I have over two weeks of vacation time that I must use in January and I’m a bit stuck because I have no idea what to do with it. I don’t want to sit around my house for that period but January is hardly prime vacation time. If I had more time to plan this wouldn’t be a problem; I could pick out someplace specific, save my pennies, and do this right. With it being forced upon me with little warning I’m stuck a few different ways. So I’m asking you, the Doping public, how should I spend my vacation.
A few things to be aware of first:
Money is a problem. I’m looking at about $1500 available for a vacation and that’s if I skimp on Christmas presents for other people. I can get plane tickets by the end of October if necessary. On the other hand I’m used to doing the travel as cheap as possible if I can get to my destination and do things.
I don’t like to gamble or lounge around. Obviously as a Doper I’m interested in intellectual pursuits and generally seeing things I haven’t seen.
I live in the middle of the United States in the middle of nowhere. I do have friends in Fort Lauderdale that I’m planning on visiting for a few days as part of this vacation time. So I may be able to depart from there but for major airports getting home I’d probably be using Tulsa. I’m not completely opposed to driving somewhere but I don’t like to drive to begin with and driving twenty hours on winter roads to get somewhere is not really appealing to me.
I traveled to LA and Baja earlier this year and wouldn’t want to go back so soon. I’ve also been to New York a few years ago and wouldn’t mind going back but I’m looking for other options first.
Costa Rica or Morocco should be doable and both have lots to see and do. I assume you have a passport, but as an American, perhaps that is not a safe assumption.
If you are looking to save money, January is an awesome time to take a vacation, since everyone is tapped out by Christmas and no one goes anywhere. Check out cruise and airline prices, for instance. They fall precipitously then.
What kind of stuff do you like to do? If you like to eat, there is New Orleans. San Francisco is nice in January. though sometimes a bit rainy. I’ve never been to the Keys, but my wife liked them quite a bit when she went with the kids.
I forgot to mention that I don’t care about nightlife; so the quality of clubs and bars isn’t going to be an attraction.
Voyager, perhaps the best word I can use to sum up what I like to do when traveling is “Explore”. Sometimes that’s going to be the tourist destinations so that I can see what’s there and sometimes it’s going to be finding something new and interesting. I want to consistently have something new to do. I usually have to take some extra days off around my vacation to recover from all the running around I did on my vacation.
Why not go to Montreal, and maybe up to Mt. Tremblant for a couple of days to learn to ski? They have a wonderful ski school and its an easy drive from Montreal, with plenty of options to stay at the resort. You can get some good deals, too, between the USD rising against the CAN$, the general downturn in resort tourism and the fact that much of the hotel taxes are refundable (you just keep receipts & fill out a form at the airport).
January is awesome in the Yucatan. Fly into Cancun (to ditch it immediately), then head inland and spend a bunch of time on ruins. I vastly prefer the inland experience to the beach experience; like you I’m not a real big “lounger,” I like to do stuff. And the cenotes have nice swimming if you need to cool off. Also $1500 will go a long way inland. I took my in-laws last Dec. ruin-hopping in and around Piste (near Chichen Itza - and there are many, many more places to visit, you’re really only limited by your time) and our two rooms for four nights and many margaritas charged to the rooms came out under $400 (and breakfast included, nothing fancy but a nice enough start to the day). We stayed at a lower-end motel but it was clean and comfortable.
Anyways I love Mexico because there is more history and adventure than you can shake a stick at and the food is great and everything is cheap as all hell and the people are freakin’ awesome. Plus you can call home to all your relatives freezing their asses off in a snow storm and let them know about your swell day climbing pyramids in the 80F jungle.
If you’re going to be in Fort Laudedale, you might consider driving down to Key West. It’s a blast when all of the tourists have left; hotels are cheap, the weather is gorgeous, and there’s always some interesting stuff to see and do (other than the traditional bar hopping or lounging around in and near the gorgeous blue green water).
You can also catch a cheap flight out to the Bahamas, or St. Lucia, or any of the nearby Caribbean islands from Lauderdale for a song.
hm, Florida or pretty much anywhere in the sun belt will be seriously expensive, as will ski resort sort of stuff …
That being said, how about a cruise leaving from and returning to Ft Lauterdale that is a week. Fly down, visit friends for a day or two at each end of the cruise, then fly back home. Looks like you can get deals ranging from $500-$1500 not counting airfare or hotel while in Ft Lauterdale.
If you don’t have a particular destination in mind, you could go to airline sites and see what the specials are. (And then check to see if there’s not a lower fare elsewhere.)
Washington DC. Tons of stuff to do there and most of it’s free. I can recommend a cheap hotel in Alexandra if you’re interested. I stayed there and felt totally safe
Volounteer at a rainforest preservation facility or even Orang Utan rehabilitation centre sounds like your thing? Although they do prefer two month tours as opposed to two weeks. If this floats your boat then I can supply some contacts in Phils or Sabah.
another vote for dc. the smithsonian is fantastic and free (althought sometimes the gift shops can get your money.). pandas! you can see pandas for free!
ford’s theatr… many monuments, check to see if you can visit with your rep or senator. they arrive back in dc in early january.
be prepared for icky weather. dc gets icky cold rains and snow.
