DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Everything Else... Vacations

There’s been two types of vacations I’ve really enjoyed.

Whirlwind, nonstop, “give-me-a-chance-to-breath”, everyday on the go.

Like a month-long driving trip my ex-wife and I did of California (~1989).

Flew into San Diego, rented a car for a month and flew home from San Francisco.

La Jolla Beach, Disneyland, Yosemite, Madonna Inn, Death Valley, Hearst Mansion, Mount Whitney Park, The Alabama Hills, Winchester Mystery Mansion, Bristlecone Pines, Sequoias, Death Valley, Napa Valley Vineyards, Ripley’s.

Every night a hotel. Almost always a dip in the pool at night’s end. Non-stop. A lot of fun for a 30-year-old pre-kids.

Then there’s the relaxing vacations. Renting a cottage at a resort town during the “off-season” for a couple weeks (like September). Reading a good book on rainy days. Going for walks. Maybe going on a couple nearby tours/sites/attractions. Maybe playing some games. Spending time at a nearby hang-out to mix-it-up with locals or other travelers. A few restaurants and bars.

Definitely worth it if you have the disposition to spend a few thousand hard-earned dollars for this.

I think the California trip was ~ $7,000. The two week cottage rental (Martha’s Vineyard) ~ $3,500.

Have a vacation to share?

Dude, i wish it was 1989. That 7K wouldnt last a week today doing all that stuff.

My favorite vacation was to Cozumel, MX.

My wife (gf at the time) went with friends. We went a week before thanksgiving, right after their hurricane season, and week before their peak time. There may have been 50 people at the entire resort. Felt like we owned the place! The deal I got on that trip is why its my favorite. 7 nights, all inclusive for 1400 total - amazing!

Its funny you posted this, my wife and I got married in Mexico, next may will be our 5th anniversary. We just decided we are going to invite everyone that was at the wedding on a return trip next year. Really excited!

Vacation:
I took my then girlfriend to Turks and Caicos for 7 days that I wish I had made for 10 days. She is my wife now, that was 3 years ago and it was fantastic, we didn't snorkeling (wife hated), Parasailing (love), Jet ski's, catamaran cruise. I pulled out all the stops.

It all inclusive and so so awesome.

Travel:
Our honeymoon was more of a re-pack every 2nd day and move. We started in Barcelona and traveled the south of france, Carcasson, Nimes, Manaco to Florence and then Rome. The sunsets in the French Rivera over the mountains and the rooftop dinner in Florence are two things I will never forget.

However I prefer to not unpack more than twice, I probably won't "Travel" as much as I will "Vacation" ever again.



This year we are going to spend 3 days in Napa Valley in September and then fly to Maui for 5 days. 2 days Travel, 10 day vacation.

My mom told me earlier this week that she and a friend are doing a Rhine cruise in Aug/Sep starting in Switzerland and ending in The Netherlands and she has a day or 2 at the end in Amsterdam. Since I've spent about 9 months of my life there and have several friends there, I was thinking about flying over and being their tourguide for 1.5 days, spending a couple days on my own visiting friends, then spending 3 days in Dublin.

I priced out flights and 3-4 star hotels and can cover it for $1800. Add food, drink, train, touristy things, etc... for the 8 days (7 nights) and it'll be $2500 or less. Not bad for a little over a week in Europe.

This being said, I want to spend a week over Thanksgiving week visiting friends in Hong Kong and Melbourne, then another week somewhere else in Aus. That $2500 and time off would kill the fall trip, and I will never again have the opportunity to show my mom Amsterdam. It'll only be a day and a half, but still. Hmm..

China 1 month $5000 Beijing, Deserted part of great wall, by myself for 2 hours, Forbidden city, Yellow mountains, Li river, Shanghai. etc...

yellow mountains

li river

That was years ago. Now with the Wife long week on the lake in a cabin in the Poconos with some great fishing.

Li River is up there on my list.

My girlfriend and I spent two full weeks last fall in Thailand and Cambodia. Amazing. Did all my own research and booking. Choose your own adventure style. No big resorts and such. Had an amazing time. Big cities, quiet temples, beaches, tuk tuk, motorcycle taxis, boat rides, amazing meals and shopping... Door to door we spent $4200. Worth every penny.

Off to Maui this coming winter. Cheap vacation as we stay at a buddy’s condo. So it’s just flights and food. Though food on the islands is absurdly priced.

Hope the next big vacation is Belize, or Sayulita, Mexico... or maybe both if we do a two week thing again.

I flew to Guilin from Shanghai needed to get to Yangshuo.
At the airport asked How do I get there? They said a bus is 3 dollars takes a few hours . A cab is about ten dollars or you can take a boat down the Li river. I said sure boat. They said the boat leaves in the morning. I said no good I have a hotel reservation. They said you can take a private boat. I asked how much? $140. When does it leave? I asked They said when ever you want its a private boat. I said lets go I got on a very small boat with a guy that didnt speak english for a 2 1/2 hour boat ride down the Li river, I had unlimited picture taking abilities I took 200 pics. was absolutely amazing.

I like urban vacations. Been to London and Paris many times, not to mention most major North American cities.


We like museums, concerts, plays, general touring....I like forts. Ticonderoga is my favorite.

Give me a nice classic hotel with a great restaurant and bar and I am good.

I like doing stuff when I'm on vacation, I like adventures to new places.

I'm not into sitting around and chilling. Baecause I can do that at home.

The only exception being the beach. Because laying in the sun listening to the ocean is nice. And so is floating around in the ocean.

We flew from Cambodia to Krabi, Thailand. Caught a cab from the airport in Krabi to AoNang. A Thai beach community. Our hotel was in Railay Beach. An area only accessible by boat. We got to AoNang at like 6:30pm, dark when that near the equator, after a long day of travel. The longboats were only ‘scheduled’ to leave when they got full, 10 people. We were the first two. The only two. We were told we could wait, “maybe two hours”, or just pay the fair for all ten people... Best $40 I spent. A beautiful, private, nearly full moon, 20 minute longboat ride in the Andean Sea.
Sometimes spending a little extra goes a long way. Especially in SE Asia.

We are doing Vancouver & Victoria, BC and the San Juan Islands this summer. Other than its airport we have yet to spend time in Vancouver. So, we will have a handful of days in the city then ferry over to Victoria for a couple days and then ferry through the San Juan Islands where we will stop and stay over for a day or two then continue back into WA state. Really looking forward to it (although Vancouver is as expensive as London!). But, my son goes off to university in September so, it will be a last hoorah before our lives all kinda change.

I asked my now ex wife to marry me up in those islands. Galiano Island. Beautiful place. Kayaked in ocean with Orca in waters nearby. Lots of local artists and such. Had a great time.

I'm a cruise ship junkie. No responsibility, mental relaxation, you set your port itinerary. Just show up and jump on a big boat. Great food and wine, plenty to do (or not do). Generally cut off from the rest of the world so you are truly on vacation.

All time favorite was seven day Alaska Inside Passage. Awe-inspiring beauty. Also enjoyed a round trip NYC with stops in Portland, Boston and Nova Scotia. My go-to is always the Caribbean. St Martin, St Kitts, Barbados, St Lucia... Like to take that one out of Puerto Rico and wrap around a day's stay before and after in Old San Juan. Last one was a west coast wine cruise, from Canada down to LA. My wife and I had a BLAST.

I've been using the same agent from Cruises Only for 15 years, she's the best in the business. Finds every discount, knows the ins and outs of every ship and port. Hit me up if anyone ever needs a hook-up.

Whats a vacation?

I wish i liked cruises, I hate being told when to leave and how much time I can spend in certain places.

Agreed. I’m also not one for crowds and being in situations where small talk with strangers is socially required. Cruises seem like they’re heavily geared towards drinking and socially mixing it up. I don’t drink, so I don’t get the ‘social lubricatuon’ of an alcohol buzz. To me, small talk is kinda exhausting. Personally, less people=more enjoyment. Sitting around a crowded pool with a bunch of other people, eating in crowded dining rooms... just holds no appeal. Then you get off the ship and walk through a touristy version of the foreign country you’re docked in.
To each their own. I have friends that cruise, my grand parents loved to cruise, my boss and a few coworkers love it too... it’s just doesn’t seem like it’d be my thing.
I go on vacations to get away. For quiet relaxation. But also to explore other cultures. Find me a foreign country with ancient temples or ruins and a quiet beach. That’s my ideal vacation.
Vietnam and Laos are high on my list. Though Loas is land locked. Amazing waterfalls but no beaches. Just the Mekong River.

That’s the beauty of it all though. Some go on cruises leaving my beaches quiet. Some go to quiet beaches leaving those that love to cruise to cruise with others that love to cruise.

I'm going on an Alaskan Inside Passage cruise this June with my parents for their 50th wedding anniversary. They got tickets for the whole family - I'm not much of a cruise person, but really looking forward to this one.

I'll hit Yellowstone every chance I get. Been there 4 times and there's still a lot I haven't checked out. Nothing like hiking a trail and seeing elk, moose, wolves, bears, otters etc. within picture taking distance along with the most spectacular scenery and features this planet has to offer.

Are you using a 28mm f1.8 to capture those bears and wolves?

Is that a net. or a cage?

I have a rule, if I am in the woods, and a bear is in the woods - I aint in the woods no more.

In all my years of backcountry hiking and rock climbing and such i’ve only seen bear three times. Once from a car while driving through Yellowstone. Once from my truck driving up to Mt Hood to ski. Once in the summer while riding a ski lift up to the top of Whistler Mountain in BC. We hiked down from the top. Choosing a different trail than the one we saw bears on obviously.
Oddly enough I never did see them in actual backcountry situations.

I’ve posted on here before how a wild black bear walked within 50 feet of me without me knowing it.

Oh it gets better.

I was in my backyard sitting at the pool middle of the morning reading a newspaper. Probably about 20 years ago.

All of a sudden a group of ~ 4-5 people walk into my backyard.

I’m like “UMMM...Can I help you?”

They say “Bear.” and point to my backyard. And there’s a black bear lumbering across my yard.

It had just walked by the pool area where I was sitting.

I’d guess probably 300 lbs. Definitely bigger than a dog. He(she?) walked out my back property line (a stream) and into some woods beyond. Unfortunately for the bear, he(she) was at least 5 miles from any extensive woods with several streets to cross.

The bear was shot and killed later in the day.

And no I wasn’t drunk. Well...probably a little. But not real drunk. I think it was a bear. It might have been a dog. Or squirrel. I think it was an animal.

I got caught between a mother black bear and her cubs in the Ontario bush when I was fifteen.

My buddy Jesse was a couple years older than me and he’d heard about a lake that was full of speckled trout. We loaded his dad’s Ram with our fishing gear, a 3 horse kicker motor, and a gheenoe (it’s like a canoe, but more stable with a spot to mount a motor). We took an old logging trail to get there and then had a mile and a half portage down a glorified game trail to reach the spot at the base of an ancient impact crater.

We spent that beautiful August day catching more specks than I knew existed. I’d always been overjoyed to catch any speckled trout, but always thought if it was over 10” it was a real dandy. We were hoisting in 16”+ bruisers like we were the first humans to stumble on this honey hole. As we fished we noticed a mother bear leading her two cubs down to the water’s edge to cool off. We mused on this for a few moments before I lifted my rod to the bend of another behemoth brookie. While we didn’t want our time to end, the sun was getting low and we knew we had a long walk and drive on unfamiliar trail.

About halfway to the truck we dropped our gear to take a rest. I heard a noise coming from the direction we were headed and turned to see the two cubs playfully batting at each other as they came down the trail towards us, blissfully unaware of our presence. Across from us, at no great distance, I heard a rustling in the bush and saw momma bear materialize. While we weren’t directly in between them, it wasn’t very far off line. We had a stringer full of fish and our hands and clothes reeked of it. Dear Lord, it couldn’t end this way, I’d never even been with a woman. Jesse whispered to me that we were going to make as much noise as we could and if the bear came closer flip over the gheenoe and pray. As the cubs came closer, we started yelling at the top of our lungs and banging on the boat. The cubs made a bee-line for their mother. She sent them up a tree and disappeared in to the bush. We picked up our gear and never broke stride until we reached the pickup. I was paranoid the entire time that she had circled around us and was going to pop up out of nowhere to feast on my tender bits.

With all of our digits in tact we made our way back down the logging trail. It was dark by now and all of a sudden it looked like the trail disappeared. Jesse hit the brakes and through the darkness I could see something bouncing up and down. It soon became apparent that I was looking at the biggest ball-sac I will ever see. It was right at eye level, I couldn’t not see it. A bull moose was jogging down the trail right in front of the truck. We followed behind for a few minutes before our paths diverged and he disappeared into the bush.

I got my fill of bears that day. I always wanted to see another moose though. I’ve been going up there since I was 9, just over a quarter century now. That is still the only moose I’ve seen… and it had to be nuts first.

We came across this girl hiking in the Smokies.

You can have Yellowstone, I want to go to Jellystone. The bears are nicer.

Tulsa above:



Be veh-we kwy-it.

My family vacations every year in Emerald Isle, NC.

It's a quiet little place right on the coast. It's about a 30-45 drive from Camp LeJeune.

They started going in 2001 I believe. At first it was extended family. Which was the better part of 20-30 people at the time. The houses there are either very big, or duplex time, whereas we would just rent both sides.

I hated it as a kid, because it's quiet town. Not a ton of night life, not a lot to do for an 18 year old kid. Not to a ton of people my own age either. It's not really like Myrtle Beach.

Nowadays though, I love it. It's a lot of hanging out. We've found different type things to visit. They have wild horses on an uninhibited island. They have civil war bases that are still in good shape. Blackbeard's house is actually a 15 minute drive down the isle. There is at on of golf obviously in the area.

I just love the giant balconies on these houses. It's great to wake up and sit out on them with coffee. There are dolphins that tend to visit.

My family would drive from Cleveland, but usually we fly to Raleigh, and then drive the extra 2 or 3 hours to the coast. It's fun. 2 years ago we drove from Chicago all the way down. It was so much fun. We stopped in a few places to check out different sights. We hung out in Point Pleasant to check out the Mothman stuff. We spent the night in Chapel Hill, then in the morning, went to go visit Duke U, and literally got to walk on the court at Cameron indoor. Coach K was coaching a bunch of kids. We drove down to the coast and spent a week on the beach. After that, we drove up to Louisville and spent the night there. The next day, on our way back home, was the day of game 7. I got home in the 2nd quarter and watched my team win a championship. Easily my favorite vacation of all time.

I haven't been to too many places. I can remember the first time I went to Vegas and how blown away I was at everything. I had never seen a Palm tree before, or been in a desert. It was a cool experience just checking out the city and the strip.

We took a mini vacation to Minneapolis last summer. Just a few nights. We just wanted to check out a new city. What an amazing city. People were really cool, the city was very clean, and we did not have one bad meal. I would love to go back. That was another cool drive as we checked out Camp Randall on the way, and went to the House on the Rock which is a weird museum type thing in the middle of Wisconsin.

We kind of have a little list of places we want to visit. We both want to check out Denver, as well as New Orleans.

The Browns play Dec 15 in Denver, and it's a Saturday night game. We're thinking about possibly making that trip.

For as much as flying is so much easier and more convenient, I love road trips, and just kinda checking out stuff that you would never get to if you flew directly to your location.

Booked in to Bali later in the year. My sister and mother are making the trip from Europe so will meet them there. Should be a blast as I haven't seen my sister in 10 years and my mother in 5.
Booked into a cruise late nxt year also. Never done a cruise before, this one picks up New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Bay of Islands and Auckland, NZ.

Could do with a holiday, it's been a while.

Bali is on a short list. I have friends that rave about it. Philippines too. So much to see in that part of the world.

I'm hoping to go to the outer banks in NC this July (one of my favorite, relaxing places)

Just came back from A long weekend in Mystic Connecticut and Newport Rhode Island. Was really nice we like historical stuff

It's just not on the short flight, list.

No doubt. Bangkok travel time was 21 hours with layovers. Portland to San Fran a 2 hour flight time, San Fran to Hong Kong 15 hour flight time, Hong Kong to Bangkok 2.5 hour flight time. I’d think Bali would add another 2-3 hours at least.
In the grand scheme, time wise, it’s minimal if you’re vacationing for two weeks. It’s actually surprising how fast it seems to go. Beyond that it’s just worth it to experience seeing the world and immersing yourself in other cultures.
That said, being 6’2” is not overly enjoyable in coach class on such lengthy flights. Man to be able to travel first class. Full reclining sleeping pods... that’d be the life.
In the mean time you’ll find me in the back of the plane, cattle class, folded up with my knees in my chest.
...still worth it to see the world.

Just for fun, you should look up the cost of plane fare to Bali using 1st class.

Portland to Bali coach October 13-27 = $1465 (Not a bad cost for the trip. Worth every penny in my mind.)

Portland to Bali first class, same dates = $10,398 to as much as $33,865 (It’s not like it’s a faster trip...the plane gets to the destination at the same time as all those that fly coach... sure the food is better, the wine free, the chairs more comfortable... but DAMN! that’s pricey.)

My dad wasn't one to preach or lecture me and he only passed on a few bits of wisdom. One thing he told me, and for the most part it's absolutely true, he said, it only costs a little more to go first class. However, in this case, it couldn't be further from the truth.

I got bumped to first class once on a late night flight from Houston to Portland (Coming back from Columbus). Actually the entire passenger list got bumped. There were only about 15 people on the entire plane. So we all got treated great. We had an entire full plane’s worth of flight attendants looking after us. It was like a 3 to 1 ratio of passengers to staff. Hot towels, wine, lots of snacks. It was nice.
The reason it happened is they were positioning the plane and crew for a morning flight out of Portland. It just happened we got caught up in the airline’s logistical snafu.
My first, and likely last, foray into traveling like society’s upper crust.

As to your Dad’s take on paying for first class. My dad had a saying too, “a fool and his money are soon parted”. I can be uncomfortable for a few hours to save a few hundred bucks. I’m pragmatic when it comes to money. Some would say cheap. I say smart. Maybe if I was in a higher tax bracket it’d be a different story.

As to the $10,000+ first class ticket to Bali, I did a 14 day trip for two to Thailand and Cambodia for $4200 door to door. All food, accommodations, flights, and incidentals included. I can’t imagine spending over twice that just to get one person to a similar destination. Crazy.

I would think you could come close to just chartering a private jet for that amount of money.