Best trip ever...

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Since most of us haven't been traveling and are probably salivating about it, what was your most memorable trip? How long? Where? What did you do?

Before kids DH and I traveled through china. We didn't backpack or stay in hostels but we went from city to city and ended in Hong Kong. It was about a month and it was awesome. Insane experience. Loved it. We biked the walls of Xian, road boats in the yangzee. Road on the back of a motorcycle taxi (good thing we were thin).

After kids? Cross country road trip with our kids seeing a bunch of states and national parks I had never seen or thought to experience. We as a family like roadtripping. I don't know why but I think we just are the type of people who like the casualness of traveling without a plan. It's also how we did china. We decided where to stay and where to go on a whim. We decided how far to drive, then decided what to do and where to stay. We didn't book a single hotel early the whole trip and we had our camping gear just in case. Our favorite campground was in wyoming and a random park that just opened and no one else was there. I have a photo from that trip I love i attached. I keep it as a background because of how pretty it is.

I'm just thinking what next? If you happen to want to share a favorite trip, photo or story I'd love to hear it.

[disneysteve]

That's a really hard question. I've been fortunate to have so many memorable travel experiences.

If I had to pick one "best" trip, I'd have to say our California adventure in 2005. We flew to LA and spent 5 days at Disneyland. We then drove up PCH and spent 4 days in San Francisco. Then we went to Sequoia National park for a couple of days. We ended by driving to Las Vegas and spending 4 days there. We had such a broad range of experiences from visiting a theme park to touring a winery to hiking among the sequoias to cruising the Vegas strip. It was a little bit of so many different things.

My other favorite trips have been cruises, especially the last one in 2016 which we took with our Disney fan group. We had been on several other cruises but doing it with a couple hundred friends was a whole different experience. Anywhere we went on the ship or in the ports, we were with friends or running into friends. It was great. I hope we get to do it again soon.

The two most beautiful places I've ever been are Akko, Israel and Charlotte Amalie Harbor, St. Thomas.
A close runner up was the hike we took at the top of Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire. I'm not an overly religious guy but I really had a spiritual experience up there. It was one of those "if I died tomorrow, I'd be satisfied" moments.

[disneysteve]

Here’s a favorite travel picture from the Grand Canyon. Our daughter took this.

[srblanco7]

Escaping the upstate NY winter in February with a week at a condo in Grand Cayman. I'm not the biggest on beach vacations, but we traveled with friends which made it more enjoyable. We parasailed, rode jet skis out to spend time in the water with stingrays as well as reef snorkeling, and an evening dinner cruise.

[kork13]

Some of this might simply be from the magic of youth ... But growing up my family & I had the privilege of traveling all over, largely adjacent to where the military moved us... And those were some of my favorite trips.
- Christmas cruise in the Mediterranean was amazing, stopped in Rome, Tunis, Barcelona, and elsewhere.
- Saipan was a blast, where I learned to windsurf.
- Cairns, Australia & surrounding areas - All over western Europe, just picking places to go on the bus or train.
My parents went on even better trips alone.... Hong Kong, Palau, Czechoslovakia, England, and so on.
- My honeymoon was an Alaskan cruise -- simply spectacular, definitely doing that again sometime.

[bjl584]

Probably the trip I took in the fall of 2019 to Nevada and California.
Did some desert hiking, went to lake Tahoe, visited Reno, spend a few days in Yosemite National Park

[Petunia 100]

Probably the trip I took in the fall of 2019 to Nevada and California.
Did some desert hiking, went to lake Tahoe, visited Reno, spend a few days in Yosemite National Park

And you didn't even stop to say "hi"?

[Petunia 100]

This is a great question, but very difficult to answer.

Like LAL, I had a wonderful trip to China. Mine was 2 weeks instead of a month, but I loved putting my feet on the Great Wall and experiencing the culture.

I would have to say that my favorite trip ever was one of the month long road trips I took with my children when they were young. We did one the summer that they were 5 and 10, and another the summer that they were 6 and 11. Just seeing and experiencing all of those beautiful places (national parks, state parks, points of interest) with them was so great. And my favorite place we visited on those trips I think is the Ingalls' family homestead in De Smet, South Dakota. If you have young children, I highly recommend it.

[riverwed070707]

Too many fav trips to name but I definitely have a favorite place! My first trip to El Savador was in 2017. Love the people, the culture, the food, the most gorgeous beaches I've ever seen. There are volcanos to hike, waves to surf, beach caves to explore, waterfalls, great architecture and its a teeny, tiny country that's easy to explore on your own.

[disneysteve]

a teeny, tiny country that's easy to explore on your own.

I felt that way about Bermuda. It's a lovely island that has a lot to see and do but it's so small and easy to get around. Plus it's English-speaking so no language barrier and it's super safe. As soon as we docked (we were there for 3 days on a cruise), we bought an unlimited transportation pass which covered all buses and ferries. With the ship as our home base, we were able to spend our days exploring King's Wharf, Hamilton, St. George, and all points in between. Bermuda certainly isn't the most exotic of locales, but it was so carefree being able to just come and go and wander all over the island. It was a lot different than when we've visited some third world places where you really have to be cautious and on alert and avoid certain areas or going out alone or after dark.

[bjl584]

And you didn't even stop to say "hi"?

Ha. Had I known I was close I would have met you for a drink,
We actually had a round at the oldest bar in Nevada

[cypher1]

Great question. For now I'd have to say Iceland in Spring of 2016. Weather was perfect, sunny in low 50s while windy at times being an island. We did so much exploring in six days, but my favorite was snorkeling Silfra at Thingvellir National Park, along with a road trip around Snaefellsnes Peninsula.

Gulfoss Waterfall:


My goal is to get certified in scuba diving for Silfra again, but go back in the Winter to see the northern lights as well (even if daylight is only 5-6 hrs a day). I'd easily repeat that country. Runner ups would be Belgium (my beer heaven) and Seoul.

[ua_guy]

I've been on so many great trips, it's hard to pick just one!! However, just less than two years ago after much debate, my husband and I bought a used motorhome. I was quietly skeptical of how much we'd actually use it, but have been delighted to prove myself wrong. It's been a game-changer for us. So far, we've logged over 100 nights and more than 20k miles of adventuring. It's turned into a hobby we enjoy together, and has become our favorite way to travel and relax.

While a lot of people were feeling locked down and stuck in their homes, we were vacationing in a self-contained vehicle, sightseeing, being active, and being safe. We pulled off some truly awesome trips. Two from memory that really stuck out. One was a cross-country rendezvous to meet family after not having seen them for more than a year, for my birthday. We reserved 3 sites so my sister and her husband, my parents, and we could each park our RV's in a common area. Although there were no hugs, we did not enter each other's RV's, and we all looked like freaks wearing our masks sitting far apart from each other around the campfire, we did it. It was definitely my most memorable birthday and one of our more memorable family events in many years. On the way out there, I introduced my mom to the "share location" feature on her iPhone so she could track our progress. She was hooked! A couple times a day she'd look to see how far we made it, or what state we were in, or asked if we'd send a picture of our dog...lol. The travel along the way was an adventure too as we stopped in many places we hadn't stayed before.

The other was what I'd call a homecoming trip, after returning to the West Coast this fall. During a rare weather event in Early December, my husband and I took off to camp on the ocean, same spot where we took our first RV trip. The skies dried out and it remained sunny with daytime highs in the mid-high 40's all weekend. Perfect hoodie weather, SO Northwest, we made the BEST food, and had such a good time--and it felt so great being home. My husband took Saturday afternoon to nap with the sun coming through the windows and the screen door latched so he could hear the ocean. I took the opportunity to walk the beach for hours, basking in the coastal beauty, making myself good and sore while letting the stress melt away.

[Petunia 100]

Too many fav trips to name but I definitely have a favorite place! My first trip to El Savador was in 2017. Love the people, the culture, the food, the most gorgeous beaches I've ever seen. There are volcanos to hike, waves to surf, beach caves to explore, waterfalls, great architecture and its a teeny, tiny country that's easy to explore on your own.

Do you speak Spanish? Just wondering if it would be an easy place to explore even for those who don't.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

please keep it coming. I keep looking and hearing these stories and having some dreams. Corn I'm calling you out because I am dying to see a photo of the african safari I know you went on. Something to daydream about. I love the photos and stories and places are definitely interesting. I want to go to costa rica.