What was your coolest or most interesting vacation?

[Touring_Sedan]

The waiting an hour + for every single fucking attraction pretty much killed the magic for my kids. There are only so many times you can hug some college snot in a fur suit to make up for the bullshit.

What really killed it for me was the "fast pass" line where they gouge you even harder just to stick it to the people unwilling to pay more than the $80/each. Fuck Disney.

Dunno if you do any network jobs, but all you need is a business card from one of the big 4 to get you and the fam a free pass. I think they'll give you up to 5 a year.

[mtnbikerskierchick]

Flights are a bit difficult. Since we went to Spain first, we flew out of Lisbon. On return, we flew back to Lisbon, then the US. Flights from Lisbon are plentiful as the Azores are owned by Portugal. From the US, flights are harder to find. Your best bet is to check routing through Boston. There are a lot of ties between Boston and the Azores (immigrants/emigrants) from back in the whaling days. Once there, prices aren't too bad on almost everything. Food is reasonable- and servings are HUGE! As far as temps go- not super warm, but perfect for us. In the 70's every day. We liked it because there's a huge mix of stuff you can do. You can choose to be as active as you want to be, or you can just hang out and enjoy some swimming and some wine. It's really not very touristy either, but enough so that there's some infrastructure. Knowing you guys, you'd love it, and it seems like a perfect place for you to visit.

[Tippster]

Flights are a bit difficult. Since we went to Spain first, we flew out of Lisbon. On return, we flew back to Lisbon, then the US. Flights from Lisbon are plentiful as the Azores are owned by Portugal. From the US, flights are harder to find.

Rather odd that, since many of the early Trans-Atlantic flights went through the Azores.

[klar]

albania is a very cool country. beachy beaches, mountainy mountains, the same old stuff greece has and some more recent cultural left overs from the communist regime, apparently very hip capital (tirana). i have only been in the north (mountains) in winter but i would definitely be looking at albania if i were attempting a summer vacation. cheap compared to neighbouring countries like greece or croatia. i don't think there were any other tourists within a 500km radius when we were there, i'm sure it's different in summer but definitely less touristy than, say, greece. these people helped us out, website has pictures of stuff to do and see. www.outdooralbania.com

why do you have germany as an option in your first post? just wondering.

[hutash]

If you are going to Disneyland on weekends or in summer you are doing it wrong. It is like skiing on MLK day.

$80 a day, so the fuck what, how much is a lift ticket to any major hill? I'll admit Disneyland was much better once upon a time. There used to be great independent restaurants and shops, but now they are all taken over by Disney Corp. But again, as that any different they any major ski hill?

There are two times when Disneyland is particularly fun, one is when you are with young kids and you just enjoy the magic as they see it. I couldn't give a fun to meet Mickey Mouse, but when gets get to see them they get super excited. The other time is as a teenager stoned out of your mind and the 'rents are at home...good times

I went a lot as a kid, again when my kids were little, and will probably not go again until grandkids show up.

[smmokan]

why do you have germany as an option in your first post? just wondering.

It's somewhere I've always wanted to go- partly because family members have been and loved it, and partly because I'm interested in the history and the scenery of the old towns and castles. It's not somewhere I'd go by itself; more like 3-4 days in Germany and then on to Croatia or somewhere else.

Honestly, my wife and I are at the point where we can travel to places that in the past, may have been out of our financial reach... and I really like hearing people's opinions on different locations and making mental notes for future trips. Ideally we'll start traveling to beach-type locations during her spring break (she's not a big fan of winter although we live in CO), and then somewhere more unique and out of the way during the summer. Obviously places like NZ, Africa, and month-long road trips are on my to-do list, but since those require more time we'll probably have to push those back a ways.

[BigDaddy]

Canary Islands are very cool and worth considering. Like the Azores, they volcanic, too. Tenerife is a 50 mile long mini-continent with all the climatic conditions (except snow).

The food is great (Spain owns them) and great scenery. It's a very international scene, but lots of Brits and Germans. I flew an Italian airline, via Africa, to a Spanish Island, stayed in hotel run by Germans, and windsurfed with Brits.

[Dam Skier]

One of my coolest / most interesting trips was Paris for a few days, TGV south, rent a car, Carcassonne and south of France, drop car of in Nice and fly to Corsica for a week(very cool mountains, beaches, history, food), Fly back to Paris.

Egypt and Cyprus was very cool, but we went before 911 and the current political situation.

[BFD]

I´m in Cuenca Ecuador right now. Would not say it is the greatest vacation ever. But I am amazed at how much diversity there is in this country. Close to frost bit on Chimbarazo to sweating my ass off in the jungle two days later. for less than 10$ bus fare. Here is a link to our ski photos. Was going to post on the main forum but didn´t want to post a link.
down here for another couple of weeks. Missing an excellent early season in AK.
http://www.scottfennell.com/dehydrat...&report_id=13#

[iceman]

One of our better ones was the first time I went to Ireland, we had 10 days and no plans except to check out Galway where my family is from (and where I still have tons of close relatives). We were at a wedding in England and had planned the time and flights but nothing else.

We were at the Liverpool airport waiting for the short hop to Dublin and there were tons of musicians everywhere around the gate, it turns out they were headed to the Fleadh, the national Irish traditional festival, which we had never even heard of. They told us it was in Sligo in like 6 days, so we poked up the coast from Galway north a bit and then ran up to Sligo. Called some hotel in the book on the way and they were like, "Are you MAD, man? This is the headquarters for the whole festival, we've been booked solid for over a year! Um, wait, we just had a cancellation. So, what time will you be arriving?"

That was ridiculous fun, hundreds of bands and music everywhere, they played in the lobby of the hotel until dawn, thousands of people were trying to get in there and we had to show our key to get allowed in, such a blast. Tons of other great shit happened on the trip, I could go on but won't.

But Ireland with no plan was a good trip.

[sidewall]

Lake Tahoe. I'm a simpleton.

[Sea 2 Ski]

A Trip) In Madrid for a few days with the Prada and late night dinners leading to late night discos being the lay of the land.

Next a trip to Toldeo to pick up switchblades and see the Cathedrals that were bombed during the Spanish Civil War. Oh man, standing in the artilery position above the city you see it for the senseless slaughter it is.

Return to Madrid to travel by train to Seville and learn that despite being a populous city they still love their 2 hour lunches in Seville and a cheap swithbalde from Toledo will be broken by Seville. A trip to a sherry factory in Cadiz provides ample buzz to chill while the driver takes you through the countryside of Southern Spain and makes Gilbrator is all the more impressive when you see it from the landside. One of my friends who also did Spain but more of Barcelona down the Coast also said "the rock of Gilbrator" was one one the most memorable things about his trip.

We next spent the night in Torrilemos near Malaga and went on a day trip via hydro-foil boat to Morocco. (You could easily add skiing to this trip at the right time of year. My Spanish teacher had skied nearby in past years but we got out voted by someone who became know to us as "Pricky" because he thought the trip to the sherry factory would be more educational. What an asshole. Glad I got loaded at the Sherry factory.)

Returned to Spain to return to the US from Malaga.

or

B Trip)

I would also say the flight to Santiago, CH and transfer to Buenos Aires, ARG was bearable at 14 hours. The additional hours of flight to Ushuaia and skiing Cerro Castor in August was pretty good tune up for "the goods". Would be even better now because I believe you can get the equivalent of a Euro-rail pass on Aregentine airline, Aerolineas Argentinas. This would make it easier to use Buenos Aires as a hub and follow El Marte storms as they hit the mountains on Argentina's on the west coast.

I choose to fly into San Rafael in Mendoza, since you can rent a Hertz there (You'll need to be able to drive a stick and you better not be a first timer since the road to Las Lenas can be closed, due to bad weather and a wrong turn or missed shift can lead to fatal accidents.) Renting in San Rafael gives you the option of going to Las Lenas or if completely absent of snow, there is the option of driving 12 hours south to Bariloche and colder climate you should get there. FORTUNATELY, Las Lenas was the Tits with two meters of fresh dumping (See Squirrel's from 2004 HOF section.)

[Vandeezy]

So technically I didn't do this as a vacation, but it was easily one of the more interesting trips of my life. Spent just over 2 weeks following the ancient Silk Road route in China. In 2006 I studied abroad there for 6 months in college and our first major trip and we flew from Beijing to the far west side of China and spent over two weeks working our way back along the Silk Road via train and Bus. It was a group of ~20 ppl and most logistics were taken care of for us, but it was an amazing variety of cultures.

Completely different from nearly everything else I have done (ie wilderness type adventures), the variety of sites were huge ranging from Muslim's living in the desert around Kashgar, to sleeping at the base of a 25,000ft peak along the Pakistan border, to being a part of a Buddhist ceremony, playing basketball with school kids who rarely see westerners, seeing the strains of progress vs history, etc. Couldn't believe the diversity that exists in a place like China.

Here are a few pics:

The market at Kashgar (Muslim culture):


The base of Muztagh Ata (~25k ft):


Buddhist Monks in Xiahe, Labrang Monestary:


Tibetian woman:


More photos here: http://andylibrande.com/news/china-fall-2006/

[Bite Me]

Amsterdam - Disneyland for adults

As far as German, my headquarters is in the south, just outside Munich, and for 3-4 (5-6?) days there's plenty of ways to entertain yourself. The "Romantik Road" is where all the castles are located, and Munich's around the corner, with lots of cultural stuff.

BMW and Mercedes have awesome museums if you can get the wife to go along with that, and the beer is really that good. Austria's not far away either.

Just did the Costa Rica thing in August, and went to the same volcano / hot springs place Tippster mentioned. Very nice.

In Hawaii on the Big Island one of my best all-time memories was night diving with manta rays, and day diving with spinner dolphins.

So much to do, so little time.

[Hugh Conway]

So technically I didn't do this as a vacation, but it was easily one of the more interesting trips of my life. Spent just over 2 weeks following the ancient Silk Road route in China. In 2006 I studied abroad there for 6 months in college and our first major trip and we flew from Beijing to the far west side of China and spent over two weeks working our way back along the Silk Road via train and Bus. It was a group of ~20 ppl and most logistics were taken care of for us, but it was an amazing variety of cultures.

sounds fun, but it's probably different now. for one the chinese buldozed Kashgar back in 2009.

er, bo, you made my point about indonesia.