dumps, we had huge buying power with dollars and ruple inflation 200-400% a week, and our hosts hooked us up with best food & entertainment. We dined in some of the nicest state rooms 7 course meals and private entertainers like from Moscow circus. I will have to scan some of my old photos, but sucked because parents didn't trust me with nice camera, so I only had a crappy one. 2) Scotland 1994 - I actually studied abroad at University of Stirling for entire semester. This was a special experience because I got to immerse in the culture for longer period and although wasn't 21 yet, I could enjoy the bar scene. I traveled around quite a bit as part of the swim team and on my own. 3) Florence-Maranello 2000 - Jennie and I got married in Florence, we did some of the tourist stuff, but mainly just relaxed and enjoyed the Italian scene including Maranello. 4) Helsinki-Stockholm 1992 - As an 18 year old this was another great experience first time to Europe and being able to enjoy bars. 5) Australia 1994 & 2010 - 1994 enjoyed Sydney/Cairns and 2010 Brisbane/Mt. Isa. Both trips were just awesome. Topless girls at Bondi Beach as 20 year old. King's Cross. Cairns just a gorgeous place. Brisbane was older, so enjoyed the restaurants and running along the harbor/Gold Coast. Mt. Isa was awesome because of Pap and getting personal tour down in the mine! For beach type trips have enjoyed Bahamas, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica.
My wife and I took a once-in-a-lifetime trip around the world earlier this year. 36,000 miles, 100 days, 33 stops, both hemispheres. We saw many amazing places, but the highlight of the trip, surprisingly, was Cambodia. The temples of Angkor Wat near Siam Reap absolutely blew my mind.
Eze outside of Nice and Jerusalem were amazing,but number 1 were the Galápagos Islands. Like no other place on earth.
Best: Postcard landscapes - Switzerland Laid-back island life - Cook Islands Most variety in least space - New Zealand Mechanical nirvana - Modena region Best outdoors-all-year city - Sydney Back to nature - Yosemite,Yellowstone Drivers roads and scenery - European Alps Surfing,swimming,snorkelling and diving - Entire east coast of Australia Bleak but fascinating landscapes, weather and history - Scotland Madness and mayhem and great to walk - Rome Places that tried to like but didn't click but found interesting to visit nevertheless and glad I did: NY Paris London
Everyone has to see New York, Paris and Rome at a minimum. Cairo is a trip and the historical museum there is the best in the world for Egyptian antiquities by a LONG shot if you're into that. I really like San Fran. and Charleston stateside. Mexico for chilling out. Tops on my missing list are London, Constantinople and St Petersburg.
South Korea - Yeosu and Naejangsan. Yeosu is a beautiful city especially at night, Naejangsan is one of many incredible parks in Korea but this one especially is renowned for the maple trees in fall. Poland - Kraków and Wroclaw. Love the city squares, like smaller versions of Prague but without 200,000 billion tourists. Amazing castle right in the middle of downtown Kraków Switzerland - Alps, Bern, Lucerne, and Thun. As alexm, said, postcard perfect. Germany - Konstanz. This is where Swiss have their vacation homes, that should tell you something Québec - Québec City. Beautiful city and lovely summer music festival Hungary - Budapest. Incredible architecture Hated London and Montréal. New York City was better than expected
Place I really, really want to visit again is the Maldives. I was quite young when I went but it was so damn beautiful there. Did an island trip too for a day and captain made me jump in the middle of a huge group of fish, with goggles on. Will never forget how cool that was, hundreds of thousands of fish swimming around me. Went snorkeling daily, obviously...every morning I fed the fishes from the dock. Being little I couldn't appreciate the food back then. I check every now and then on some of the resort websites and my mouth waters. Next time I go I'll go to an island with good surf nearby.
For scenery I don't have to leave western Canada. Banff is world class for this. Second is a little trip up the BC coast, Princess Louisa Inlet. For dining, I like Vegas, followed by NYC and then Los Angeles. Unless its Asian foods, Japanese, Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean, you'll find the best in North America, here in Vancouver or neighboring Richmond. For warmth and beaches, the best is the Turks and Caicos, a close second is Cuba. Cuba is like Mexico, but has less crime and is less expensive. Not a big fan of Europe in general. I don't like Asia at all.
I've been to Banff. Maybe it was Jasper. Gorgeous scenery. So, cool and green after a Texas summer! I was born in NYC, so I'm jaded on it. Like Randy Newman, I love L.A.!! So Cal is, to me, the car capital of the planet (at least among places I've been), weather great. If they could just convince Mother Nature to stop it with the earthquakes, it'd be perfect. In Asia, I've only been to Japan. Totally fascinating people and culture. And, it helps that the Japanese love baseball. Got a chance to get out into the countryside. This was soon after Fukushima disaster, so not a lot of tourists running around. Food was great, especially if you're like the wife and I and you like to try new things. Of all the things I ate, many of which I could not identify, I was done in by these little innocent picked fruits called umeboshi! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umeboshi Wiki is not kidding when they say they're very salty and sour. 😜 T
Oh I should say, not a fan of Asia due to the pollution. Its not the people or the food. To have an Asian experience, just have to go into Richmond, 30 minutes away. The U.S. may have more Asian people, 300 million total population VS 30 million in Canada. But by percentage of population, Richmond is the most Asian city in North America. 60% of the population is Asian. You get the culture, get the food, without needing a surgical mask due to pollution. For car spotting nothing beats So Cal. A good evening for decent appetizers, ribs or burgers is Mel's Diner on the Sunset strip. They have outdoor seating, its usually warm out. You'll see everything you can think of during the meal.
I was lucky enough to go on two temporary duty (TDY) trips with the US Air Force to Sardinia (Decimomannu Air Base). Once for 2 weeks and a second for 5 weeks. I rented a Fiat 600 both times and drove all over the southern portion of the island. At the time (mid to late 80s), Sardinia was natural and completely unspoiled. As such, and based on my memories, it's still one of my favorite places. Next is NYC (lower Manhattan) and Niceville, FL. Also, NYC, Amsterdam, London and Paris were awesome just before Christmas. . Image Unavailable, Please Login
What didn't you like about Montreal, if I may inquire? Been there twice, loved it. I've heard great things about Quebec City. Def want to go some day. +1 on Budapest. It's a gorgeous city. We stayed at a hotel on the Buda side of the river, think it was a Hilton, overlooking the Parliament building. Spectacular view. Ate at a small restaurant near by. It was St Stephen's Day (thanks in no part to planning on our end!), so we got to see the fireworks over the city from our hotel window...T
I'll agree with London. But haven't been since the early 90's. My Dad was involved in establishing a London office in the 80's and early 90's. Went a fair bit. Did Paris, Luxembourg and Hamburg. It was more weather and food related for my dislike of Europe. Montreal is a great city. Its a lot like Vancouver in attitude. The one thing and its rampant in Quebec, is they can be a little snotty if you don't speak French, they forgive quickly if you are American, but if you are Canadian and don't speak even basic French, they can be very rude.
Been to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun in Mexico. Amazing history, view, climb, etc. Oh, I was 9. Everything from there was downhill. D Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I went to China in 1979 as a Junior High School student. Our school was one of the first to be let in since Mao and, of course, was a totally different world. Once of these days, I'll scan in all my slides from that trip.
9 day Safari in South Africa at three different "&Beyond" camps last year totally blew me away - beyond expectations. Getting up close to wild animals (the Big 5 and more) in their habitat was awesome.
In no particular order (as a travel junkie). My goal is to collect memories, so much of our travel is to gather more like the ones below... Waking up on a boat in the lagoon in Bora Bora & enjoying the morning sunrise on the motu Hiking in Wengen, Switzerland in a meadow at the 5,000 foot level on the face of the Eiger Walking through the snowfall in Lucerne, Switzerland Teeing off at Pebble Beach in the early morning (where 50-60 people are already standing around to heckle you if you slice it into the buildings) Sailing into Venice in the midday sun drinking a Bellini & listening to Pavarotti Walking through the Hermitage before it opens to the public (in Russia, anything is possible if you have the right guide...) Just returned from China, so a tie between walking the Great Wall at Badaling & being in the pit with the Terra Cotta Warriors, both magnificent in their own way
Patagonia - the scenery, the remoteness, glaciers Torres del Paine National Park Also Tofino, BC; Stockholm; Norway, the fjordlands in western Norway; Italy, particularly Florence and Venice; Scotland, really enjoyed Edinburgh.
Island of Capri-stay there get away from the waterfront landing area-stroll around the ruins of Villa Jovis, stay a few days great food, drink lemoncello. Islands of Palau-fantastic diving and scenery, Maldives-most amazing tropical island setting-been to many including Seychelles, Bora Bora, Caribbean etc. For ancient temples-on Java- Borobudur-stay in the area not the city Plaza San Marco-most beautiful square in the world? Rome-best history-food of course Most exotic adventure-a river boat down the Amazon
Stay here in Capri: https://www.tripadvisor.com.ph/Hotel_Review-g187783-d235948-Reviews-Punta_Tragara-Capri_Island_of_Capri_Province_of_Naples_Campania.html
For me Hong Kong was an amazing experience. It helped that I had some friends that lived there. But wow! what a city!! Highly recommend.
Just got back from: Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Mohacs, Vidin, Belgrade, Rousse, Bucharest. River cruise. We liked Prague, Budapest and Vienna the best. The rest of them: they are not exactly set up for 'tourism' yet, and you can very-much tell they are/were a communist state, so Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania were our least favorite. Hopefully that will change in the next 20 years, but the latter three are not places I would recommend renting a car to go out 'driving around' - they just are not those kind of countries. Oh, there were a few cities we would have liked to stop in, such as Veliko Taranovo Bulgaria and Brasov(?) Romania, but aside from those we did not see much to make us want to stop the tour bus. You can only see so many churches and cathedrals before they all begin to look the same. It was surreal to see Belgrade - office-office-office-office destroyed by cruise missile in 1999-office-office-another destroyed by cruise missile. People working in offices right next to rubble.... I wanted to take a taxi out to the Hungaroring but I didn't know what was out that way besides the track itself, I would have been looking for some F1 stuff to bring home. Next trip will be Poland/Germany, or the Greek Islands. I'd love to do places like Bora-Bora, islands in the south such as Midway, Wake, Solomon Islands, but probably will never be able to, they are just too $$$ to do it the 'right way'.